Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904.
IdeaSonnet 54. Yet read at last the Story of my Woe!
Michael Drayton (1563–1631)[First printed in 1599 (No. 49), and in all later editions. ]
Y
The dreary abstracts of my endless cares,
With my life’s sorrow interlinèd so,
Smoked with my sighs, and blotted with my tears.
The sad Memorials of my Miseries!
Penned in the grief of mine afflicted ghost.
My Life’s Complaint in doleful Elegies!
With so pure love as Time could never boast.
Receive the incense which I offer here,
By my strong faith ascending to thy fame!
My zeal, my hope, my vows, my praise, my prayer,
My soul’s oblations to thy sacred Name!
Which Name, my Muse, to highest heavens shall raise,
By chaste Desire, true Love, and virtuous Praise!