| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | The Tears of Fancie | | Sonnet VIII. O what a life is it that Louers ioy | | Thomas Watson (1555–1592) |
| | | O WHAT a life is it that Louers ioy, | |
| VVherein both paine and pleasure shrouded is: | |
| Both heauenly pleasures and eke hells annoy, | |
| Hells fowle annoyance and eke heauenly blisse. | |
| VVherein vaine hope doth feede the Louers hart, | 5 |
| And brittle ioy sustaine a pining thought: | |
| VVhen blacke dispaire renewes a Louers smart, | |
| And quite extirps what first content had wrought, | |
| VVhere faire resemblance eke the mind allureth, | |
| To wanton lewd lust giuing pleasure scope: | 10 |
| And late repentance endles paines procureth, | |
| But none of these afflict me saue vaine hope. | |
| And sad dispaire, dispaire and hope perplexing, | |
| Vaine hope my hart, dispaire my fancie vexing. |
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[Two leaves containing eight sonnets (IX.–XVI.) are missing from the only knomn copy of this volume.] | | | |
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