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- Herausgeber: Delphi Classics
- Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
- Serie: Delphi Poets Series
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015
Credited with introducing the sonnet into English poetry, the lyrical poet Sir Thomas Wyatt was responsible for pioneering innovations in verse literature. The Delphi Poets Series offers readers the works of literature's finest poets, with superior formatting. This volume presents the complete works of Sir Thomas Wyatt, with beautiful illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 2)
* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Wyatt's life and works
* Concise introductions to the poetry and other works
* Excellent formatting of the poems, with line numbers – ideal for students
* Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry
* Easily locate the poems you want to read
* Includes Wyatt's scarce letters - explore the poet's personal correspondence with his son, Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII
* Also includes Wyatt’s rare Oration, appearing here for the first time in digital print
* Features two bonus biographies - discover Wyatt's literary life
* Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles Please also see our poetry collections of Sydney, Surrey and Spenser
CONTENTS:
The Poetry of Wyatt
BRIEF INTRODUCTION: Sir Thomas Wyatt
The Poems
LIST OF POEMS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
LIST OF POEMS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
The Letters
THE LETTERS OF Sir Thomas Wyatt
The Oration
Sir Thomas Wyatt’S DEFENCE
The Biographies
Sir Thomas Wyatt by Sidney Lee
THE LIFE OF Sir Thomas Wyatt by Charles Cowden Clarke Please visit
www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles
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Sir Thomas Wyatt
(1503-1542)
Contents
The Poetry of Wyatt
Brief Introduction: Sir Thomas Wyatt
The Poems
List of Poems in Chronological Order
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
The Letters
The Letters of Sir Thomas Wyatt
The Oration
Sir Thomas Wyatt’s Defence
The Biographies
Sir Thomas Wyatt by Sidney Lee
The Life of Sir Thomas Wyatt by Charles Cowden Clarke
© Delphi Classics 2014
Version 2
Browse the entire series…
Sir Thomas Wyatt
By Delphi Classics, 2014
COPYRIGHT
Sir Thomas Wyatt - Delphi Poets Series
First published in the United Kingdom in 2014 by Delphi Classics.
© Delphi Classics, 2014.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.
ISBN: 9781910630532
Delphi Classics
is an imprint of
Delphi Publishing Ltd
Hastings, East Sussex
United Kingdom
Contact: [email protected]
www.delphiclassics.com
NOTE
When reading poetry on an eReader, it is advisable to use a small font size and landscape mode, which will allow the lines of poetry to display correctly.
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The Poetry of Wyatt
Allington Castle, north of Maidstone, Kent — Wyatt’s birthplace
Sir Thomas Wyatt by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1540
Brief Introduction: Sir Thomas Wyatt
SIR THOMAS WYATT (1503-1542), who is now credited with introducing the sonnet into English literature, was born at Allington Castle, near Maidstone in Kent, though his family were originally of Yorkshire origin. His mother was Anne Skinner and his father, Henry Wyatt, had been one of Henry VII’s Privy Councillors and remained a trusted adviser when Henry VIII came to the throne in 1509. In his turn, Thomas Wyatt followed his father to court after his university education at Cambridge.
Reportedly, Wyatt was over six feet tall and both handsome and physically strong. Although interested in poetry from an early age, Wyatt was to achieve more renown during his lifetime for his work as an ambassador in the service of Henry VIII. He first entered the King’s service in 1515 as “Sewer Extraordinary” and in the same year he began studying at St John’s College of the University of Cambridge. Later, Wyatt accompanied Sir John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, to Rome to help petition Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage of Henry VIII to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, an embassy whose goal was to make Henry free to marry Anne Boleyn. In 1535 Wyatt was knighted and appointed High Sheriff of Kent for 1536.
In 1520, Wyatt married Elizabeth Brooke, (1503–1550), the daughter of Thomas Brooke, 8th Baron Cobham, and a year later they had a son: However, early in the marriage, marital difficulties arose, with Wyatt claiming these were ‘chiefly her fault’, accusing Elizabeth of being an adulteress, although there is no surviving evidence to support the truth of this claim. Elizabeth separated from Wyatt in 1526 and he supported her until 1537, when he refused to do so any longer and sent her to live with her brother, Lord Cobham. In that same year, Lord Cobham attempted to force Wyatt to continue his financial support, which the poet refused. It was not until 1541 that Wyatt, being accused of treason, was arrested and his properties confiscated, that the Brooke family was able to force a reconciliation as a condition for Wyatt’s pardon.
Many legends have persisted over time concerning the notion that the young and unhappily married Wyatt had fallen in love with Anne Boleyn in the early 1520s. It is certain that they knew each other and the nineteenth-century critic George Gilfillan argues extensively that Wyatt and Boleyn were romantically connected. In several of his verses Wyatt calls his mistress Anna and allegedly alludes to events in her life:
And now I follow the coals that be quent,
From Dover to Calais against my mind . . . .
Gilfillan claims that these lines could refer to Anne’s trip to France in 1532, immediately prior to her marriage to Henry VIII, perhaps implying that Wyatt was present, although his name is not included among those who accompanied the royal party to France. Wyatt’s sonnet “Whoso List To Hunt” may also allude to Anne’s relationship with the King:
Graven in diamonds with letters plain,
There is written her fair neck round about,
‘Noli me tangere [Do not touch me], Caesar’s, I am’.
In May 1536 Wyatt was imprisoned in the Tower of London for allegedly committing adultery with Anne Boleyn, though he was released later that year, due to his friendship with Thomas Cromwell and he returned to his duties. During his stay in the Tower, he may have witnessed not only the execution of Anne Boleyn from his cell window, but also the prior executions of the five men with whom she was accused of adultery. Wyatt is known to have written a poem inspired by the experience, which, though it avoids declaring the executions groundless, expresses grief and shock.
By 1540 Wyatt was again in royal favour, having been granted the site and many of the manorial estates of the dissolved Boxley Abbey. However, in 1541 he was charged again with treason and the charges were again lifted, though only thanks to the intervention of Henry’s fifth wife, Queen Catherine Howard, and upon the condition of reconciling with his ‘adulterous’ wife. Wyatt was granted a full pardon and restored once again to his duties as ambassador. After the execution of Catherine Howard, there were rumours that Wyatt’s wife, Elizabeth, was a possibility for Henry’s sixth wife, although she was still married to Wyatt. He became ill not long after, and died on 11 October 1542, aged 39, while staying with his friend Sir John Horsey at Clifton Maybank House in Dorset. Wyatt is buried in nearby Sherborne Abbey.
At a time when French and Italian poetry was the most highly revered form of literature, Wyatt’s professed object in writing verses was to experiment with the English tongue, to ‘civilise it’ and to raise its powers to those of its neighbours. A significant amount of Wyatt’s literary output consists of translations and imitations of sonnets by the Italian poet Petrarch, though Wyatt also composed sonnets of his own. He borrowed much subject matter from Petrarch’s sonnets, but Wyatt’s rhyme schemes make a significant departure from those of his Italian model. Petrarch’s sonnets consist of an “octave”, rhyming abba abba, followed, after a turn by a “sestet” with various rhyme schemes. Wyatt employs the Petrarchan octave, but his most common sestet scheme is cddc ee, signalling the beginnings of an exclusively English sonnet structure, that is three quatrains with a closing couplet.
In addition to imitations of works by the classical writers Seneca and Horace, Wyatt experimented in stanza forms including the rondeau, epigrams, terza rima, ottava rima songs, satires and also with monorime, triplets with refrains, quatrains with different length of line and rhyme schemes, quatrains with codas, and the French forms of douzaine and treizaine. He also introduced his contemporaries to his poulter’s measure form (Alexandrine couplets of twelve syllable iambic lines alternating with a fourteener, fourteen syllable line) and Wyatt is now widely regarded by scholars as a master of the iambic tetrameter.
Many of Wyatt’s poems deal with the trials of romantic love and the devotion of the suitor to an unavailable or cruel mistress, whilst other poems concern scathing attacks or satirical indictments of the pandering courtiers that Wyatt often met at the Tudor court. While Wyatt’s poetry reflects classical and Italian models, he was also greatly influenced by the works of Chaucer, as demonstrated by the high frequency of Chaucerian words found in Wyatt’s compositions. The Egerton Manuscript, originally an album containing Wyatt’s personal selection of his poems and translations, preserves 123 texts, partly in the poet’s hand. None of Wyatt’s poems were published during his lifetime — the first book to feature his verse, Tottel’s Miscellany of 1557, was printed a full fifteen years after the poet’s death, including 97 poems attributed to Wyatt among the 271 poems in Tottel’s Miscellany.
Wyatt was one of the earliest poets of the Renaissance that was responsible for original innovations in English poetry and, alongside Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, he introduced the sonnet from Italy into English literature. Wyatt’s poetry demonstrates a supreme sensitive feeling and purity of diction, paving the way for the imminent genius of Spenser and Shakespeare.
Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374) was an Italian scholar and poet in Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch’s sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry.
Anne Boleyn (c. 1501-1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of King Henry VIII.
Henry VIII (1491-1547) was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death in 1547.
Thomas Wyatt — drawing by Hans Holbein the Younger
CONTENTS
Songs and Sonnets
THE LOVER FOR SHAMEFASTNESS HIDETH HIS DESIRE WITHIN HIS FAITHFUL HEART
THE LOVER WAXETH WISER, AND WILL NOT DIE FOR AFFECTION
THE ABUSED LOVER SEETH HIS FOLLY AND INTENDETH TO TRUST NO MORE
THE LOVER DESCRIBETH HIS BEING STRICKEN WITH SIGHT OF HIS LOVE
THE WAVERING LOVER WILLETH, AND DREADETH, TO MOVE HIS DESIRE
THE LOVER HAVING DREAMED ENJOYING OF HIS LOVE, COMPLAINETH THAT THE DREAM IS NOT EITHER LONGER OR TRUER
THE LOVER UNHAPPY BIDDETH HAPPY LOVERS REJOICE IN MAY, WHILE HE WAILETH THAT MONTH TO HIM MOST UNLUCKY
THE LOVER CONFESSETH HIM IN LOVE WITH PHYLLIS
OF OTHERS’ FEIGNED SORROW, AND THE LOVER’S FEIGNED MIRTH
OF CHANGE IN MIND
HOW THE LOVER PERISHETH IN HIS DELIGHT AS THE FLY IN THE FIRE
AGAINST HIS TONGUE THAT FAILED TO UTTER HIS SUITS
DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTRARIOUS PASSIONS IN A LOVER
THE LOVER COMPARETH HIS STATE TO A SHIP IN PERILOUS STORM TOSSED ON THE SEA
OF DOUBTFUL LOVE
THE LOVER ABUSED RENOUNCETH LOVE
TO HIS LADY, CRUEL OVER HER YIELDING LOVER
HOW UNPOSSIBLE IT IS TO FIND QUIET IN LOVE
OF LOVE, FORTUNE, AND THE LOVER’S MIND
THE LOVER PRAYETH HIS OFFERED HEART TO BE RECEIVED
THE LOVER’S LIFE COMPARED TO THE ALPS
CHARGING OF HIS LOVE AS UNPITEOUS AND LOVING OTHER
THE LOVER FORSAKETH HIS UNKIND LOVE
THE LOVER DESCRIBETH HIS RESTLESS STATE
THE LOVER LAMENTS THE DEATH OF HIS LOVE
A RENOUNCING OF LOVE
THE LOVER DESPAIRING TO ATTAIN UNTO HIS LADY’S GRACE RELINQUISHETH THE PURSUIT
THE DESERTED LOVER CONSOLETH HIMSELF WITH REMEMBRANCE THAT ALL WOMEN ARE BY NATURE FICKLE
THAT HOPE UNSATISFIED IS TO THE LOVER’S HEART AS A PROLONGED DEATH
HE PRAYETH HIS LADY TO BE TRUE, FOR NO ONE CAN RESTRAIN A WILLING MIND
THE DESERTED LOVER WISHETH THAT HIS RIVAL MIGHT EXPERIENCE THE SAME FORTUNE HE HIMSELF HAD TASTED
Rondeaux
REQUEST TO CUPID FOR REVENGE OF HIS UNKIND LOVE
COMPLAINT FOR TRUE LOVE UNREQUITED
THE LOVER SENDETH SIGHS TO MOVE HIS SUIT
THE LOVER SEEKING FOR HIS LOST HEART PRAYETH THAT IT MAY BE KINDLY ENTREATED BY WHOMSOEVER FOUND
HE DETERMINETH TO CEASE TO LOVE
OF THE FOLLY OF LOVING WHEN THE SEASON OF LOVE IS PAST
THE ABUSED LOVER RESOLVETH TO FORGET HIS UNKIND MISTRESS
THE ABSENT LOVER PERSUADETH HIMSELF THAT HIS MISTRESS WILL NOT HAVE THE POWER TO FORSAKE HIM
THE RECURED LOVER RENOUNCETH HIS FICKLE MISTRESS FOR HER NEWFANGLENESS
Odes
THE LOVER COMPLAINETH THE UNKINDNESS OF HIS LOVE
THE LOVER REJOICETH THE ENJOYING OF HIS LOVE
THE LOVER SHEWETH HOW HE IS FORSAKEN OF SUCH AS HE SOMETIME ENJOYED
THE LOVER TO HIS BED, WITH DESCRIBING OF HIS UNQUIET STATE
THE LOVER COMPLAINETH THAT HIS LOVE DOTH NOT PITY HIM
THE LOVER COMPLAINETH HIMSELF FORSAKEN
A RENOUNCING OF HARDLY ESCAPED LOVE
THE LOVER TAUGHT, MISTRUSTETH ALLUREMENTS
THE LOVER REJOICETH AGAINST FORTUNE THAT BY HINDERING HIS SUIT HAD HAPPILY MADE HIM FORSAKE HIS FOLLY
THE LOVER’S SORROWFUL STATE MAKETH HIM WRITE SORROWFUL SONGS, BUT SUCH HIS LOVE MAY CHANGE THE SAME
THE LOVER SENDETH HIS COMPLAINTS AND TEARS TO SUE FOR GRACE
THE LOVER’S CASE CANNOT BE HIDDEN HOWEVER HE DISSEMBLE
THE LOVER PRAYETH NOT TO BE DISDAINED, REFUSED, MISTRUSTED, NOR FORSAKEN
THE LOVER LAMENTETH HIS ESTATE WITH SUIT FOR GRACE
THE LOVER WAILETH HIS CHANGED JOYS
TO HIS LOVE THAT HATH GIVEN HIM ANSWER OF REFUSAL
THE LOVER DESCRIBETH HIS BEING TAKEN WITH SIGHT OF HIS LOVE
THE LOVER EXCUSETH HIM OF WORDS, WHEREWITH HE WAS UNJUSTLY CHARGED
THE LOVER CURSETH THE TIME WHEN FIRST HE FELL IN LOVE
THE LOVER DETERMINETH TO SERVE FAITHFULLY
TO HIS UNKIND LOVE
THE LOVER COMPLAINETH HIS ESTATE
WHETHER LIBERTY BY LOSS OF LIFE, OR LIFE IN PRISON AND THRALDOM BE TO BE PREFERRED
HE RULETH NOT THOUGH HE REIGN OVER REALMS, THAT IS SUBJECT TO HIS OWN LUSTS
THE FAITHFUL LOVER GIVETH TO HIS MISTRESS HIS HEART AS HIS BEST AND ONLY TREASURE
A DESCRIPTION OF THE SORROW OF TRUE LOVERS’ PARTING
THE NEGLECTED LOVER CALLETH ON HIS STONY HEARTED MISTRESS TO HEAR HIM COMPLAIN ERE THAT HE DIE
HE REJOICETH THE OBTAINING THE FAVOUR OF THE MISTRESS OF HIS HEART
THE LOVER PRAYETH VENUS TO CONDUCT HIM TO THE DESIRED HAVEN
THE LOVER PRAISETH THE BEAUTY OF HIS LADY’S HAND
THAT THE EYE BEWRAYETH ALWAY THE SECRET AFFECTIONS OF THE HEART
THE LOVER COMPLAINETH THAT FAITH MAY NOT AVAIL WITHOUT THE FAVOUR OF FANTASY
THAT TOO MUCH CONFIDENCE SOMETIMES DISAPPOINTETH HOPE
THE LOVER BEMOANETH HIS UNHAPPINESS THAT HE CANNOT OBTAIN GRACE, YET CANNOT CEASE LOVING
THE MOURNFUL LOVER TO HIS HEART WITH COMPLAINT THAT IT WILL NOT BREAK
THE LOVER RENOUNCES HIS CRUEL LOVE FOR EVER
A COMPLAINT OF HIS LADY’S CRUELTY
OF THE CONTRARY AFFECTIONS OF THE LOVER
THAT RIGHT CANNOT GOVERN FANCY
THAT TRUE LOVE AVAILETH NOT WHEN FORTUNE LIST TO FROWN
THE DECEIVED LOVER SUETH ONLY FOR LIBERTY
THE LOVER CALLETH ON HIS LUTE TO HELP HIM BEMOAN HIS HAPLESS FATE
THAT THE POWER OF LOVE IS SUCH HE WORKETH IMPOSSIBILITIES
THAT THE LIFE OF THE UNREGARDED LOVER IS WORSE THAN DEATH
THE LOVER WHO CANNOT PREVAIL MUST NEEDS HAVE PATIENCE
WHEN FORTUNE SMILES NOT, ONLY PATIENCE COMFORTETH
THAT PATIENCE ALONE CAN HEAL THE WOUND INFLICTED BY ADVERSITY
THE LOVER, HOPELESS OF GREATER HAPPINESS, CONTENTETH HIMSELF WITH ONLY PITY
THAT TIME, HUMBLENESS, AND PRAYER, CAN SOFTEN EVERY THING SAVE HIS LADY’S HEART
THAT UNKINDNESS HATH SLAIN HIS POOR TRUE HEART
THE DYING LOVER COMPLAINETH THAT HIS MISTRESS REGARDETH NOT HIS SUFFERINGS
THE CAREFUL LOVER COMPLAINETH, AND THE HAPPY LOVER COUNSELLETH
THE LOVER HAVING BROKEN HIS BONDAGE, VOWETH NEVER MORE TO BE ENTHRALLED
THE ABUSED LOVER, ADMONISHES THE UNWARY TO BEWARE OF LOVE
A REPROOF TO SUCH AS SLANDER LOVE
DESPAIR COUNSELLETH THE DESERTED LOVER TO END HIS WOES BY DEATH, BUT REASON BRINGETH COMFORT
THE LOVER’S LUTE CANNOT BE BLAMED THOUGH IT SING OF HIS LADY’S UNKINDNESS
THE NEGLECTED LOVER CALLETH ON HIS PEN TO RECORD THE UNGENTLE BEHAVIOUR OF HIS UNKIND MISTRESS
THAT CAUTION SHOULD BE USED IN LOVE
AN EARNEST REQUEST TO HIS CRUEL MISTRESS EITHER TO PITY HIM OR LET HIM DIE
THE ABUSED LOVER REPROACHETH HIS FALSE MISTRESS OF DISSIMULATION
HE BEWAILS HIS HARD FATE THAT THOUGH BELOVED OF HIS MISTRESS HE STILL LIVES IN PAIN
A COMPLAINT OF THE FALSENESS OF LOVE
THE LOVER SUETH THAT HIS SERVICE MAY BE ACCEPTED
OF THE PAINS AND SORROWS CAUSED BY LOVE
THE LOVER RECOUNTETH THE VARIABLE FANCY OF HIS FICKLE MISTRESS
THE ABUSED LOVER BEWAILS THE TIME THAT EVER HIS EYE BEHELD HER TO WHOM HE HAD GIVEN HIS FAITHFUL HEART
AN EARNEST SUIT TO HIS UNKIND MISTRESS NOT TO FORSAKE HIM
HE REMEMBERETH THE PROMISE HIS LADY ONCE GAVE HIM OF AFFECTION, AND COMFORTETH HIMSELF WITH HOPE
THAT ALL HIS JOY DEPENDETH ON HIS LADY’S FAVOUR
HE PROMISETH TO REMAIN FAITHFUL WHATEVER FORTUNE BETIDE
THE FAITHFUL LOVER WISHETH ALL EVIL MAY BEFALL HIM IF HE FORSAKE HIS LADY
OF FORTUNE, LOVE, AND FANTASY
DESERTED BY HIS MISTRESS, HE RENOUNCETH ALL JOY FOR EVER
THAT NO WORDS MAY EXPRESS THE CRAFTY TRAINS OF LOVE
THAT THE POWER OF LOVE EXCUSETH THE FOLLY OF LOVING
THE DOUBTFUL LOVER RESOLVETH TO BE ASSURED WHETHER HE IS TO LIVE IN JOY OR WOE
OF THE EXTREME TORMENT ENDURED BY THE UNHAPPY LOVER
HE BIDDETH FAREWELL TO HIS UNKIND MISTRESS
HE REPENTETH THAT HE HAD EVER LOVED
THE LOVER BESEECHETH HIS MISTRESS NOT TO FORGET HIS STEADFAST FAITH AND TRUE INTENT
HE BEWAILS THE PAIN HE ENDURES WHEN BANISHED FROM THE MISTRESS OF HIS HEART
HE COMPARES HIS SUFFERINGS TO THOSE OF TANTALUS
THAT NOTHING MAY ASSUAGE HIS PAIN SAVE ONLY HIS LADY’S FAVOUR
THE LOVER PRAYETH THAT HIS LONG SUFFERINGS MAY AT LENGTH FIND RECOMPENSE
HE DESCRIBETH THE CEASELESS TORMENTS OF LOVE
THAT THE SEASON OF ENJOYMENT IS SHORT, AND SHOULD NOT PASS BY NEGLECTED
THAT THE PAIN HE ENDURED SHOULD NOT MAKE HIM CEASE FROM LOVING
THE COMPLAINT OF A DESERTED LOVER
THAT FAITH IS DEAD, AND TRUE LOVE DISREGARDED
THE LOVER COMPLAINETH THAT HIS FAITHFUL HEART AND TRUE MEANING HAD NEVER MET WITH JUST REWARD
THE FORSAKEN LOVER CONSOLETH HIMSELF WITH REMEMBRANCE OF PAST HAPPINESS
HE COMPLAINETH TO HIS HEART THAT HAVING ONCE RECOVERED HIS FREEDOM HE HAD AGAIN BECOME THRALL TO LOVE
HE PROFESSETH INDIFFERENCE
HE REJOICETH THAT HE HAD BROKEN THE SNARES OF LOVE
THE LOVER PRAYETH THAT HIS LADY’S HEART MIGHT BE INFLAMED WITH EQUAL AFFECTION
THE DISDAINFUL LADY REFUSING TO HEAR HER LOVER’S SUIT, HE RESOLVETH TO FORSAKE HER
THE ABSENT LOVER FINDETH ALL HIS PAINS REDOUBLED
HE SEEKETH COMFORT IN PATIENCE
OF THE POWER OF LOVE OVER THE YIELDEN LOVER
HE LAMENTETH THAT HE HAD EVER CAUSE TO DOUBT HIS LADY’S FAITH
THE RECURED LOVER EXULTETH IN HIS FREEDOM, AND VOWETH TO REMAIN FREE UNTIL DEATH
Poems
WYATT’S COMPLAINT UPON LOVE TO REASON, WITH LOVE’S ANSWER
COMPLAINT OF THE ABSENCE OF HIS LOVE
THE SONG OF IOPAS, UNFINISHED
Songs and Epigrams
A DESCRIPTION OF SUCH A ONE AS HE WOULD LOVE
WHY LOVE IS BLIND
THE LOVER BLAMETH HIS INSTANT DESIRE
AGAINST HOARDERS OF MONEY
DESCRIPTION OF A GUN
OF THE MOTHER THAT EAT HER CHILD AT THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM
TO HIS LOVE WHOM HE HAD KISSED AGAINST HER WILL
OF THE JEALOUS MAN THAT LOVED THE SAME WOMAN, AND ESPIED THIS OTHER SITTING WITH HER
TO HIS LOVE FROM WHOM HE HAD HER GLOVES
THE LOVER COMPLAINETH THAT DEADLY SICKNESS CANNOT HELP HIS AFFECTION
OF THE FEIGNED FRIEND
COMPARISON OF LOVE TO A STREAM FALLING FROM THE ALPS
OF HIS LOVE THAT PRICKED HER FINGER WITH A NEEDLE
OF THE SAME
THE LOVER THAT FLED LOVE NOW FOLLOWS IT WITH HIS HARM
THE LOVER COMPARETH HIS HEART TO THE OVERCHARGED GUN
HOW BY A KISS HE FOUND BOTH HIS LIFE AND DEATH
TO HIS LOVER TO LOOK UPON HIM
OF DISAPPOINTED PURPOSE BY NEGLIGENCE
OF HIS RETURN FROM SPAIN
WYATT BEING IN PRISON, TO BRYAN
OF SUCH AS HAD FORSAKEN HIM
THE LOVER HOPETH OF BETTER CHANCE
THAT PLEASURE IS MIXED WITH EVERY PAIN
THE COURTIER’S LIFE
OF THE MEAN AND SURE ESTATE
THE LOVER SUSPECTED OF CHANGE PRAYETH THAT IT BE NOT BELIEVED AGAINST HIM
OF DISSEMBLING WORDS
OF SUDDEN TRUSTING
THE LADY TO ANSWER DIRECTLY WITH YEA OR NAY
ANSWER
THE LOVER PROFESSETH HIMSELF CONSTANT
THE LOVER BLAMETH HIS LOVE FOR RENTING OF THE LETTER HE SENT HER
THE LOVER COMPLAINETH AND HIS LADY COMFORTETH
THE LOVER SUSPECTED BLAMETH ILL TONGUES
OF HIS LOVE CALLED ANNA
A RIDDLE OF A GIFT GIVEN BY A LADY
THAT SPEAKING OR PROFFERING BRINGS ALWAY SPEEDING
T. WYATT OF LOVE
Satires
OF THE MEAN AND SURE ESTATE, WRITTEN TO JOHN POINS
OF THE COURTIER’S LIFE, WRITTEN TO JOHN POINS
HOW TO USE THE COURT AND HIMSELF THEREIN, WRITTEN TO SIR FRANCIS BRIAN
Penitential Psalms
THE PROLOGUE OF THE AUTHOR
PENITENTIAL PSALMS
An Epitaph of Sir Thomas Gravener, Knight
SIR ANTONIE SENTLEGER OF SIR T. WYATT
Songs and Sonnets
THE LOVER FOR SHAMEFASTNESS HIDETH HIS DESIRE WITHIN HIS FAITHFUL HEART
THE LONG love that in my thought I harbour,And in my heart doth keep his residence,Into my face presseth with bold pretence,And there campeth displaying his banner.She that me learns to love and to suffer, 5And wills that my trust, and lust’s negligenceBe reined by reason, shame, and reverence,With his hardiness takes displeasure.Wherewith love to the heart’s forest he fleeth,Leaving his enterprise with pain and cry, 10And there him hideth, and not appeareth.What may I do, when my master feareth, But in the field with him to live and die? For good is the life, ending faithfully.
THE LOVER WAXETH WISER, AND WILL NOT DIE FOR AFFECTION
YET was I never of your love aggrieved,Nor never shall while that my life doth last:But of hating myself, that date is past;And tears continual sore have me wearied:I will not yet in my grave be buried; 5Nor on my tomb your name have fixed fast,As cruel cause, that did the spirit soon hasteFrom th’ unhappy bones, by great sighs stirred.Then if a heart of amorous faith and willContent your mind withouten doing grief; 10Please it you so to this to do relief:If otherwise you seek for to fulfil Your wrath, you err, and shall not as you ween; And you yourself the cause thereof have been.
THE ABUSED LOVER SEETH HIS FOLLY AND INTENDETH TO TRUST NO MORE
WAS never file yet half so well yfiled,To file a file for any smith’s intent,As I was made a filing instrument,To frame other, while that I was beguiled:But reason, lo, hath at my folly smiled, 5And pardoned me, since that I me repentOf my last years, and of my time mispent.For youth led me, and falsehood me misguided.Yet this trust I have of great apparence,Since that deceit is aye returnable, 10Of very force it is agreeable,That therewithal be done the recompense: Then guile beguiled plained should be never; And the reward is little trust for ever.
THE LOVER DESCRIBETH HIS BEING STRICKEN WITH SIGHT OF HIS LOVE
THE LIVELY sparks that issue from those eyes,Against the which there vaileth no defence,Have pierc’d my heart, and done it none offence,With quaking pleasure more than once or twice.Was never man could any thing devise, 5Sunbeams to turn with so great vehemenceTo daze man’s sight, as by their bright presenceDazed am I; much like unto the guiseOf one stricken with dint of lightning,Blind with the stroke, and crying here and there; 10So call I for help, I not when nor where,The pain of my fall patiently bearing: For straight after the blaze, as is no wonder, Of deadly noise hear I the fearful thunder.
THE WAVERING LOVER WILLETH, AND DREADETH, TO MOVE HIS DESIRE
SUCH vain thought as wonted to mislead meIn desert hope, by well assured moan,Makes me from company to live alone,In following her whom reason bids me flee.And after her my heart would fain be gone, 5But armed sighs my way do stop anon,‘Twixt hope and dread locking my liberty;So fleeth she by gentle cruelty.Yet as I guess, under disdainful browOne beam of ruth is in her cloudy look: 10Which comforts the mind, that erst for fear shook;That bolded the way straight; then seek I how To utter forth the smart I bide within; But such it is, I not how to begin.
THE LOVER HAVING DREAMED ENJOYING OF HIS LOVE, COMPLAINETH THAT THE DREAM IS NOT EITHER LONGER OR TRUER
UNSTABLE dream, according to the place,Be steadfast once, or else at least be true:By tasted sweetness make me not to rueThe sudden loss of thy false, feigned grace.By good respect, in such a dangerous case, 5Thou broughtest not her into these tossing seas;But madest my sprite to live, my care t’ encrease,My body in tempest her delight t’embrace.The body dead, the spirit had his desire;Painless was th’ one, th’ other in delight. 10Why then, alas, did it not keep it right,But thus return to leap into the fire; And where it was at wish, could not remain? Such mocks of dreams do turn to deadly pain.
THE LOVER UNHAPPY BIDDETH HAPPY LOVERS REJOICE IN MAY, WHILE HE WAILETH THAT MONTH TO HIM MOST UNLUCKY
YE that in love find luck and sweet abundance,And live in lust of joyful jollity,Arise for shame, do way our sluggardy:Arise, I say, do May some observance.Let me in bed lie dreaming in mischance; 5Let me remember my mishaps unhappy,That me betide in May most commonly;As one whom love list little to advance.Stephan said true, that my nativityMischanced was with the ruler of May. 10He guessed (I prove) of that the verity.In May my wealth, and eke my wits, I say, Have stond so oft in such perplexity: Joy; let me dream of your felicity.
THE LOVER CONFESSETH HIM IN LOVE WITH PHYLLIS
IF waker care; if sudden pale colour;If many sighs with little speech to plain:Now joy, now woe, if they my chere distain;For hope of small, if much to fear therefore;To haste or slack, my pace to less, or more; 5Be sign of love, then do I love again.If thou ask whom; sure, since I did refrainBrunet, that set my wealth in such a roar,The unfeigned cheer of Phyllis hath the placeThat Brunet had; she hath, and ever shall. 10She from myself now hath me in her grace;She hath in hand my wit, my will, and all. My heart alone well worthy she doth stay, Without whose help scant do I live a day.
OF OTHERS’ FEIGNED SORROW, AND THE LOVER’S FEIGNED MIRTH
CÆSAR, when that the traitor of EgyptWith the honourable head did him present,Covering his heart’s gladness, did representPlaint with his tears outward, as it is writ.Eke Hannibal, when fortune him outshut 5Clean from his reign, and from all his intent,Laugh’d to his folk, whom sorrow did torment;His cruel despite for to disgorge and quit.So chanced me, that every passionThe mind hideth by colour contrary, 10With feigned visage, now sad, now merry;Whereby if that I laugh at any season, It is because I have none other way To cloke my care, but under sport and play.
OF CHANGE IN MIND
EACH man me telleth I change most my devise;And on my faith, methink it good reasonTo change purpose, like after the season.For in each case to keep still one guise,Is meet for them that would be taken wise; 5And I am not of such manner condition;But treated after a diverse fashion;And thereupon my diverseness doth rise.But you, this diverseness that blamen most,Change you no more, but still after one rate 10Treat you me well, and keep you in that state;And while with me cloth dwell this wearied ghost, My word, nor I, shall not be variable, But always one; your own both firm and stable.
HOW THE LOVER PERISHETH IN HIS DELIGHT AS THE FLY IN THE FIRE
SOME fowls there be that have so perfect sight,Against the sun their eyes for to defend;And some, because the light doth them offend,Never appear but in the dark or night:Other rejoice to see the fire so bright, 5And ween to play in it, as they pretend,But find contrary of it, that they intend.Alas! of that sort may I be by right;For to withstand her look I am not able;Yet can I not hide me in no dark place; 10So followeth me remembrance of that face,That with my teary eyen, swoln, and unstable, My destiny to behold her doth me lead; And yet I know I run into the glead.
AGAINST HIS TONGUE THAT FAILED TO UTTER HIS SUITS
BECAUSE I still kept thee from lies and blame,And to my power always thee honoured,Unkind tongue! to ill hast thou me rend’red,For such desert to do me wreke and shame.In need of succour most when that I am, 5To ask reward, thou stand’st like one afraid:Alway most cold, and if one word be said,As in a dream, unperfect is the same.And ye salt tears, against my will each nightThat are with me, when I would be alone; 10Then are ye gone when I should make my moan:And ye so ready sighs to make me shright. Then are ye slack when that ye should outstart And only doth my look declare my heart.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTRARIOUS PASSIONS IN A LOVER
I FIND no peace, and all my war is done;I fear and hope, I burn, and freeze like ice;I fly aloft, yet can I not arise;And nought I have, and all the world I seize on,That locks nor loseth, holdeth me in prison, 5And holds me not, yet can I scape no wise:Nor letteth me live, nor die, at my devise,And yet of death it giveth me occasion.Without eye I see; without tongue I plain:I wish to perish, yet I ask for health; 10I love another, and I hate myself;I feed me in sorrow, and laugh in all my pain. Lo, thus displeaseth me both death and life, And my delight is causer of this strife.
THE LOVER COMPARETH HIS STATE TO A SHIP IN PERILOUS STORM TOSSED ON THE SEA
MY galley charged with forgetfulness,Through sharp seas, in winter nights, doth pass‘Tween rock and rock; and eke my foe, alas,That is my lord, steereth with cruelness:And every hour, a thought in readiness, 5As though that death were light in such a case.An endless wind doth tear the sail apaceOf forced sighs and trusty fearfulness;A rain of tears, a cloud of dark disdain,Have done the wearied cords great hinderance: 10Wreathed with error, and with ignorance;The stars be hid that lead me to this pain; Drown’d is reason that should be my comfort, And I remain, despairing of the port.
OF DOUBTFUL LOVE
AVISING the bright beams of those fair eyes,Where he abides that mine oft moistens and washeth;The wearied mind straight from the heart departeth,To rest within his worldly paradise,And bitter finds the sweet, under his guise. 5What webs there he hath wrought, well he perceiveth:Whereby then with himself on love he plaineth,That spurs with fire, and bridleth eke with ice.In such extremity thus is he brought:Frozen now cold, and now he stands in flame: 10‘Twixt woe and wealth, betwixt earnest and game,With seldom glad, and many a diverse thought, In sore repentance of his hardiness, Of such a root, lo, cometh fruit fruitless.
THE LOVER ABUSED RENOUNCETH LOVE
MY love to scorn, my service to retain,Therein, methought, you used cruelty;Since with good will I lost my liberty,To follow her which causeth all my pain.Might never woe yet cause me to refrain; 5But only this, which is extremity,To give me nought, alas, nor to agreeThat, as I was, your man I might remain:But since that thus ye list to order me,That would have been your servant true and fast; 10Displease you not, my doting time is past;And with my loss to leave I must agree: For as there is a certain time to rage, So is there time such madness to assuage.
TO HIS LADY, CRUEL OVER HER YIELDING LOVER
SUCH is the course that nature’s kind hath wrought,That snakes have time to cast away their stings:Against chain’d prisoners what need defence be sought?The fierce lion will hurt no yielden things:Why should such spite be nursed then by thought? 5Sith all these powers are prest under thy wings;And eke thou seest, and reason thee hath taught,What mischief malice many ways it brings:Consider eke, that spite availeth nought.Therefore this song thy fault to thee it sings: 10Displease thee not, for saying thus my thought,Nor hate thou him from whom no hate forth springs: For furies that in hell be execrable,
HOW UNPOSSIBLE IT IS TO FIND QUIET IN LOVE
EVER my hap is slack and slow in coming,Desire increasing, ay my hope uncertainWith doubtful love, that but increaseth pain;For, tiger like, so swift it is in parting.Alas! the snow black shall it be and scalding, 5The sea waterless, and fish upon the mountain,The Thames shall back return into his fountain,And where he rose the sun shall take lodging,Ere I in this find peace or quietness;Or that Love, or my Lady, right-wisely, 10Leave to conspire against me wrongfully.And if I have after such bitterness, One drop of sweet, my mouth is out of taste, That all my trust and travail is but waste.
OF LOVE, FORTUNE, AND THE LOVER’S MIND
LOVE, Fortune, and my mind which do rememberEke that is now, and that, that once hath ben,Torment my heart so sore, that very oftenI hate and envy them beyond all measure.Love slayeth mine heart, while Fortune is depriver 5Of all my comfort; the foolish mind thenBurneth and plaineth, as one that very seldomeLiveth in rest. So still in displeasureMy pleasant days they fleet and pass;And daily doth mine ill change to the worse: 10While more than half is run now of my course.Alas, not of steel, but of brittle glass, I see that from my hand falleth my trust, And all my thoughts are dashed into dust.
THE LOVER PRAYETH HIS OFFERED HEART TO BE RECEIVED
HOW oft have I, my dear and cruel foe,With my great pain to get some peace or truce,Given you my heart; but you do not useIn so high things, to cast your mind so low.If any other look for it, as you trow, 5Their vain weak hope doth greatly them abuse:And that thus I disdain, that you refuse;It was once mine, it can no more be so.If you it chafe, that it in you can find,In this exile, no manner of comfort, 10Nor live alone, nor where he is called resort;He may wander from his natural kind. So shall it be great hurt unto us twain, And yours the loss, and mine the deadly pain.
THE LOVER’S LIFE COMPARED TO THE ALPS
LIKE unto these unmeasurable mountainsSo is my painful life, the burden of ire;For high be they, and high is my desire;And I of tears, and they be full of fountains:Under craggy rocks they have barren plains; 5Hard thoughts in me my woful mind doth tire:Small fruit and many leaves their tops do attire,With small effect great trust in me remains:The boisterous winds oft their high boughs do blast;Hot sighs in me continually be shed: 10Wild beasts in them, fierce love in me is fed;Unmovable am I, and they steadfast. Of singing birds they have the tune and note; And I always plaints passing through my throat.
CHARGING OF HIS LOVE AS UNPITEOUS AND LOVING OTHER
IF amorous faith, or if a heart unfeigned,A sweet langour, a great lovely desire,If honest will kindled in gentle fire,If long error in a blind maze chained,If in my visage each thought distained, 5Or if my sparkling voice, lower, or higher,Which fear and shame so wofully doth tire;If pale colour, which love, alas, hath stained,If to have another than myself more dear,If wailing or sighing continually, 10With sorrowful anger feeding busily,If burning far off, and if freezing near, Are cause that I by love myself destroy, Yours is the fault, and mine the great annoy.
THE LOVER FORSAKETH HIS UNKIND LOVE
MY heart I gave thee, not to do it pain,But to preserve, lo, it to thee was taken.I served thee, not that I should be forsaken;But, that I should receive reward again,I was content thy servant to remain; 5And not to be repayed on this fashion.Now, since in thee there is none other reason,Displease thee not, if that I do refrain.Unsatiate of my woe, and thy desire;Assured by craft for to excuse thy fault: 10But, since it pleaseth thee to feign default,Farewell, I say, departing from the fire. For he that doth believe, bearing in hand, Plougheth in the water, and soweth in the sand.
THE LOVER DESCRIBETH HIS RESTLESS STATE
THE FLAMING sighs that boil within my breast,Sometime break forth, and they can well declareThe heart’s unrest, and how that it doth fare,The pain thereof, the grief, and all the rest.The water’d eyen from whence the tears do fall, 5Do feel some force, or else they would be dry;The wasted flesh of colour dead can try,And sometime tell what sweetness is in gall:And he that lust to see, and to discernHow care can force within a wearied mind, 10Come he to me, I am that place assign’d:But for all this, no force, it doth no harm; The wound, alas, hap in some other place, From whence no tool away the scar can raze.But you, that of such like have had your part, 15Can best be judge. Wherefore, my friend so dear,I thought it good my state should now appearTo you, and that there is no great desert.And whereas you, in weighty matters great,Of fortune saw the shadow that you know, 20For trifling things I now am stricken so,That though I feel my heart doth wound and beat,I sit alone, save on the second dayMy fever comes, with whom I spend my timeIn burning heat, while that she list assign. 25And who hath health and liberty alway, Let him thank God, and let him not provoke, To have the like of this my painful stroke.
THE LOVER LAMENTS THE DEATH OF HIS LOVE
THE PILLAR perish’d is whereto I leant,The strongest stay of mine unquiet mind;The like of it no man again can find,From east to west still seeking though he went,To mine unhap. For hap away hath rent 5Of all my joy the very bark and rind:And I, alas, by chance am thus assign’dDaily to mourn, till death do it relent.But since that thus it is by destiny,What can I more but have a woful heart; 10My pen in plaint, my voice in careful cry,My mind in woe, my body full of smart; And I myself, myself always to hate, Till dreadful death do ease by doleful state.
A RENOUNCING OF LOVE
FAREWELL, Love, and all thy laws for ever;Thy baited hooks shall tangle me no more:Senec, and Plato, call me from thy lore,To perfect wealth, my wit for to endeavour;In blind error when I did persever, 5Thy sharp repulse, that pricketh aye so sore,Taught me in trifles that I set no store;But scaped forth thence, since, liberty is lever:Therefore, farewell, go trouble younger hearts,And in me claim no more authority: 10With idle youth go use thy property,And thereon spend thy many brittle darts: For, hitherto though I have lost my time, Me list no longer rotten boughs to clime.
THE LOVER DESPAIRING TO ATTAIN UNTO HIS LADY’S GRACE RELINQUISHETH THE PURSUIT
WHOSO list to hunt? I know where is an hind!But as for me, alas! I may no more,The vain travail hath wearied me so sore;I am of them that furthest come behind.Yet may I by no means my wearied mind 5Draw from the deer; but as she fleeth aforeFainting I follow; I leave off therefore,Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubtAs well as I, may spend his time in vain! 10And graven with diamonds, in letters plain,There is written her fair neck round about; ‘Noli me tangere; for Cæsar’s I am, And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.’
THE DESERTED LOVER CONSOLETH HIMSELF WITH REMEMBRANCE THAT ALL WOMEN ARE BY NATURE FICKLE
DIVERS doth use, as I have heard and know,When that to change their Ladies do beginTo mourn, and wail, and never for to lynn;Hoping thereby to ‘pease their painful woe.And some there be that when it chanceth so 5That women change, and hate where love hath been,They call them false, and think with words to winThe hearts of them which otherwhere doth grow.But as for me, though that by chance indeedChange hath outworn the favour that I had, 10I will not wail, lament, nor yet be sad,Nor call her false that falsely did me feed; But let it pass, and think it is of kind That often change doth please a woman’s mind.
THAT HOPE UNSATISFIED IS TO THE LOVER’S HEART AS A PROLONGED DEATH
I ABIDE, and abide; and better abide,After the old proverb the happy day.And ever my Lady to me doth say,‘Let me alone, and I will provide.’I abide, and abide, and tarry the tide, 5And with abiding speed well ye may.Thus do I abide I wot alway,N’ other obtaining, nor yet denied.Aye me! this long abidingSeemeth to me, as who sayeth 10A prolonging of a dying death,Or a refusing of a desired thing. Much were it better for to be plain, Than to say, ‘Abide,’ and yet not obtain.
HE PRAYETH HIS LADY TO BE TRUE, FOR NO ONE CAN RESTRAIN A WILLING MIND
THOUGH I myself be bridled of my mind,Returning me backward by force express;If thou seek honour, to keep thy promessWho may thee hold, but thou thyself unbind?Sigh then no more, since no way man may find 5Thy virtue to let, though that frowardnessOf Fortune me holdeth; and yet as I may guessThough other be present thou art not all behind.Suffice it then that thou be ready thereAt all hours; still under the defence 10Of Time, Truth, and Love to save thee from offence.Crying I burn in a lovely desire, With my dear Mistress that may not follow; Whereby mine absence turneth me to sorrow.
THE DESERTED LOVER WISHETH THAT HIS RIVAL MIGHT EXPERIENCE THE SAME FORTUNE HE HIMSELF HAD TASTED
TO rail or jest, ye know I use it not;Though that such cause sometime in folks I find.And though to change ye list to set your mind.Love it who list, in faith I like it not.And if ye were to me, as ye are not, 5I would be loth to see you so unkind:But since your fault must needs be so by kind;Though I hate it I pray you love it not.Things of great weight I never thought to crave,This is but small; of right deny it not: 10Your feigning ways, as yet forget them not.But like reward let other Lovers have; That is to say, for service true and fast, Too long delays, and changing at the last.
Rondeaux
REQUEST TO CUPID FOR REVENGE OF HIS UNKIND LOVE
BEHOLD, Love, thy power how she despiseth;My grievous pain how little she regardeth:The solemn oath, whereof she takes no cure,Broken she hath, and yet, she bideth sure,Right at her ease, and little thee she dreadeth: 5 Weaponed thou art, and she unarmed sitteth:To thee disdainful, all her life she leadeth;To me spiteful, without just cause or measure:Behold, Love, how proudly she triumpheth. I am in hold, but if thee pity moveth, 10Go, bend thy bow, that stony hearts breaketh,And with some stroke revenge the displeasureOf thee, and him that sorrow doth endure,
COMPLAINT FOR TRUE LOVE UNREQUITED
WHAT vaileth truth, or by it to take pain?To strive by steadfastness for to attainHow to be just, and flee from doubleness?Since all alike, where ruleth craftiness,Rewarded is both crafty, false, and plain. 5 Soonest he speeds that most can lie and feign:True meaning heart is had in high disdain.Against deceit and cloaked doubleness,What vaileth truth, or perfect steadfastness? Deceived is he by false and crafty train, 10That means no guile, and faithful doth remainWithin the trap, without help or redress:But for to love, lo, such a stern mistress,Where cruelty dwells, alas, it were in vain.
THE LOVER SENDETH SIGHS TO MOVE HIS SUIT
GO, burning sighs, unto the frozen heart,To break the ice, which pity’s painful dartMight never pierce: and if that mortal prayerIn heaven be heard, at least yet I desireThat death or mercy end my woful smart. 5Take with thee pain, whereof I have my part,And eke the flame from which I cannot start,And leave me then in rest, I you require.Go, burning sighs, fulfill that I desire,I must go work, I see, by craft and art, 10For truth and faith in her is laid apart:Alas, I cannot therefore now assail her,With pitiful complaint and scalding fire,That, from my breast deceivably doth start.
THE LOVER SEEKING FOR HIS LOST HEART PRAYETH THAT IT MAY BE KINDLY ENTREATED BY WHOMSOEVER FOUND
HELP me to seek! for I lost it there;And if that ye have found it, ye that be here,And seek to convey it secretly,Handle it soft, and treat it tenderly,Or else it will plain, and then appair. 5But pray restore it mannerly,Since that I do ask it thus honestly,For to lese it, it sitteth me near; Help me to seek!
Alas! and is there no remedy: 10But have I thus lost it wilfully.I wis it was a thing all too dearTo be bestowed, and wist not where.It was mine heart! I pray you heartily Help me to seek. 15
HE DETERMINETH TO CEASE TO LOVE
FOR to love her for her looks lovely,My heart was set in thought right firmly,Trusting by truth to have had redress;But she hath made another promess,And hath given me leave full honestly. 5Yet do I not rejoice it greatly;For on my faith I loved too surely,But reason will that I do cesse, For to love her.Since (that in love the pains been deadly), 10Methink it best that readilyI do return to my first address;For at this time too great is the press,And perils appear too abundantly, For to love her. 15
OF THE FOLLY OF LOVING WHEN THE SEASON OF LOVE IS PAST
YE old mule! that think yourself so fair,Leave off with craft your beauty to repair,For it is time without any fable;No man setteth now by riding in your saddle!Too much travail so do your train appair 5 Ye old mule!With false favour though you deceive the ayes,Who so taste you shall well perceive your layesSavoureth somewhat of a keeper’s stable; Ye old mule! 10Ye must now serve to market, and to fair,All for the burthen, for panniers a pair;For since grey hairs ben powder’d in your sable,The thing ye seek for, you must yourself enableTo purchase it by payment and by prayer; 15 Ye old mule!
THE ABUSED LOVER RESOLVETH TO FORGET HIS UNKIND MISTRESS
WHAT no, perdie! ye may be sure!Think not to make me to your lure,With words and chere so contrarying,Sweet and sower countre-weighing,Too much it were still to endure. 5Truth is tried, where craft is in ure,But though ye have had my heartes cure,Trow ye! I dote without ending? What no, perdie!Though that with pain I do procure 10For to forget that once was pure;Within my heart shall still that thingUnstable, unsure, and wavering,Be in my mind without recure? What no, perdie! 15
THE ABSENT LOVER PERSUADETH HIMSELF THAT HIS MISTRESS WILL NOT HAVE THE POWER TO FORSAKE HIM
IF it be so that I forsake thee,As banished from thy company;Yet my heart, my mind, and my affection,Shall still remain in thy perfection,And right as thou list so order me. 5But some would say in their opinion,Revolted is thy good intention.Then may I well blame thy cruelty, If it be so.But myself I say on this fashion; 10‘I have her heart in my possession,And of itself cannot, perdie!By no means love, an heartless body!’And on my faith good is the reason, If it be so. 15
THE RECURED LOVER RENOUNCETH HIS FICKLE MISTRESS FOR HER NEWFANGLENESS
THOU hast no faith of him that hath none,But thou must love him needs by reason;For as saith a proverb notable,Each thing seeketh his semblable,And thou hast thine of thy condition. 5Yet is it not the thing I pass on,Nor hot nor cold is mine affection!For since thine heart is so mutable, Thou hast no faith.I thought thee true without exception, 10But I perceive I lacked discretion;To fashion faith to words mutable,Thy thought is too light and variableTo change so oft without occasion. Thou hast no faith! 15
Odes
THE LOVER COMPLAINETH THE UNKINDNESS OF HIS LOVE
MY lute, awake, perform the lastLabour, that thou and I shall waste;And end that I have now begun:And when this song is sung and past,My lute, be still, for I have done. 5 As to be heard where ear is none;As lead to grave in marble stone;My song may pierce her heart as soon.Should we then sigh, or sing, or moan?No, no, my lute, for I have done. 10 The rocks do not so cruellyRepulse the waves continually,As she my suit and affection:So that I am past remedy;Whereby my lute and I have done. 15 Proud of the spoil that thou hast gotOf simple hearts through Love’s shot,By whom unkind thou hast them won:Think not he hath his bow forgot,Although my lute and I have done. 20 Vengeance shall fall on thy disdain,That makest but game on earnest pain;Think not alone under the sunUnquit to cause thy lovers plain;Although my lute and I have done. 25 May chance thee lie withered and oldIn winter nights, that are so cold,Plaining in vain unto the moon;Thy wishes then dare not be told:Care then who list, for I have done. 30 And then may chance thee to repentThe time that thou hast lost and spent,To cause thy lovers sigh and swoon:Then shalt thou know beauty but lent,And wish and want as I have done. 35 Now cease, my lute, this is the lastLabour, that thou and I shall waste;And ended is that we begun:Now is this song both sung and past;My lute, be still, for I have done. 40
THE LOVER REJOICETH THE ENJOYING OF HIS LOVE
ONCE, as methought, fortune me kiss’d,And bade me ask what I thought best,And I should have it as me list,Therewith to set my heart in rest. I asked but my lady’s heart, 5To have for evermore mine own;Then at an end were all my smart;Then should I need no more to moan. Yet for all that a stormy blastHad overturn’d this goodly nay; 10And fortune seemed at the lastThat to her promise she said nay. But like as one out of despair,To sudden hope revived I,Now Fortune sheweth herself so fair, 15That I content me wondrously. My most desire my hand may reach,My will is alway at my hand;Me need not long for to beseechHer, that hath power me to command. 20 What earthly thing more can I crave?What would I wish more at my will?Nothing on earth more would I have,Save that I have, to have it still. For Fortune now hath kept her promess, 25In granting me my most desire:Of my sovereign I have redress,And I content me with my hire.
THE LOVER SHEWETH HOW HE IS FORSAKEN OF SUCH AS HE SOMETIME ENJOYED
THEY flee from me, that sometime did me seek,With naked foot stalking within my chamber:Once have I seen them gentle, tame, and meek,That now are wild, and do not once remember,That sometime they have put themselves in danger 5To take bread at my hand; and now they range Busily seeking in continual change. Thanked be Fortune, it hath been otherwiseTwenty times better; but once especial,In thin array, after a pleasant guise, 10When her loose gown did from her shoulders fall,
