| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. | | | | I Saw My Lady Weep | | Anonymous |
| | | I SAW 1 my Lady weep, | |
| And Sorrow proud to be advancèd so | |
| In those fair eyes where all perfections keep. | |
| Her face was full of woe: | |
| But such a woe, believe me, as wins more hearts | 5 |
| Than Mirth can do with her enticing parts. | |
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| Sorrow was there made fair, | |
| And Passion wise; Tears a delightful thing; | |
| Silence beyond all speech, a wisdom rare; | |
| She made her sighs to sing, | 10 |
| And all things with so sweet a sadness move | |
| As made my heart at once both grieve and love. | |
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| O fairer than aught else | |
| The world can show, leave off in time to grieve! | |
| Enough, enough: your joyful look excels; | 15 |
| Tears kill the heart, believe. | |
| O strive not to be excellent in woe, | |
| Which only breeds your beauty’s overthrow. | |
| | | Note 1. From John Dowland’s Second Book of Songs or Airs, 1600. [back] | | |
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