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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TO A YOUNG LADY DESIRED A VERSE ... SERVANT ONE DAY, MISTRESS ANOTHER by ELIZABETH TIPPER

First Line: MORE THAN A KING'S MY WORD DOES RULE TO DAY
Last Line: WHEN ALL THE WORLD'S A RIDDLE, WHY NOT I?
Subject(s): COURTS & COURTIERS; FREEDOM; RIDDLES; LIBERTY;

More than a King's my @3Word@1 dos rule to day,
His Subjects @3His@1, my Betters @3Mine@1 obey;
@3Quality, Fortune, Beauty, Virtue, Wit,@1
Do @3Govern@1 others, but to me Submit:
To morrow from this @3Dignity@1 I fall,
And am a @3Servant@1 at each @3Beck@1 and @3Call@1:
Next Day I'me @3free@1 in @3Liberty@1 and @3Power@1,
And, as before, a @3Mistress@1 every Hour.

@3Changeable@1 is my @3State@1, and yet not strange,
When @3Day@1 to @3Night@1, and @3Light@1 to @3Darkness@1 change:
Yet @3Fate@1 I cannot blame, but justly own,
She, in this @3Difference, Evenness@1 hath shown;
For when I'me @3Mistress@1, none I can Command,
When @3Servant, curb'd@1 by no imperious @3Hand@1:
This is a @3Riddle@1, yet here wonder why,
When all the @3World@1's a @3Riddle@1, why not I?



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