I watched the glory of her childhood change,
Half-sorrowful to find the child I knew,
(Loved long ago in lily-time),
Become a maid, mysterious and strange,
With fair, pure eyes – dear eyes, but not the eyes I knew
Of old, in the olden time!
Till on my doubting soul the ancient good
Of her dear childhood in the new disguise
Dawned, and I hastened to adore
The glory of her waking maidenhead,
And found the old tenderness within her deepening eyes,
But kinder than before.
(Ernest Dowson)
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Based on Topics: Time Poems, Fairness Poems, Success Poems, Change Poems, Mystery PoemsBased on Keywords: childhood, disguise, tenderness, adore, olden, deepening, hastened, doubting, kinder, maidenhead, dawned