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minoanmissThis one's by Kipling. With thanks to cmcmck.
The Looking-Glass, by Rudyard Kipling
Queen Bess was Harry’s daughter.
Stand forward partners all!
In ruff and stomacher and gown
She danced King Philip down-a down,
And left her shoe to show ’twas true—
(The very tune I’m playing you)
In Norgem at Brickwall!
The Queen was in her chamber, and she was middling old,
Her petticoat was satin, and her stomacher was gold.
Backward and forward and sideways did she pass,
Making up her mind to face the cruel looking-glass.
The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lass
As comely or as kindly or as young as what she was!
Queen Bess was Harry’s daughter. Now hand your partners all!
The Queen was in her chamber, a-combing of her hair.
There came Queen Mary’s spirit and It stood behind her chair,
Singing “Backward and forward and sideways may you pass,
But I will stand behind you till you face the looking-glass.
The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lass
As lovely or unlucky or as lonely as I was!”
Queen Bess was Harry’s daughter. Now hand your partners all!
The Queen was in her chamber, a-weeping very sore,
There came Lord Leicester’s spirit and It scratched upon the door,
Singing “Backward and forward and sideways may you pass,
But I will walk beside you till you face the looking-glass.
The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lass,
As hard and unforgiving or as wicked as you was!”
Queen Bess was Harry’s daughter. Now kiss your partners all!
The Queen was in her chamber, her sins were on her head.
She looked the spirits up and down and statelily she said:—
“Backward and forward and sideways though I’ve been,
Yet I am Harry’s daughter and I am England’s Queen!”
And she faced the looking-glass (and whatever else there was)
And she saw her day was over and she saw her beauty pass
In the cruel looking-glass, that can always hurt a lass
More hard than any ghost there is or any man there was!
I may not be Harry's daughter and I'm surely not England's queen, and tomorrow I shall be officially older than I have ever yet been before. I may have the phantoms of lost friendships and the ghosts of lost loves looking over my shoulders, but I have treasured friendships to hand and wonderful loves before me. So the least I can do, tomorrow and all the days I have remaining to me, is stand up straight and look myself in the eye in the mirror, look at everything I've done for good and for ill, and the things I hope to do yet, and the things I will do that I don't know about yet.
I have been hurt and I have survived worse than my looking-glass, and I will again.
Here's to my next year.
cmcmck.The Looking-Glass, by Rudyard Kipling
Queen Bess was Harry’s daughter.
Stand forward partners all!
In ruff and stomacher and gown
She danced King Philip down-a down,
And left her shoe to show ’twas true—
(The very tune I’m playing you)
In Norgem at Brickwall!
The Queen was in her chamber, and she was middling old,
Her petticoat was satin, and her stomacher was gold.
Backward and forward and sideways did she pass,
Making up her mind to face the cruel looking-glass.
The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lass
As comely or as kindly or as young as what she was!
Queen Bess was Harry’s daughter. Now hand your partners all!
The Queen was in her chamber, a-combing of her hair.
There came Queen Mary’s spirit and It stood behind her chair,
Singing “Backward and forward and sideways may you pass,
But I will stand behind you till you face the looking-glass.
The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lass
As lovely or unlucky or as lonely as I was!”
Queen Bess was Harry’s daughter. Now hand your partners all!
The Queen was in her chamber, a-weeping very sore,
There came Lord Leicester’s spirit and It scratched upon the door,
Singing “Backward and forward and sideways may you pass,
But I will walk beside you till you face the looking-glass.
The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lass,
As hard and unforgiving or as wicked as you was!”
Queen Bess was Harry’s daughter. Now kiss your partners all!
The Queen was in her chamber, her sins were on her head.
She looked the spirits up and down and statelily she said:—
“Backward and forward and sideways though I’ve been,
Yet I am Harry’s daughter and I am England’s Queen!”
And she faced the looking-glass (and whatever else there was)
And she saw her day was over and she saw her beauty pass
In the cruel looking-glass, that can always hurt a lass
More hard than any ghost there is or any man there was!
I may not be Harry's daughter and I'm surely not England's queen, and tomorrow I shall be officially older than I have ever yet been before. I may have the phantoms of lost friendships and the ghosts of lost loves looking over my shoulders, but I have treasured friendships to hand and wonderful loves before me. So the least I can do, tomorrow and all the days I have remaining to me, is stand up straight and look myself in the eye in the mirror, look at everything I've done for good and for ill, and the things I hope to do yet, and the things I will do that I don't know about yet.
I have been hurt and I have survived worse than my looking-glass, and I will again.
Here's to my next year.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-01 10:51 pm (UTC)Cheers!
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Date: 2024-01-02 12:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-02 01:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-02 01:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-02 02:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-02 02:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-02 03:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-02 04:48 am (UTC)Queen Bess says, in effect, "I may be old and ugly, but I am Harry's daughter and I am England's Queen!" she knows and celebrates her own worth, and tells former queens and her (reputed) lover being old and ugly is not what I wanted, but I'm still the rightful Queen, and I can afford a bit of rouge for my cheeks, a bit more gold embroidery on my stomacher, and BEHAVE as if I am the beautiful maiden Queen!"
I'm old and I'm ugly, I never was beautiful, I never was Queen, and my mirror helped me part my hair evenly, but I've loved and been loved, and I'm not ready for this adventure to be over.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-03 04:43 am (UTC)cheers
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Date: 2024-01-02 06:09 am (UTC)The following is no doubt a bit colored by my not liking Kipling as much as you do:
We AFAB types have an ideology finessed onto us from birth that the best and brightest we can and should be, is to be tender nubbins whose dewy freshness cries out (they finesse) for masticators, and whose pellucid naïveté make it easy to trap and masticate us. For sexual services and for unpaid non-sexual work and for general being knocked about as targets of whim.
It's so unattractive when we start to notice this game and turn the tables or refuse to play or even simply cry the game out. Such tough old hens we are.
But rather than cling to the role of tender prey, I would much sooner have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England, too.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-03 04:33 am (UTC)beams and hugs you Thank you for reminding me.
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Date: 2024-01-02 12:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-02 12:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-02 01:05 pm (UTC)I may not be Harry's daughter, but one of his wives (Jane Seymour) is my 13x Great Aunt.
And hippo birdie two ewes! :o)
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Date: 2024-01-02 02:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-02 07:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-08 08:32 am (UTC)