Love

A Sonnet in the Grace of Wit, of Tongue, of Face

by Anonymous (Elizabethan miscellanies) c. 1575–1602

From A Poetical Rhapsody (1602), ed. A. H. Bullen (1890–91)

Love

Her face, her tongue, her wit, so fair, so sweet, so sharp,
First bent, then drew, now hit, mine eye, mine ear, my heart:
Mine eye, mine ear, my heart, to like, to learn, to love,
Her face, her tongue, her wit, doth lead, doth teach, doth move.
Her face, her tongue, her wit, with beams, with sound, with art,
Doth blind, doth charm, doth rule, mine eye, mine ear, my heart.
Mine eye, mine ear, my heart, with life, with hope, with skill,
Her face, her tongue, her wit, doth feed, doth feast, doth fill.
Oh face, oh tongue, oh wit, with frowns, with checks, with smart,
Wring not, vex not, wound not, mine eye, mine ear, my heart:
This eye, this ear, this heart, shall 'join, shall bind, shall swear,
Your face, your tongue, your wit, to serve, to love, to fear.

✦ ✦ ✦

Anonymous in the Rhapsody; Bullen thinks it may be by Raleigh.

MLA

Anonymous (Elizabethan miscellanies). “A Sonnet in the Grace of Wit, of Tongue, of Face.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-elizabethan-miscellanies/116/.

Chicago

Anonymous (Elizabethan miscellanies). “A Sonnet in the Grace of Wit, of Tongue, of Face.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-elizabethan-miscellanies/116/.

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