 | The Poems and Sonnets of Henry Constable |  |
xciii
TO ST. MARY MAGDALEN.
For fewe nyghtes solace in delitious bedd,
Where heate of luste dyd kyndle flames of hell,
Thou nak'd on naked rocke in desert cell
Lay thirty yeares, and teares of grief dyd shedd.
Where heate of luste dyd kyndle flames of hell,
Thou nak'd on naked rocke in desert cell
Lay thirty yeares, and teares of grief dyd shedd.
But for that tyme thy hart there sorrowed,
Thou now in heaven æternally dost dwell;
And for ech teare which from thyne eyes then fell
A sea of pleasure now ys rendered.
Thou now in heaven æternally dost dwell;
And for ech teare which from thyne eyes then fell
A sea of pleasure now ys rendered.
If short delyghtes entyce my hart to straye,
Lett me by thy longe pennance learne to knowe
How dear I should for triflyng pleasures paye;
And if I vertue's roughe beginnyng shunne,
Lett thy æternall joyes unto me showe
What hyghe rewarde by lyttle paine ys wonne.
Lett me by thy longe pennance learne to knowe
How dear I should for triflyng pleasures paye;
And if I vertue's roughe beginnyng shunne,
Lett thy æternall joyes unto me showe
What hyghe rewarde by lyttle paine ys wonne.
| The Poems and Sonnets of Henry Constable | |