Love, in thy youth, a stranger, knelt to thee, With cheeks all red and golden locks all curled, And cried, "Sweet child, if thou wilt worship me, Thou shalt possess the kingdoms of the world." But you looked down and said, "I know you not, Nor want I other kingdom than my soul." Till Love in shame, convicted of his plot, Left you and turned him to some other goal. And this discomfiture which you had seen Long served you for your homily and boast, While, of your beauty and yourself the queen, You lived a monument of vain love crossed, With scarce a thought of that which might have been To scare you with the ghost of pleasures lost. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MUTABILITY (2) by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY THE COTTAGER TO HER INFANT by DOROTHY WORDSWORTH DRINKING ODE by ALCAEUS OF MYTILENE MISADVENTURES AT MARGATE; A LEGEND OF JARVIS'S JETTY by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM GREENES FUNERALLS: SONNET 11 by RICHARD BARNFIELD THE INDIAN DANCER by ANNA TILLMAN BOYD TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 4. THE OCEAN OF SEX by EDWARD CARPENTER |