William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907.
An Elegy of a Woman’s HeartSir Henry Wotton (1568–1639)
O F
A Woman’s Heart!
The true Shop of Variety! where sits
Nothing but fits
And fevers of Desire, and pangs of Love;
Which toys remove!
Why was She born to please! or I, to trust
Words writ in dust!
Suff’ring her eyes to govern my despair;
My pain, for air!
And fruit of time rewarded with untruth,
The food of Youth!
Untrue She was: yet I believed her eyes,
(Instructed spies!)
Till I was taught, that Love was but a School
To breed a Fool!
Or sought She more, by triumphs of denial,
To make a trial,
How far her smiles commanded my weakness!
Yield, and confess!
Excuse no more thy folly! but, for cure,
Blush, and endure
As well thy shame, as Passions that were vain!
And think, ’tis gain
To know,—That Love, lodged in a Woman’s Breast,
Is but a guest!