Love

Farewell, false Love, the oracle of lies

by Anonymous (Elizabethan songs) c. 1588–1630

From Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age, ed. A. H. Bullen (London: Nimmo, 1891)

Love

Farewell, false Love, the oracle of lies,
A mortal foe and enemy to rest,
An envious boy from whom all cares arise,
A bastard vile, a beast with rage possest;
A way of error, a temple full of treason,
In all effects contrary unto reason.

A poison'd serpent cover'd all with flowers,
Mother of sighs and murderer of repose;
A sea of sorrows from whence are drawn such showers
As moisture lend to every grief that grows;
A school of guile, a net of deep deceit,
A gilded hook that holds a poison'd bait.

A fortress foiled which Reason did defend,
A Siren song, a fever of the mind,
A maze wherein affection finds no end,
A raging cloud that runs before the wind;
A substance like the shadow of the sun,
A goal of grief for which the wisest run.

A quenchless fire, a nurse of trembling fear,
A path that leads to peril and mishap,
A true retreat of sorrow and despair,
An idle boy that sleeps in Pleasure's lap;
A deep distrust of that which certain seems,
A hope of that which Reason doubtful deems.

✦ ✦ ✦

From William Byrd's Psalms, Sonnets, and Songs, 1588.

MLA

Anonymous (Elizabethan songs). “Farewell, false Love, the oracle of lies.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-elizabethan-songs/35/.

Chicago

Anonymous (Elizabethan songs). “Farewell, false Love, the oracle of lies.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-elizabethan-songs/35/.

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