ONCE I loved, and my heart bowed down, <br />Subject and slave, for Love was a King; <br />He sat above with sceptre and crown, <br />Turning his eyes from my sorrowing. <br />The laugh of a god on his lips lay light-- <br />His lips victorious that mocked my pain, <br />And I mourned in the cold and the outer night, <br />And my tears and my prayers were vain. <br /> <br />Now the old spell is over and done, <br />Myself I wear the ermine and gold, <br />My brows are crowned, I ascend the throne, <br />I have taken the sceptre and orb to hold. <br />I smile victorious, set far above <br />The music of voices that moan and pray, <br />My feet are wet with the tears of love, <br />And I turn my eyes away.<br /><br />Edith Nesbit<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/accession/
