XLIX.
[So great a Light hath set my mind on fire]
The Author in this Song bewrayeth his dayly Passions in loue
to be so troublesome, that to auoide the flames thereof, hee
gladly & faine would yeelde himselfe to die, were it not that
he feareth a further inconuenience would then arise. For he
doubteth least those flames, wherein his soule continuallye
burneth, shall make Charon afraide to graunt him passage ouer
the Lake of Stix, by reason, his old withered boat is apt
to take fire.
So
great a Light hath set my mind on fire,
That flesh and boane consume with secreat flame,
Each vaine dries vp, wit yeeldes to deepe desire:
I scarce (alas) dare say, for very shame,
How faine my soule an interchaunge would make
Twixt this her present State and Limbo lake;
And yet she dread's, least when she partes from hence,
Her Heates be such, that Charon will retire,
And let her passe for prayer, nor for
Naulum intelligit, de quo Iuuenal: Miseriam est post omnia perdere naulum.
pence,
For feare his with'red boat be set on fire;
So daung'rous are the flames of Mighty Loue
In Stix it selfe, in earth, or heau'n aboue.
Wherefore deere Dame voutchsafe to rew my case,
And salue the soare which thou thy selfe hast made:
My Heates first grew by gazing on thy face,
Whose lights were such, that I could find no shade:
And thou my weary Soule bend all thy force,
By Plaintes and Teares to moue her to remorse.
