Love

Fidessa: Sonnet 33

by Bartholomew Griffin fl. 1596

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

Love

He that would fain Fidessa's image see,
My face of force may be his looking-glass.
There is she portrayed and her cruelty,
Which as a wonder through the world must pass.
But were I dead, she would not be betrayed;
It's I, that 'gainst my will, shall make it known.
Her cruelty by me must be bewrayed,
Or I must hide my head and live alone.
I'll pluck my silver hairs from out my head,
And wash away the wrinkles of my face;
Closely immured I'll live as I were dead,
Before she suffer but the least disgrace.
How can I hide that is already known?
I have been seen and have no face but one.

MLA

Griffin, Bartholomew. “Fidessa: Sonnet 33.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/griffin_b/32/.

Chicago

Griffin, Bartholomew. “Fidessa: Sonnet 33.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/griffin_b/32/.

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