| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Fidessa | | Sonnet LV. O, no, I dare not! O, I may not speak! | | Bartholomew Griffin (d. 1602) |
| | | O, NO, I dare not! O, I may not speak! | |
| Yes, yes, I dare! I can! I must! I will! | |
| Then heart, pour forth thy plaints, and do not break! | |
| Let never Fancy, manly courage kill! | |
| Intreat her mildly! (words have pleasing charms, | 5 |
| Of force to move the most obdurate heart) | |
| To take relenting pity of my harms. | |
| And with unfeigned tears to wail my smart! | |
| Is She a stock, a block, a stone, a flint? | |
| Hath She, nor ears to hear, nor eyes to see? | 10 |
| If so, my cries, my prayers, my tears shall stint! | |
| Lord! how can lovers so bewitchèd be! | |
| I took her to be Beauty’s Queen alone; | |
| But now, I see She is a senseless stone! | | | | |
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