| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. | | | | Whilst It Is Prime | | By Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599) |
| | | FRESH 1 Spring, the herald of love’s mighty king, | |
| In whose cote-armour richly are displayed | |
| All sorts of flowers the which on earth do spring | |
| In goodly colours gloriously arrayed,— | |
| Go to my love where she is careless laid | 5 |
| Yet in her Winter’s bower not well awake: | |
| Tell her the joyous time will not be stayed | |
| Unless she do him by the fore-lock take: | |
| Bid her therefore herself soon ready make | |
| To wait on Love amongst his lovely crew: | 10 |
| Where every one that misseth then her make | |
| Shall be by him amerced with penance due. | |
| Make haste therefore, sweet Love, whilst it is prime | |
| For none can call again the passèd time. | |
|
|
|
