 | "Songes and Sonettes written by the ryght honorable
Lorde Henry Haward late Earle of Surrey, and other" |  |
What vaileth troth?
Complaint for true loue vnrequited.
G2v
To striue by stedfastnesse, for to attayn
How to be iust: and flee from doublenesse?
Since all alyke, where ruleth craftinesse,
Rewarded is both crafty false, and plain.
Soonest he spedes, that most can lye and fayn.
True meaning hart is had in hye disdain.
Against deceyt, and cloked doublenesse,
What vaileth troth, or parfit stedfastnesse.
Deceaud is he, by false and crafty trayn,
That meanes no gyle, and faithfull doth remayn
Within the trap, without help or redresse.
But for to loue (lo) such a sterne maistresse,
Where cruelty dwelles, alas it were in vain.
| "Songes and Sonettes written by the ryght honorable
Lorde Henry Haward late Earle of Surrey, and other" | |