And then she clasped Adonis in her arms;
“Even thus,” quoth she, “the warlike god unlaced me!”
As if the boy should use like loving charms.
But he, a wayward boy, refused the offer,
And ran away the beauteous queen neglecting
Showing both folly to abuse her proffer,
And all his sex of cowardice detecting.
O that I had my mistress at that bay,
To kiss and clip me till I ran away!
IV
Did you sometimes three German
brethren see,
Rancour ’twixt
two of them so raging rife,
That th’
one could stick the other with his knife?
Now if the third assaulted
chance to be
By a fourth stranger, him
set on the three,
Them two ’twixt
whom afore was deadly strife
Made one to rob
the stranger of his life;
Then do you know our state
as well as we.
Beauty and chastity
with her were born,
Both at one birth, and up
with her did grow.
Beauty still foe
to chastity was sworn,
And chastity sworn to be beauty’s
foe;
And yet when I
lay siege unto her heart,
Beauty and chastity
both take her part.
V
Arraigned, poor captive at
the bar I stand,
The bar of beauty,
bar to all my joys;
And up I hold
my ever trembling hand,
Wishing or life
or death to end annoys.
And when the judge doth question
of the guilt,
And bids me speak,
then sorrow shuts up words.
Yea, though he
say, “Speak boldly what thou wilt!”
Yet my confused
affects no speech affords,
For why? Alas, my passions
have no bound,
For fear of death
that penetrates so near;
And still one
grief another doth confound,
Yet doth at length
a way to speech appear.
Then, for I speak too late,
the Judge doth give
His sentence that in prison
I shall live.
VI
Unhappy sentence, worst of
worst of pains,
To be in darksome
silence, out of ken,
Banished from
all that bliss the world contains,
And thrust from
out the companies of men!
Unhappy sentence, worse than
worst of deaths,
Never to see Fidessa’s
lovely face!
O better were
I lose ten thousand breaths,
Than ever live
in such unseen disgrace!
Unhappy sentence, worse than
pains of hell,
To live in self-tormenting
griefs alone;
Having my heart,
my prison and my cell,
And there consumed
without relief to moan!
If that the sentence so unhappy
be,
Then what am I that gave the
same to me?
VII
Oft have mine eyes, the agents
of mine heart,
False traitor
eyes conspiring my decay,
Pleaded for grace
with dumb and silent art,
Streaming forth
tears my sorrows to allay;