She had the good sense to know whom to admit
To her private councils, as men the most fit;
And by their advice, good sense and discretion,
She managed with fitness to govern the nation.
As a Queen she seems great, though weak as a woman,
And when praised as a Goddess, was no more than human;
At the age of threescore, she loved to be compared
As a beauty to Venus, though crook’d and red haired.
Of lovers she had full many a one,
Who sought, through her hand, a pass to the throne,