Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904.
DianaThe First Decade. Sonnet VIII. Much Sorrow in itself my love doth move
Henry Constable (15621613)M
More my Despair to love a hopeless bliss;
My Folly most, to love whom sure to miss;
O help me, but this last grief to remove!
All pains, if you command, it joy shall prove;
And wisdom to seek joy. Then say but this,
“Because my pleasure in thy torment is;
I do command thee, without hope to love!”
So when this thought my sorrow shall augment,
That my own folly did procure my pain,
Then shall I say, to give myself content,
“Obedience only made me love in vain.
It was your will, and not my want of wit;
I have the pain, bear you the blame of it!”