Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904.
Parthenophil and ParthenopheSonnet CIV. Hold! matchless Mirror of all Womankind!
Barnabe Barnes (1569?–1609)H
These Pens and Sonnets, servants of thy praise!
Placed in a world of graces, which amaze
All young beholders, through Desire blind.
Thou, to whom conquered C
His bow and darts, during thy sunny days!
Through thine eyes’ force enfeebled by the rays
Which wonderers, to their cost, in thine eyes find!
That there, with beauty’s excellence unable,
To write, or bear, my pens, and books refuse;
Thine endless graces are so amiable!
Passing the spirit of mine humble Muse.
So that the more I write, more graces rise!
Which mine astonished Muse cannot comprise.
F I N I S.