 | The first rape of faire Hellen |  |
Sonnet.
[To praise thy worth or to applaud thy wit]
To praise thy worth or to applaud thy wit,Or to commend thy, pleasing Poetrie:
Were but to shew my insufficiencie,
Which cannot equall what thy selfe hast writ.
for thou maist challenge not vnworthily,
true Vertues merits, Fames eternitie,
Vpon thy browes perpetually to sit.
then what need I to laud thy Poesie,
(which cannot pen thy praise effectuallie)
Sith Phœbus Laurell will eternize it.
yet though thy owne deserts sufficient be,
to praise thy selfe without my praising thee.
My praise cannot disparage thee a whit,
Yet since our friendship and our amitie.
commaunded me as much: (and hee,
Qui tua non laudat deteriora dabit)
I haue aduentur'd, as each eye may see,
to shame my selfe in seeking praise for thee.
I. T.
| The first rape of faire Hellen | |