| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910. | | | | Inconstancy Excused | | By John Sheffield, Duke of Buckinghamshire (1648–1721) |
| | | I MUST confess I am untrue | |
| To Gloriana’s eyes; | |
| But he that’s smiled upon by you | |
| Must all the world despise. | |
| |
| In winter fires of little worth | 5 |
| Excite our dull desire; | |
| But when the sun breaks kindly forth | |
| Those fainter flames expire. | |
| |
| Then blame me not for slighting now | |
| What I did once adore: | 10 |
| O do but this one change allow, | |
| And I can change no more; | |
| |
| Fixed by your never-failing charms | |
| Till I with age decay, | |
| Till languishing within your arms | 15 |
| I sigh my soul away. | | | | |
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