Queen Elizabeth's Letter Bearer 1597

I have it almost first hand for a fact (My cousin's sword-maker, heard it straight From an ambassador who bore her mail) The queen does not age well, And should, forsooth, Cover those attributes young women flaunt. I'm told that from a distance she appeared Like a Toledo jewel, all pearly gold Her red wig glittering with silver thread Great russet locks around her shoulders curled But mark you, she is sixty years of age And 40 years have passed since she was crowned Though on her forehead lay a drop of pearls Her face is ancient, long and sunken in Her yellow teeth, ill spaced with many missing Such marks of time all beauty must confound The front of her high-collared dress was open Ajar, to show her bare from breast to throat The lining, bright with tiny rubies, pearls Her breasts on show, once delicate and white Were wrinkled like the dugs of an old goat (But keep this to yourself, for like her sire Her critics seldom keep their heads for long) Life's little cobble's ill to keep afloat