Vashti

Ay, shame, my lord—there is no synonym That can give voice to my ignoble state. To be a thing for eyes to gaze upon, Yet held an outcast from thy heart and mind; To hear my beauty praised but not my worth; To come and go at Pleasure’s beck and call, While barred from Wisdom’s conclaves! Think ye that A noble calling for a noble dame? Why, any concubine amongst thy train Could play my royal part as well as I— Were she as fair!