Where Both Beauty Dwell? Poem by William Billington

WHERE, O where doth Beauty dwell?
On the pure and polished brows
Of maidenhood; in cheeks where glows
The rose of health; in love-lights breaking
From sweet eyes whence soul is speaking
Language that the heart well knows;
In brave lives, by sorrow shaded,
Breasting Fortune's stream unaided,
Heedless of its ebbs and flows;
There doth royal Beauty dwell!

Where, O where doth Beauty dwell?
In the purple flush of morn;
Flashing out amid the corn,
In harvest fields of God's own gilding;
In green boughs where birds a-building
Nest beneath the blossomed thorn;
In the meadows filled with flowers;
By the woodland banks and bowers,
Where the sylvan gods were born;
There doth rural Beauty dwell!

Where, O where doth Beauty dwell?
By the brooks where fishes lave,
Bravely bright and brightly brave,
Their lovely forms with lustre gleaming,
Rainbow light through crystal streaming-
Sight to make the poet rave!
Where they flash, and dart, and darkle,
Whilst their scales of silver sparkle
Lightning through the limpid wave,
There doth living Beauty dwell!

Where, O where doth Beauty dwell?
In the jewelled deeps of Night,
Burning where the wildest flight
Of human fancy yet hath soared not,
Through skies fair Science hath explored not,
Dim or golden, dark or bright;
Where the swift-winged Comets sweeping
Trail their wakes of fire, unsleeping,
Robed with wonder-terror-might-
Crowned with awe doth Beauty dwell!

Where, O where doth Beauty dwell?
In the wild and lone retreats
Where Solitude with Silence meets;
Regioned high amid the mountains,
By the waterfalls and fountains,
Where the heart of Nature beats;
On the bright blue tumbling Ocean,
In the Sea of Life's commotion,
Beauty hath ten thousand seats!
Everywhere doth beauty dwell!