William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907.
Phœbe’s SonnetThomas Lodge (1558–1625)
‘D
Thus Phyllis sung
By fancy once distressèd:
‘Whoso by foolish love are stung,
Are worthily oppressèd.
And so sing I, with a down, a down.
And by the mover’s will
Did fall to human lot
His solace to fulfil,
Devoid of all deceit,
A chaste and holy fire
Did quicken man’s conceit,
And woman’s breast inspire.
The gods that saw the good
That mortals did approve,
With kind and holy mood,
Began to talk of Love.
Thus Phyllis sung,
By fancy once distressèd:
‘Whoso by foolish love are stung,
Are worthily oppressèd.
And so sing I, with a down, a down.
A wonder strange to hear;
Whilst Love in deed and word
Most faithful did appear,
False Semblance came in place,
By Jealousy attended,
And with a double face
Both Love and Fancy blended.
Which makes the gods forsake,
And men from fancy fly,
And maidens scorn a make,
Forsooth and so will I.
Thus Phyllis sung
By fancy once distressèd:
‘Whoso by foolish love are stung,
Are worthily oppressèd.
And so sing I, with a down, a down, a down a.’.