Love

Phillis, Sonnet XIII

by Thomas Lodge 1557–1625

From Phillis

Love

Love guides the roses of thy lips,
And flies about them like a bee;
If I approach he forward skips,
And if I kiss he stingeth me.
Love in thine eyes doth build his bower,
And sleeps within their pretty shine;
And if I look the boy will lower,
And from their orbs shoots shafts divine.
Love works thy heart within his fire,
And in my tears doth firm the same;
And if I tempt it will retire,
And of my plaints doth make a game.
Love, let me cull her choicest flowers,
And pity me, and calm her eye,
Make soft her heart, dissolve her lowers,
Then will I praise thy deity.
But if thou do not love, I'll truly serve her
In spite of thee, and by firm faith deserve her.

✦ ✦ ✦

One of the sonnets in Lodge's pastoral sequence Phillis, in which the shepherd Damon courts the shepherdess of the title.

MLA

Lodge, Thomas. “Phillis, Sonnet XIII.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/lodge/15/.

Chicago

Lodge, Thomas. “Phillis, Sonnet XIII.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/lodge/15/.

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