| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Parthenophil and Parthenophe | | Elegy V. Are you so waspish that, from time to time | | Barnabe Barnes (1569?–1609) |
| | TO PARTHENOPHIL.
ARE you so waspish that, from time to time, | |
| You nourish bees! and to so good an end, | |
| That having sucked your honey, they must climb | |
| Into your bosom, to bethank their friend! | |
| And for a sign, that they come to defend, | 5 |
| Reward you with such weapons as they have! | |
| Nor was it more than your deserts did crave! | |
| Not much unlike unto the viper’s youngling, | |
| Who (nourished with the breeder’s dearest blood) | |
| Snarls with his teeth, nor can endure the bongling | 10 |
| Within the viper’s belly, but makes food | |
| Of her! Thus Nature worketh in her brood. | |
| So you, forsooth! (nor was it much amiss!) | |
| Feed snakes, which thankfully both sting and hiss! | |
| But if that any of our sex did sting you, | 15 |
| Know this, moreover! Though you bear the prick; | |
| And though their frowns, to Melancholy bring you: | |
| Yet are we, seldom, or else never, sick! | |
| Nor do we die, like bees! but still be quick! | |
| And soon recovering what we lost before, | 20 |
| We sting apace! yet still keep stings in store! | | | | |
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