The Sonnets and Other Poems (4 page)

‘The sun that shines from heaven shines but warm,
And, lo, I lie between that sun and thee:
The heat I have from thence doth little harm,
Thine eye darts forth the fire that burneth me,
      And were I not immortal, life were
done
¹⁹⁷
      Between this
heavenly and earthly sun
¹⁹⁸
.

‘Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel?
Nay, more than flint, for stone at rain relenteth:
Art thou a woman’s son and canst not feel
What ’tis to love, how
want
²⁰²
of love tormenteth?
      O, had
thy mother
²⁰³
borne so hard a mind,
      She had not brought forth thee, but died
unkind
²⁰⁴
.

‘What am I that thou shouldst
contemn
²⁰⁵
me
this
?
Or what great danger dwells upon my
suit
²⁰⁶
?
What were thy lips the worse for one poor kiss?
Speak, fair, but speak fair words or else be mute:
      Give me one kiss, I’ll give it thee again,
      And one for int’rest, if thou wilt have twain.

‘Fie, lifeless picture, cold and senseless stone,
Well-painted idol, image dull and dead,
Statue
²¹³
contenting but the eye alone,
Thing like a man, but of no woman bred:
      Thou art no man, though of a man’s
complexion
²¹⁵
,
      For men will kiss even
by their own direction
²¹⁶
.’

This said, impatience chokes her pleading tongue,
And swelling passion doth provoke a pause,
Red cheeks and fiery eyes
blaze forth
²¹⁹
her wrong:
Being judge in love, she cannot right her cause
²²⁰
;
      And now she weeps and now she
fain
²²¹
would speak,
      And now her sobs do her
intendments
²²²
break.

Sometime she shakes her head and then his hand,
Now gazeth she on him, now on the ground;
Sometime her arms enfold him like a band,
She
would
²²⁶
, he will not in her arms be bound:
      And when from thence he struggles to be gone,
      She
locks her lily fingers one
²²⁸
in one.

‘
Fondling
²²⁹
,’ she saith, ‘since I have hemmed thee here
Within the circuit of this
ivory pale
²³⁰
,
I’ll be a
park
²³¹
and thou shalt be my
deer
:
Feed where thou wilt on
mountain or in dale
²³²
,
      Graze on my lips and, if those hills be dry,
      Stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.

‘Within this
limit
²³⁵
is
relief
enough,
Sweet
bottom-grass
²³⁶
and high delightful
plain
,
Round rising
hillocks
²³⁷
,
brakes
obscure
and rough,
To shelter thee from tempest and from rain:
      Then be my deer, since I am such a park,
      No dog shall
rouse
²⁴⁰
thee, though a thousand bark.’

At this Adonis smiles as in disdain,
That in each cheek appears a pretty dimple;
Love made those hollows,
if
²⁴³
himself were slain,
He might be buried in a tomb so simple,
      Foreknowing well, if there he came to lie,
      Why, there love lived and there he could not die.

These lovely
caves, these round enchanting pits
²⁴⁷
,
Opened their mouths to swallow Venus’ liking:
Being mad before, how doth she now for
wits
²⁴⁹
?
Struck dead at first
²⁵⁰
, what needs a second striking?
      Poor queen of love,
in thine own law forlorn
²⁵¹
,
      To love a cheek that smiles at thee in scorn.

Now which way shall she turn? What shall she say?
Her words are done, her woes are more increasing,
The time is spent, her object will away,
And from her twining arms doth urge releasing:
      ‘Pity!’ she cries, ‘Some favour, some
remorse
²⁵⁷
!’
      Away he springs and hasteth to his horse.

But, lo, from forth a copse that
neighbours by
²⁵⁹
,
A
breeding
²⁶⁰
jennet
,
lusty
, young and
proud
,
Adonis’
trampling courser
²⁶¹
doth espy,
And forth she rushes, snorts and neighs aloud.
      The strong-necked steed, being tied unto a tree,
      Breaketh his rein and to her
straight
²⁶⁴
goes he.

Imperiously he leaps, he neighs, he bounds,
And now his woven
girths
²⁶⁶
he breaks asunder,
The
bearing
²⁶⁷
earth with his hard hoof he wounds,
Whose hollow womb resounds like heaven’s thunder,
      The iron bit he crusheth ’tween his teeth,
      Controlling what he was controllèd with.

His ears up-pricked, his braided hanging mane
Upon his
compassed crest
²⁷²
now stand on end,
His nostrils drink the air and forth again,
As from a furnace, vapours doth he send:
      His eye, which scornfully
glisters
²⁷⁵
like fire,
      Shows his hot
courage
²⁷⁶
and his high desire.

Sometime he trots, as if he
told
²⁷⁷
the steps
With
gentle
²⁷⁸
majesty and modest pride,
Anon
²⁷⁹
he rears upright,
curvets
and leaps,
As who should
²⁸⁰
say, ‘Lo, thus my strength is
tried
      And this I do to captivate the eye
      Of the fair breeder that is standing by.’

What
recketh he
²⁸³
his rider’s angry
stir
,
His
flattering
²⁸⁴
‘
Holla
’, or his ‘Stand, I say’?
What cares he now for
curb
²⁸⁵
or pricking spur?
For rich
caparisons
²⁸⁶
or
trappings gay
?
      He sees his love and nothing else he sees,
      For nothing else with his proud sight agrees.

Look when a painter would surpass the life
In
limning out
²⁹⁰
a well-proportioned steed,
His art with nature’s workmanship at strife,
As if the dead the living should exceed:
      So did this horse excel a common one
      In shape, in courage, colour, pace and
bone
²⁹⁴
.

Round-hoofed, short-jointed,
fetlocks
²⁹⁵
shag
and long,
Broad breast, full eye, small head and nostril wide,
High
crest
²⁹⁷
, short ears, straight legs and
passing
strong,
Thin mane, thick tail, broad buttock, tender hide:
      Look what a horse should have he did not lack,
      Save a proud rider on so proud a back.

Sometime he
scuds
³⁰¹
far off and there he stares,
Anon he starts at stirring of a feather:
To
bid the wind a base
³⁰³
he now prepares,
And
where
³⁰⁴
he run or fly they know not whether:
      For through his mane and tail the high wind sings,
      Fanning the hairs,
who
³⁰⁶
wave like feathered wings.

He looks upon his love and neighs unto her,
She answers him as if she knew his mind:
Being proud, as females are, to see him woo her,
She
puts on outward strangeness
³¹⁰
, seems
unkind
,
     
Spurns at
³¹¹
his love and scorns the heat he feels,
      Beating his
kind embracements
³¹²
with her
heels
.

Then, like a melancholy malcontent,
He
vails
³¹⁴
his
tail
that like a falling
plume
Cool shadow to his melting buttock lent.
He stamps and bites the poor flies in his
fume
³¹⁶
:
      His love, perceiving how he was enraged,
      Grew kinder and his fury was assuaged.

His
testy
³¹⁹
master goeth about to take him,
When, lo, the
unbacked
³²⁰
breeder
, full of fear,
Jealous of catching
³²¹
, swiftly doth
forsake
him,
With her the horse, and left Adonis there:
     
As
³²³
they were mad, unto the
wood
they
hie them
,
      Outstripping crows that strive to overfly them.

All
swoll’n with chafing
³²⁵
, down Adonis sits,
Banning
³²⁶
his boist’rous and unruly beast;
And now the
happy season once more fits
³²⁷
That
lovesick love
³²⁸
by pleading may be blest:
      For lovers say the heart hath treble wrong
      When it is barred the
aidance
³³⁰
of the tongue.

An oven that is
stopped
³³¹
or river
stayed
Burneth more hotly, swelleth with more rage:
So
³³³
of concealèd sorrow may be said
Free
vent
³³⁴
of words love’s fire doth assuage,
      But when the heart’s
attorney
³³⁵
once is mute,
      The
client
³³⁶
breaks
,
as
desperate in his
suit
.

He sees her coming and begins to glow,
Even as a dying coal revives with wind,
And with his
bonnet
³³⁹
hides his angry brow,
Looks on the dull earth with disturbèd mind,
      Taking no notice that she is so
nigh
³⁴¹
,
      For
all askance he holds her in his eye
³⁴²
.

O, what a sight it was,
wistly
³⁴³
to view
How she came stealing to the
wayward
³⁴⁴
boy,
To note the fighting conflict of her hue,
How white and red each other did destroy:
     
But
³⁴⁷
now her cheek was pale and by and by
      It flashed forth fire, as lightning from the sky.

Now was she
just before
³⁴⁹
him as he sat,
And like a lowly lover down she kneels,
With one fair hand she
heaveth
³⁵¹
up his hat,
Her other tender hand his fair cheek feels:
      His tend’rer cheek receives her soft hand’s print,
      As
apt
³⁵⁴
as new-fall’n snow takes any
dint
.

O, what a war of looks was then between them,
Her eyes petitioners to his eyes
suing
³⁵⁶
,
His eyes saw her eyes,
as
³⁵⁷
they had not seen them,
Her eyes wooed still, his eyes disdained the wooing:
      And all t
his
dumb play
³⁵⁹
had his acts
made plain
      With tears, which
chorus-like
³⁶⁰
her eyes did rain.

Full
³⁶¹
gently now she takes him by the hand,
A lily
prisoned
³⁶²
in a
jail
of snow,
Or ivory in an alabaster
band
³⁶³
,
So white a friend
engirts
³⁶⁴
so white a foe:
      This beauteous combat,
wilful
³⁶⁵
and unwilling,
      Showed like two silver doves that sit
a-billing
³⁶⁶
.

Once more the
engine
³⁶⁷
of her thoughts began,
‘O fairest
mover
³⁶⁸
on this
mortal round
,
Would thou wert
³⁶⁹
as I am, and I a man,
My heart all whole as thine, thy heart my
wound
³⁷⁰
,
      For one sweet look
thy help I would assure thee
³⁷¹
,
      Though nothing but my body’s
bane
³⁷²
would cure thee.’

‘Give me my hand,’ saith he, ‘why dost thou feel it?’
‘Give me my heart’, saith she, ‘and thou shalt have it.
O, give it me, lest thy hard heart do
steel
³⁷⁵
it,
And being steeled, soft sighs can never
grave
³⁷⁶
it.
      Then love’s deep groans I never shall
regard
³⁷⁷
,
      Because Adonis’ heart hath made mine hard.’

‘For shame!’ he cries, ‘Let go and let me go:
My day’s delight is past, my horse is gone,
And ’tis your fault I am
bereft
³⁸¹
him so.
I pray you
hence
³⁸²
and leave me here alone,
      For all my mind, my thought, my busy care,
      Is how to get my
palfrey
³⁸⁴
from the mare.’

Thus she replies, ‘Thy palfrey, as he should,
Welcomes the warm approach of sweet desire:
Affection
³⁸⁷
is a coal that must be cooled,
Else,
suffered
³⁸⁸
, it will set the heart on fire.
      The sea hath bounds, but deep desire hath none,
      Therefore no marvel though thy horse be gone.

‘How like a
jade
³⁹¹
he stood, tied to the tree,
Servilely mastered with a leathern rein,
But when he saw his love, his youth’s fair
fee
³⁹³
,
He held such petty bondage in disdain,
      Throwing the base
thong
³⁹⁵
from his
bending crest
,
     
Enfranchising
³⁹⁶
his mouth, his back, his breast.

‘Who sees his true-love
in her naked bed
³⁹⁷
,
Teaching the sheets a whiter hue than white,
But, when his glutton eye so full hath fed,
His other
agents
⁴⁰⁰
aim at
like
delight?
      Who is so
faint
⁴⁰¹
that dares not be so
bold
      To touch the fire, the weather being cold?