Babies in the Eyes

That is, love in the expression of the eyes. Love is the little babe Cupid, and hence the conceit, originating from the reflection of the onlooker in the pupil of another’s eyes.

“In each of her two crystal eyes

Smileth a naked boy [Cupid].”

Lord Surrey.

“She clung about his neck, gave him ten kisses,

Toyed with his locks, looked babies in his eyes.“

Heywood: Love’s Mistress.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.