Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904.
Parthenophil and ParthenopheMadrigal 15. Natures pride, Loves pearl, Virtues perfection
Barnabe Barnes (1569?1609)N
In sweetness, beauty, grace,
Of body, face, affection
Hath glory, brightness, place
In rosy cheeks, clear eyes, and heavenly mind;
All which, with wonder, honour, praise, take race
To charm, to shine, to fly, with Fame’s protection.
Mine heart the first, mine eyes next, third my thought
Did wound, did blind, did bind;
Which grieved, obscured, and wrought
Heart, eyes, and senses with such imperfection,
That in their former comfort, sight, and kind
They moved, gazed, and sought,
Yet found not, in what order, sort, and case
Of tears, plaints, sighs, with seas, with murmur, wind
To find, to get, t’ embrace
Nature’s pride, Love’s pearl, Virtue’s perfection.