Love

Fidessa: Sonnet 31

by Bartholomew Griffin fl. 1596

From Elizabethan Sonnet-Cycles, ed. M. F. Crow (1897)

Love

Tongue, never cease to sing Fidessa's praise;
Heart, however she deserve conceive the best;
Eyes, stand amazed to see her beauty's rays;
Lips, steal one kiss and be for ever blest;
Hands, touch that hand wherein your life is closed;
Breast, lock up fast in thee thy life's sole treasure;
Arms, still embrace and never be disclosed;
Feet, run to her without or pace or measure;
Tongue, heart, eyes, lips, hands, breast, arms, feet,
Consent to do true homage to your Queen,
Lovely, fair, gentle, wise, virtuous, sober, sweet,
Whose like shall never be, hath never been!
O that I were all tongue, her praise to shew;
Then surely my poor heart were freed from woe!

MLA

Griffin, Bartholomew. “Fidessa: Sonnet 31.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/griffin_b/30/.

Chicago

Griffin, Bartholomew. “Fidessa: Sonnet 31.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/griffin_b/30/.

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