| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Licia | | Sonnet XLVI. If he be dead in whom no heart remains | | Giles Fletcher (1586?–1623) |
| | | IF he be dead in whom no heart remains, | |
| Or lifeless be in whom no life is found; | |
| If he do pine, that never comfort gains; | |
| And be distressed that hath his deadly wound: | |
| Then must I die, whose heart elsewhere is clad; | 5 |
| And lifeless pass the greedy worms to feed: | |
| Then must I pine, that never comfort had; | |
| And be distressed, whose wound with tears doth bleed. | |
| Which if I do, why do I not wax cold? | |
| Why rest I not like one that wants a heart? | 10 |
| Why move I still like him that life doth hold; | |
| And sense enjoy both of my joy and smart? | |
| Like NIOBE Queen, which, made a stone, did weep: | |
| LICIA my heart, dead and alive, doth keep. | | | | |
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