In my last two articles in this series, I focused on three discrete, less well-known lines from Shakespeare and then three from Milton and sought to explain why the lines were so brilliant. Now, I’ll focus on three lines from less famous poets; each captured something of the genius of poetry to reveal something of beauty, mystery, or grace.
An Insight Into Beauty
John Cleveland (1613–1658) was a Cavalier poet who fought for King Charles I during the English Civil War. His works were extremely popular during the 17th century, with some works having more than 20 editions. By the 18th century, however, he was considered one of the metaphysical poets, identified as abstruse, and his works fell out of favor. But his poem “To Prince Rupert” (also known as “Rupertismus”) deserves to be more widely known.It contains the following great line:
Beauty, like white Powder, makes no noise
If we take this line as it stands alone, beauty and white powder have, seemingly, no connection. However, at the Stuart court, women commonly used powdered lead (white lead known as ceruse) as a cosmetic. It produced a smooth, pallid look but was also toxic—eating away at the skin beneath. Beauty, then, is deceptive: a false face.
