Love

Alas the greiff and dedly wofull smert

by Sir Thomas Wyatt 1503–1542

From The Poems of Sir Thomas Wiat (ed. A. K. Foxwell, 1913)

Love

Alas the greiff and dedly wofull smert :
The carefull chaunce shapen afore my shert;
The sorrowfull teares, the sighes hote as fyer.
That cruell love hath long soked from myn hert.
And for reward of our greate desire
Disdaynful dowblenes have I for my hier.

O lost servis, O payn ill rewarded :
O pitifull hert with payn enlarged :
O faithful! mynde, too sodenly assented :
Retourn, alas sithens thou are not regarded :
Too great a prouf of true faith presented,
Causeth by right suche faith to be repented.

O cruell causer of undeserved chaunge,
By greet desire unconstantly to raunge :
Is this your waye for prouf of stedfastnes ?
(Perdy you knowe the thing was not so straunge
By former prouff) too muche my faithfulnes;
What nedeth then suche coloured dowblenes?

I have wailed thus, weping in nyghtly payn :
In sobbes and sighes, Alas ! and all in vayn :
In inward plaint and hertes wofull torment :
And yet, alas, lo crueltie and disdayn
Have set at noght a faithfull true intent,
And price hath privilege trouth to prevent.

But though I sterve : and to my deth still morne :
And pece mele in peces though I be torn :
And though I dye yelding my weried gooste
Shall never thing again make me retorn.
I qwite the entreprise of that that I have lost.
To whome so ever lust for to proffer moost.

MLA

Wyatt, Thomas. “Alas the greiff and dedly wofull smert.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/wyatt/74/.

Chicago

Wyatt, Thomas. “Alas the greiff and dedly wofull smert.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/wyatt/74/.

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