THE THREE AGES OF WOMAN <br />Love, in thy youth, a stranger, knelt to thee, <br />With cheeks all red and golden locks all curled, <br />And cried, ``Sweet child, if thou wilt worship me, <br />Thou shalt possess the kingdoms of the world.'' <br />But you looked down and said, ``I know you not, <br />Nor want I other kingdom than my soul.'' <br />Till Love in shame, convicted of his plot, <br />Left you and turned him to some other goal. <br />And this discomfiture which you had seen <br />Long served you for your homily and boast, <br />While, of your beauty and yourself the queen, <br />You lived a monument of vain love crossed, <br />With scarce a thought of that which might have been <br />To scare you with the ghost of pleasures lost.<br /><br />Wilfrid Scawen Blunt<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-love-sonnets-of-proteus-part-iii-gods-and-false-gods-lxvi/
