| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Parthenophil and Parthenophe | | Elegy III. Sweet thraldom, by Love’s sweet impression wrought | | Barnabe Barnes (1569?–1609) |
| | | SWEET thraldom, by LOVE’s sweet impression wrought. | |
| LOVE! in that bondage ever let me live! | |
| For LOVE hath brought me bondslave, with a thought! | |
| And to my thoughts, LOVE did me bondman give! | |
| Ah me, my thoughts’ poor prisoner, shall I rest? | 5 |
| And shall my thoughts make triumph over me? | |
| First, to fierce famished lions stand addrest! | |
| Or let huge rocks and mountains cover thee! | |
| Behold one, to his fancies made a prey! | |
| A poor ACTÆON, with his hounds devoured! | 10 |
| An oak, with his green ivy worn away! | |
| A wretch consumed with plenties great down poured! | |
| A garment with his moth despoiled, and rotten! | |
| A thorn, with his bred caterpillar cankered! | |
| A buried CÆSAR, with his fame forgotten! | 15 |
| A friend betrayed by those on whom he anchored! | |
| Behold a fire consumed with his own heat! | |
| An iron worn away with his own rust! | |
| But were mine heart of oak, this rage would eat, | |
| Still fresh as ivy, mine hard oak to dust! | 20 |
| And were my pleasures durable as steel, | |
| Despair would force they should Time’s canker feel! | | | | |
|
|
