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As when they have taken place
In a worthy woman's face.20
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I must praise her as I may,
Which I do mine own rude way,
Sometime setting forth her glories
By unheard of allegories—
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Her true beauty leaves behind
Apprehensions in my mind
Of more sweetness, than all art
Or inventions can impart,
Thoughts too deep to be express'd
And too strong to be suppress'd.
"Wither has chosen to bestow upon the Lady whom he commends, the name of Arete, or Virtue; and, assuming to himself the character of Philarete, or Lover of Virtue, there is a sort of propriety in that heaped measure of perfections which he attributes to this partly real and partly allegorical Personage."
Lamb's Essay on the Poetical works of G. Wither.
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