THOU neuter gender! whom a gown Can make a woman, breeches none; Created one thing, made another, Not a sister, scarce a brother; Jack of both sides, that may bear Or a distaff or a spear; If thy fortunes thither call, Be the Grand Signor's general; Or if thou fancy not that trade, Turn the sultana's chamber-maid; A medal, where grim Mars turned right, Proves a smiling Aphrodite; How doth Nature quibble, either He, or she, boy, girl, or neither; Thou may serve great Jove instead Of Hebe both and Ganymede: A face both stern and mild, cheeks bare, That still do only promise hair. Old Cybele, the first in all This human predicamental scale, Why would she choose her priests to be Such individuals as ye? Such insectas, added on To creatures by subtraction, In whom Nature claims no part, Ye only being words of art. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BALLADE AGAINST THE ENEMIES OF FRANCE by FRANCOIS VILLON WORK WITHOUT HOPE by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE SPRING AND FALL: TO A YOUNG CHILD by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS ARCADIA: SESTINA by PHILIP SIDNEY THE SECOND COMING by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS |