Eleanor Farjeon

Sonnets. 8. Wilt thou put seals on love because men say

Alas, that ever life’s sleek counterfeit,
Convention, should usurp life’s very throne,
Setting about the bitter and the sweet
Observances the soul disdains to own.
It muffles up with bland expedient tongue
The wise examination of the mind,
Bribing the old and threatening the young
And offering easy conduct to the blind.

A handbook of few rules for many cases,
One answer to more sums than it can prove,
With prizes for apt scholars in its paces,
A veil for knowledge and a ring for love;
And this smooth text for any questioning heart--
Know not, and be less than, the thing thou art.