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.�