 | Argalvs and Parthenia |  |
Who is't (said he) that calls vntimely night
To hide those griefes that thus abiure the light?
With that, as if her heart had rent in two,
She past a sigh, and said, O aske not who?
Vrge not my tongue to make a forc'd reply
To your demand: Alas! it is not I:
Not I (said he?) what language doe I heare;
Darknesse may stop mine eye, but not mine eare.
It is my deare Parthenia's voice; ah me,
And can Parthenia, not Parthenia be?
What meanes this word, (Alas! it is not I)?
What sudden ill hath taught thee to deny
Thy selfe? or what can Argalus then claime,
If his Parthenia be not the same,
She was; alas, it seemes to me all one
To say, Thou art not hers, that's not her owne.
Can hills forget their pondrous bulk, and flye,
Like wandring Atomes, in the empty sky?
Or can the heauens, (growne idle) not fulfill
Their certaine reuolutions, but stand still,
And leaue their constant motion, for the winde
T'inherit? Can Parthenia change her minde?
Heauen sooner shall stand still, and earth remoue,
E're my Parthenia falsifie her loue:
Vnfold thy Riddle then; and tell me, why
Those lips should say, (Alas it is not I.)
To hide those griefes that thus abiure the light?
With that, as if her heart had rent in two,
She past a sigh, and said, O aske not who?
Vrge not my tongue to make a forc'd reply
To your demand: Alas! it is not I:
Not I (said he?) what language doe I heare;
Darknesse may stop mine eye, but not mine eare.
It is my deare Parthenia's voice; ah me,
And can Parthenia, not Parthenia be?
What meanes this word, (Alas! it is not I)?
What sudden ill hath taught thee to deny
Thy selfe? or what can Argalus then claime,
If his Parthenia be not the same,
She was; alas, it seemes to me all one
To say, Thou art not hers, that's not her owne.
Can hills forget their pondrous bulk, and flye,
Like wandring Atomes, in the empty sky?
Or can the heauens, (growne idle) not fulfill
Their certaine reuolutions, but stand still,
And leaue their constant motion, for the winde
T'inherit? Can Parthenia change her minde?
Heauen sooner shall stand still, and earth remoue,
E're my Parthenia falsifie her loue:
Vnfold thy Riddle then; and tell me, why
Those lips should say, (Alas it is not I.)
| Argalvs and Parthenia | |