Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904.
DianaThe Fifth Decade. Sonnet X. Prometheus for stealing living fire
Henry Constable (15621613)P
From heaven’s king, was judged eternal death;
In self-same flame, with unrelenting ire,
Bound fast to Caucasus’ low foot beneath.
So I, for stealing living beauty’s fire
Into my verse, that it may always live;
And change his forms to shapes of my desire:
Thou beauty’s Queen! self sentence like dost give!
Bound to thy feet, in chains of love I lie;
For to thine eyes, I never dare aspire:
And in thy beauty’s brightness do I fry,
As poor P
Which tears maintain, as oil the lamp revives;
Only my succour in thy favour lies.