[If thou canst reade, then marke what heere I write]
Verses written vpon this occasion: a yong
Gentleman, falling in loue with a faire
yong Damsell, not knowing how to make
manifest vnto her the great good will he
bare her: vsing certaine talke vnto her,
in the end of her talke demaunded of
her, whether she could or no? she
answered yea: vpon which yea, he wrote
these verses following, and found time
to present them vnto her presently, as
he wrote them.
If thou canst reade, then marke what heere I write:
And what thou readst, beleeue it to be true;
And doo not thinke, I doo but toyes indite:
For, if thou marke in time what dooth insue,
Then thou, ere long, perhaps, shalt easily fynde
The effect of that, that may content thy minde.
And, to be plaine, I lyke and loue thee well,
And that so well, as better cannot be:
What should I say? I wish that I did dwell
In place where I thy selfe mought dayly see:
That yet, at least, I mought injoy her sight
In whom doth rest the stay of my delight.
