Young Woman

Naked before the glass she said, “I see my body as no man has, Nor any shall unless I wed And naked in a stranger’s house Stand timid beside his bed. There is no pity in the flesh.” “Or else I shall grow old,” she said, “Alone, and change my likeliness For a vile, slack shape, a head Shriveled with thinking wickedness Against the day I must be dead And eaten by my crabbed wish.” “One or the other way,” she said, “How shall I know the difference, When wrinkles come, to spinster or bride? Whether to marry or burn is bless- ed best, O stranger to my bed, There is no pity in the flesh.”