Sonnet

________________________________________________
Title:     Sonnet
Author: Richard Lovelace [More Titles by Lovelace]

SET BY MR. WILLIAM LAWES.

I.
When I by thy faire shape did sweare,
And mingled with each vowe a teare,
I lov'd, I lov'd thee best,
I swore as I profest.
For all the while you lasted warme and pure,
My oathes too did endure.
But once turn'd faithlesse to thy selfe and old,
They then with thee incessantly <1> grew cold.

II.
I swore my selfe thy sacrifice
By th' ebon bowes <2> that guard thine eyes,
Which now are alter'd white,
And by the glorious light
Of both those stars, which of <3> their spheres bereft,
Only the gellie's left.
Then changed thus, no more I'm bound to you,
Then swearing to a saint that proves untrue.

NOTES:
<1> i.e. at once, immediately.

<2> Her eyebrows.

<3> Original reads OF WHICH.

[The end]
Richard Lovelace's poem: Sonnet

________________________________________________



GO TO TOP OF SCREEN