No child is born in an empty nest,
I nurtured hate, and all the rest—
My pride and passions equally matched:
The eggs from all shame is hatched;

Ingratitude, impatience, rage,
Those monsters we are taught to cage
In vain, in vain! fate’s cuckoo spells
Lie there for those who warm their shells.

Yet I lacked one, (for lack of room?)
I never did care who slept with whom;
Grew rich; found fame; she was not for me,
That dark destroyer—jealousy!

I claim no merit where none is due,
Who misses what they never knew?
But there was, let’s say—yes, let it be said,
One monster that I never bred.