Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. I. Early Poetry: Chaucer to Donne
Elizabethan MiscellaniesFrom A Handefull of Pleasant Delites: A Proper Sonnet: I smile to see how you devise (Anonymous)
(To any pleasant Tune)
I
New masking nets my eyes to blear;
Yourself you cannot so disguise,
But as you are you must appear.
And how you set your roving mind;
Yourself you cannot hide from me,
Although I wink, I am not blind.
That oft doth pain thy careful breast,
To me right plainly doth appear;
I see in whom thy heart doth rest.
That love no more thy heart should nip,
Yet think I know as well as thou
The fickle helm doth guide the ship.
By course of wind doth bathe his limbs;
The floating fish tak’th his desire
In running streams whereas he swims.
Full well I know thy slippery kind;
In vain thou seem’st to dim my sight;
Thy rolling eyes bewray thy mind.
Thy love, which once I honoured most;
If he be wise he may well guess
Thy love, soon won, will soon be lost.
That he should still love thee alone,
Thy beauty now hath lost her price,
I see thy savoury scent is gone.
But as thou art thou wilt appear;
Unless thou canst devise a way
To dark the sun that shines so clear.
In truth to him thy love supply;
Lest he at length, as I have done,
Take off thy bells, and let thee fly!