And of the elder twain ’tis truth to say
That if they stood not high above compare,
Yet in their prime they bore the palm away;
Outwards of loveliness; but Nature’s mood,
Gracious to make, had grudgingly endued
And marr’d by gifting ill the beauteous clay.
4
And being in honour they were well content
To feed on lovers’ looks and courtly smiles,
To hang their necks with jewel’d ornament,