FOLLOW a shadow, it still flies you;  
   Seem to fly it, it will pursue:  
So court a mistress, she denies you;  
   Let her alone, she will court you.  
   Say, are not women truly, then,  
   Styled but the shadows of us men?  
 
At morn and even, shades are longest;  
   At noon they are or short or none:  
So men at weakest, they are strongest,  
   But grant us perfect, they're not known.  
   Say, are not women truly, then,  
   Styled but the shadows of us men?
Benjamin Jonson
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-shadow-2/