| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Laura—Part I. | | XXXVI. Sweet sang thy bird, in ebon cage shut fast | | Robert Tofte (1561–1620) |
| | | SWEET sang thy bird, in ebon cage shut fast, | |
| And did delight thy dainty ears so much | |
| As thou vouchsafedst to give him meat at last; | |
| And gently did his feathers stroke and touch. | |
| So, Lady, I likewise, in th’ ebony | 5 |
| Of thy bright eyes am prisoner, and do sing | |
| Thy Beauty’s praise; and yet not fed am I | |
| By thee: yet live through thee; a wondrous thing! | |
| Love to my heart thy beauty doth supply | |
| For food; which else, through famine starved, would die. | 10 | | | |
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