Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904.
LiciaSonnet XXII. I might have died before my life began
Giles Fletcher (1586?1623)“I
When as my father, for his country’s good,
The Persians’ favour and the Sophy wan:
But yet with danger of his dearest blood.”
Thy father, Sweet, whom danger did beset,
Escapèd all: and for no other end
But only this, that you he might beget:
Whom heavens decreed into the world to send.
Then, father, thank thy daughter for thy life!
And Neptune praise, that yielded so to thee,
To calm the tempest, when the storms were rife;
And that thy daughter should a V
I call thee V
Thou art more chaste, yet seas did favour both.