PAST mastership in Love's great art I claim, A lover perfect as you e'er shall find, Proved in all Love's degrees of every kind: Is not such merit well deserving fame? A girl with eyes to set the world aflame First did my youthful heart in fetters bind; Wife, widow next, who all good gifts combine, Each in succession my delight became. The girl I loved for bashful innocence; The wife I loved for worth without pretence; The widow loved for virtuous liberty. Therefore of lovers I deserve the throne, Nor any can my constancy deny, For I of womankind have loved but one. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MOTTO TO THE SONGS OF INNOCENCE & OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE FIVE STUDENTS by THOMAS HARDY YOUR LAD, AND MY LAD by RANDALL PARRISH A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM by EDGAR ALLAN POE THE SWING by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON AT ELLIS ISLAND by MARGARET LIVINGSTON CHANLER ALDRICH ON A SMALL DOG by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |