The Vanity of Human Wishes

from *see above, by Samuel Johnson (lines 323-342)

Ye nymphs of rosy lips and radiant eyes,
Whom Pleasure keeps to busy to be wise,
Whom Joy with soft varieties invite,
By day the frolic, and the dance by night:
Who frown with vanity, who smile with art,
And ask the latest fashion of the heart;
What care, what rules your heedless charms shall save,
Each nymph your rival, and each youth your slave?
Against your fame with Fondness Hate combines,
The rival batters, and lover mines.
With distant voice neglected Virtue calls,
Less heard and less, the faint remonstrance falls;
Tired with contempt, she quits the slippery reign,
And Pride and Prudence take her seat in vain.
In crowd at once, where none the pass defend,
The harmless freedom, and the private friend.
The guardians yield, by force superior plied:
To Interest, Prudence; and to Flattery, Pride.
Now Beauty falls betrayed, despised, distressed,
And hissing Infamy proclaims the rest.

I encountered this while studying for the GRE subject test. I am taking it, for the third time, in November. I am really aiming for a higher score to aid in getting into a PhD program. This is just as excerpt, as the lines indicate, from Johnson's larger work, but how telling of our modern times. This is, of course, aimed at beautiful women, whom I believe are captured here in startling clarity given our 'modern' times. So often this is the case that is is a grief to remember it. How, so often, beauty is ruined in these ways. Not to mention how torturous the fall, especially given Johnson's verses. Previous to these lines he calls on the new born scholar, the recently graduated. I shall have to quote those lines in the near future and make some comment as to their relevance to my life. For now, I think these lines speak well to my perspective when encountering beauty in our culture.