| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Amoretti and Epithalamion | | Sonnet XLVII. Trust not the treason of those smiling looks | | Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599) |
| | | TRUST not the treason of those smiling looks, | |
| Until ye have their guileful trains well tried: | |
| For they are like but unto golden hooks, | |
| That from the foolish fish their baits do hide: | |
| So she with flattering smiles weak hearts doth guide | 5 |
| Unto her love, and tempt to their decay; | |
| Whom, being caught, she kills with cruel pride, | |
| And feeds at pleasure on the wretched prey: | |
| Yet, even whilst her bloody hands them slay, | |
| Her eyes look lovely, and upon them smile; | 10 |
| That they take pleasure in her cruel play, | |
| And, dying, do themselves of pain beguile. | |
| O mighty charm! which makes men love their bane, | |
| And think they die with pleasure, live with pain. | | | | |
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