Men call you fair, and you do credit it,
For that yourself ye daily such do see:
But the true fair, that is the gentle wit,
And virtuous mind, is much more praised of me:
For all the rest, however fair it be,
Shall turn to naught and lose that glorious hue;
But only that is permanent and free
From frail corruption, that doth flesh ensue.
That is true beauty: that doth argue you
To be divine, and born of heavenly seed; —
Deriv’d from that fair Spirit, from whom all true
And perfect beauty did at first proceed:
  He only fair, and what He fair hath made;
  All other fair, like flowers, untimely fade.