| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Fidessa | | Sonnet XIII. Compare me to the child that plays with fire! | | Bartholomew Griffin (d. 1602) |
| | | COMPARE me to the child that plays with fire! | |
| Or to the fly that dieth in the flame! | |
| Or to the foolish boy that did aspire | |
| To touch the Glory of high heaven’s frame! | |
| Compare me to LEANDER struggling in the waves, | 5 |
| Not able to attain his safety’s shore! | |
| Or to the sick, that do expect their graves! | |
| Or to the captive crying evermore! | |
| Compare me to the weeping wounded hart, | |
| Moaning with tears the period of his life! | 10 |
| Or to the boar that will not feel the smart, | |
| When he is stricken with the butcher’s knife! | |
| No man to these, can fitly me compare: | |
| These live to die! I die to live in care! | | | | |
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