John Taylor "The Water Poet"

A simple maiden in her flower
Is worth a hundred coats of arms.

A simple maiden in her flower
Is worth a hundred coats of arms.

But that old man, who is lord of the broad estate and the hall,
Dropped off gorged from a read more

But that old man, who is lord of the broad estate and the hall,
Dropped off gorged from a scheme which left us flaccid and
drained.

As the sweet voice of a bird,
Heard by the lander in a lonely isle,
Moves him read more

As the sweet voice of a bird,
Heard by the lander in a lonely isle,
Moves him to think what kind of bird it is,
That sings so delicately clear, and make
Conjecture of the plumage and the form.

For men, at most, differ as heaven and earth;
But women, worst and best, as heaven and hell.

For men, at most, differ as heaven and earth;
But women, worst and best, as heaven and hell.

And there is a worm in the lonely wood,
That pierces the liver and blackens the blood,
read more

And there is a worm in the lonely wood,
That pierces the liver and blackens the blood,
And makes it a sorrow to be.