| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Diana | The Second Decade
Sonnet VIII. The fowler hides, as closely as he may | | Henry Constable (1562–1613) |
| | | THE FOWLER hides, as closely as he may, | |
| The net, where caught the silly bird should be; | |
| Lest he the threatening poison should but see, | |
| And so for fear be forced to fly away. | |
| My Lady so, the while she doth assay | 5 |
| In curled knots fast to entangle me; | |
| Put on her veil, to th’end I should not flee | |
| The golden net, wherein I am a prey. | |
| Alas, most Sweet! what need is of a net | |
| To catch a bird, that is already ta’en? | 10 |
| Sith with your hand alone, you may it get; | |
| For it desires to fly into the same. | |
| What needs such art, my thoughts then to entrap; | |
| When, of themselves, they fly into your lap? | | | | |
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