| |
| SWEET Phyllis, if a silly swain | |
| May sue to thee for grace, | |
| See not thy loving shepherd slain | |
| With looking on thy face; | |
| But think what power thou hast got | 5 |
| Upon my flock and me, | |
| Thou seest they now regard me not, | |
| But all do follow thee. | |
| And if I have so far presumed | |
| With prying in thine eyes, | 10 |
| Yet let not comfort be consumed | |
| That in thy pity lies; | |
| But as thou art that Phyllis fair, | |
| That fortune favour gives, | |
| So let not love die in despair | 15 |
| That in thy favour lives. | |
| The deer do browse upon the briar, | |
| The birds do pick the cherries; | |
| And will not Beauty grant Desire | |
| One handful of her berries? | 20 |
| If it be so that thou hast sworn | |
| That none shall look on thee, | |
| Yet let me know thou dost not scorn | |
| To cast a look on me. | |
| But if thy beauty make thee proud, | 25 |
| Think then what is ordained; | |
| The heavens have never yet allowed | |
| That love should be disdained. | |
| Then lest the Fates that favour love | |
| Should curse thee for unkind, | 30 |
| Let me report for thy behoove | |
| The honour of thy mind; | |
| Let Corydon with full consent | |
| Set down what he hath seen, | |
| That Phyllida with Love’s content | 35 |
| Is sworn the shepherds’ queen. | |
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