| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Fidessa | | Sonnet XXVI. The silly bird that hastes unto the net | | Bartholomew Griffin (d. 1602) |
| | | THE SILLY bird that hastes unto the net, | |
| And flutters to and fro till she be taken, | |
| Doth look some food or succour there to get, | |
| But loseth life: so much is she mistaken! | |
| The foolish fly that fleeth to the flame | 5 |
| With ceaseless hovering, and with restless flight, | |
| Is burnèd straight to ashes in the same, | |
| And finds her death, where was her most delight. | |
| The proud aspiring boy, that needs would pry | |
| Into the secrets of the highest seat, | 10 |
| Had some conceit to gain content thereby, | |
| Or else his folly, sure, was wondrous great. | |
| These did through folly perish all and die: | |
| And, though I know it! even so do I! | | | | |
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