I <br /> <br />Never a careworn wife but shows, <br /> If a joy suffuse her, <br />Something beautiful to those <br /> Patient to peruse her, <br />Some one charm the world unknows <br /> Precious to a muser, <br />Haply what, ere years were foes, <br /> Moved her mate to choose her. <br /> <br />II <br /> <br />But, be it a hint of rose <br /> That an instant hues her, <br />Or some early light or pose <br /> Wherewith thought renews her - <br />Seen by him at full, ere woes <br /> Practised to abuse her - <br />Sparely comes it, swiftly goes, <br /> Time again subdues her.<br /><br />Thomas Hardy<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/wives-in-the-sere/