| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Licia | | Sonnet XLI. If, aged Charon, when my life shall end | | Giles Fletcher (1586?–1623) |
| | | IF, aged CHARON, when my life shall end, | |
| I pass thy ferry and my waftage pay, | |
| Thy oars shall fail thy boat, and mast shall rend; | |
| And through the deep shall be a dry footway. | |
| For why? My heart with sighs doth breathe such flame | 5 |
| That air and water both incensèd be: | |
| The boundless ocean from whose mouth they came | |
| (For from my heat not heaven itself is free!). | |
| Then since to me my loss can be no gain; | |
| Avoid thy harm, and fly what I foretell! | 10 |
| Make thou my Love with me for to be slain; | |
| That I with her, and both with thee, may dwell. | |
| Thy fact thus, CHARON, both of us shall bless: | |
| Thou save thy boat, and I my Love possess. | | | | |
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