Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904.
Parthenophil and ParthenopheSonnet XXXVII. But Pity, which sometimes doth lions move
Barnabe Barnes (1569?–1609)B
Removed my sun from moody Lion’s cave;
And into Virgo’s bower did next remove
His fiery wheels. But then She answer gave
That “She was all vowed to virginity!”
Yet said, “’Bove all men, She would most affect me!”
Fie, Delian goddess! In thy company
She learned, with honest colour, to neglect me!
And underneath chaste veils of single life,
She shrouds her crafty claws, and lion’s heart!
Which, with my senses, now, do mingle strife
’Twixt loves and virtues, which provoke my smart.
Yet from these Passions can I never part,
But still I make my suits importunate
To thee! which makes my case unfortunate.