The Sonnets and Other Poems (9 page)

Now stole upon the time the dead of night,
When heavy sleep had closed up mortal eyes.
No
comfortable
¹⁶⁴
star did lend his light,
No noise but owls’ and wolves’
death-boding cries
¹⁶⁵
.
Now serves the
season
¹⁶⁶
that they may
surprise
      The
silly
¹⁶⁷
lambs: pure thoughts are dead and still,
      While lust and murder wakes to stain and kill.

And now this lustful lord leapt from his bed,
Throwing his
mantle
¹⁷⁰
rudely
o’er his arm,
Is madly tossed between desire and dread:
Th’one sweetly flatters, th’other feareth harm,
But honest fear, bewitched with lust’s foul charm,
      Doth too too oft
betake him to retire
¹⁷⁴
,
      Beaten away by brainsick
rude
¹⁷⁵
desire.

His
falchion
¹⁷⁶
on a flint he softly
smiteth
,
That from the cold stone sparks of fire do fly,
Whereat a waxen torch forthwith he lighteth,
Which must be
lodestar
¹⁷⁹
to his lustful eye,
And to the flame thus speaks
advisedly
¹⁸⁰
,
      ‘As from this cold flint I enforced this fire,
      So Lucrece must I force to my desire.’

Here pale with fear he doth
premeditate
¹⁸³
The dangers of his loathsome enterprise,
And in his inward mind he doth debate
What following sorrow may on this arise.
Then looking scornfully, he doth despise
     
His naked armour of still-slaughtered lust
¹⁸⁸
      And
justly
¹⁸⁹
thus controls his thoughts unjust:

‘Fair torch, burn out thy light and lend it not
To darken her whose light excelleth thine,
And die,
unhallowed
¹⁹²
thoughts, before you blot
With your uncleanness that which is divine.
Offer pure incense to so pure a shrine.
      Let fair humanity abhor the deed
      That spots and stains love’s modest snow-white
weed
¹⁹⁶
.

‘O shame to knighthood and to shining arms!
O foul dishonour to my household’s
grave
¹⁹⁸
!
O impious act, including all foul harms!
A martial man to be
soft
²⁰⁰
fancy’s
slave!
True valour
still
²⁰¹
a true respect should have,
      Then my
digression
²⁰²
is so vile, so base,
      That it will live engraven in my face.

‘Yea, though I die, the scandal will survive
And be an eyesore in my
golden coat
²⁰⁵
:
Some
loathsome dash
²⁰⁶
the herald will contrive
To
cipher me
²⁰⁷
how
fondly
I
did dote
,
That my posterity, shamed with the
note
²⁰⁸
,
      Shall curse my bones and
hold it for
²⁰⁹
no sin
      To wish that I their father had not been.

‘What win I, if I gain the thing I seek?
A dream, a breath, a
froth
²¹²
of fleeting joy.
Who buys a minute’s mirth to wail a week?
Or sells eternity to get a
toy
²¹⁴
?
For one sweet grape who will the vine destroy?
      Or what fond beggar, but to touch the crown,
      Would with the sceptre
straight
²¹⁷
be strucken down?

‘If Collatinus dream of my intent,
Will he not wake and in a desp’rate rage
Post
²²⁰
hither, this vile purpose to prevent?
This siege that hath
engirt
²²¹
his marriage,
This
blur
²²²
to youth, this sorrow to the sage,
      This dying virtue, this surviving shame,
      Whose crime will bear an
ever-during
²²⁴
blame?

‘O, what excuse can my
invention
²²⁵
make,
When thou shalt charge me with so black a deed?
Will not my tongue be mute, my frail joints shake,
Mine
eyes forgo their light
²²⁸
, my false heart bleed?
The guilt being great, the fear
doth still exceed
²²⁹
,
      And extreme fear can neither fight nor
fly
²³⁰
,
      But coward-like with trembling terror die.

‘Had Collatinus killed my son or
sire
²³²
,
Or lain in ambush to betray my life,
Or were he not my dear friend, this desire
Might have excuse to
work upon
²³⁵
his wife,
As in revenge or
quittal
²³⁶
of such strife.
      But as he is my kinsman, my dear friend,
      The shame and fault finds no excuse nor end.

‘Shameful it is: ay, if the
fact
²³⁹
be known,
Hateful it is: there is no hate in loving.
I’ll beg her love, but she is
not her own
²⁴¹
:
The worst is but denial and reproving.
My
will
²⁴³
is strong,
past reason’s weak removing
:
     
Who
²⁴⁴
fears a
sentence
or an old man’s
saw
      Shall by a
painted cloth
²⁴⁵
be kept in awe.’

Thus,
graceless
²⁴⁶
, holds he
disputation
’Tween frozen conscience and hot burning will,
And with good thoughts
make dispensation
²⁴⁸
,
Urging the worser sense
for vantage still
²⁴⁹
,
Which in a moment doth
confound
²⁵⁰
and kill
      All pure
effects
²⁵¹
, and doth so far proceed
      That what is vile shows like a virtuous deed.

Quoth
²⁵³
he, ‘She took me kindly by the hand
And gazed for tidings in my eager eyes,
Fearing some
hard
²⁵⁵
news from the warlike band,
Where her belovèd Collatinus lies.
O, how her fear did make her colour rise!
      First red as roses that on
lawn
²⁵⁸
we lay,
      Then white as lawn, the roses
took
²⁵⁹
away.

‘And how her hand, in my hand being locked,
Forced
it
²⁶¹
to tremble with her loyal fear!
Which
²⁶²
struck her sad and then
it
faster rocked,
Until her husband’s welfare she did hear,
Whereat she smilèd with so sweet a cheer
      That, had
Narcissus
²⁶⁵
seen her as she stood,
      Self-love had never drowned him in the flood.

‘Why hunt I then for
colour
²⁶⁷
or excuses?
All orators are dumb when beauty pleadeth,
Poor wretches have remorse in poor abuses
²⁶⁹
,
Love thrives not in the heart that shadows dreadeth:
Affection
²⁷¹
is my captain and he leadeth,
      And when his
gaudy
²⁷²
banner is displayed,
     
The coward
²⁷³
fights and will not be
dismayed
.

‘Then, childish fear,
avaunt
²⁷⁴
!
Debating, die!
Respect and reason, wait on wrinkled age!
My heart shall never
countermand
²⁷⁶
mine eye;
Sad
²⁷⁷
pause and deep regard
beseems
the sage:
My part is youth and beats these from the stage.
      Desire my pilot is, beauty my prize:
      Then who fears
sinking
²⁸⁰
where such treasure lies?’

As corn o’ergrown by weeds, so
heedful
²⁸¹
fear
Is almost choked by
unresisted
²⁸²
lust:
Away he steals with open list’ning ear,
Full of foul hope and full of
fond mistrust
²⁸⁴
,
Both which, as
servitors
²⁸⁵
to the unjust,
      So
cross
²⁸⁶
him with their
opposite persuasion
      That now he vows a
league
²⁸⁷
and now invasion.

Within his thought her heavenly image sits,
And in the selfsame seat sits Collatine.
That eye which looks on her
confounds his wits
²⁹⁰
,
That eye which him beholds,
as more divine
²⁹¹
,
Unto a
view
²⁹²
so false will not
incline
,
      But with a pure appeal
seeks
²⁹³
to the heart,
      Which once corrupted takes the worser part,

And therein
heartens up
²⁹⁵
his
servile
powers
,
Who, flattered by their leader’s
jocund
²⁹⁶
show,
Stuff up
²⁹⁷
his lust, as minutes fill up hours,
And as their captain, so their
pride
²⁹⁸
doth grow,
Paying more slavish tribute than they owe.
      By
reprobate
³⁰⁰
desire thus madly led,
      The Roman lord marcheth to Lucrece’ bed.

The locks between her
chamber
³⁰²
and his
will
,
Each one by him enforced,
retires his ward
³⁰³
,
But as they open they all
rate his ill
³⁰⁴
,
Which drives the creeping thief to some
regard
³⁰⁵
:
The threshold grates the door to have him heard
³⁰⁶
,
      Night-wand’ring
weasels
³⁰⁷
shriek to see him there,
      They fright him, yet he still pursues his fear.

As each unwilling
portal
³⁰⁹
yields him way,
Through little vents and crannies of the place,
The wind wars with his torch to make him
stay
³¹¹
And blows the smoke of it into his face,
Extinguishing his
conduct
³¹³
in this
case
.
      But his hot heart, which fond desire doth scorch,
      Puffs forth another wind that fires the torch,

And, being lighted, by the light he spies
Lucretia’s
glove, wherein her needle
³¹⁷
sticks.
He takes it from the
rushes
³¹⁸
where it lies,
And gripping it, the needle his finger pricks,
As
who should
³²⁰
say, ‘This glove to
wanton tricks
      Is not
inured
³²¹
. Return again in haste,
      Thou see’st our mistress’
ornaments
³²²
are chaste.’

But all these poor forbiddings could not stay him.
He in the worst sense
consters
³²⁴
their
denial
:
The doors, the wind, the glove that did delay him,
He takes for accidental things
of trial
³²⁶
,
Or as those
bars
³²⁷
which stop the hourly dial,
      Who with a ling’ring stay his course doth
let
³²⁸
      Till every minute pays the hour his debt.

‘So, so,’ quoth he, ‘these lets
attend
³³⁰
the time,
Like little frosts that sometime
threat
³³¹
the spring
To add
a more
³³²
rejoicing to the
prime
And give the
sneapèd
³³³
birds more cause to sing.
Pain pays the
income
³³⁴
of each precious thing:
      Huge rocks, high winds, strong pirates,
shelves
³³⁵
and sands,
      The merchant fears, ere rich at home he lands.’

Now is he come unto the chamber door
That shuts him from the
heaven
³³⁸
of his
thought
,
Which with a yielding latch and with no more
Hath barred him from the blessèd
thing
³⁴⁰
he sought.
So
from
³⁴¹
himself impiety hath
wrought
      That for his prey to pray he doth begin,
      As if the heavens should countenance his sin.

But in the midst of his unfruitful prayer,
Having solicited th’eternal power
That his
foul
³⁴⁶
thoughts might
compass
his fair fair,
And they
³⁴⁷
would stand
auspicious
to the hour,
Even there he
starts
³⁴⁸
. Quoth he, ‘I must deflow’r.
      The powers to whom I pray abhor this fact:
      How can they then assist me in the
act
³⁵⁰
?

‘Then Love and Fortune be my gods, my guide.
My will is backed with resolution:
Thoughts are but dreams till their effects be tried,
The blackest sin is
cleared
³⁵⁴
with
absolution
,
Against love’s fire fear’s frost
hath dissolution
³⁵⁵
.
      The
eye of heaven
³⁵⁶
is
out
, and misty night
      Covers the shame that follows sweet delight.’

This said, his guilty hand plucked up the latch,
And with his
knee the door he opens wide
³⁵⁹
.
The dove sleeps
fast
³⁶⁰
that this night owl will catch.
Thus treason
works
³⁶¹
ere traitors be espied.
Who
³⁶²
sees the lurking serpent steps aside,
      But she, sound sleeping, fearing no such thing,
      Lies at the mercy of his
mortal
³⁶⁴
sting
.

Into the chamber wickedly he
stalks
³⁶⁵
And gazeth on her yet unstainèd bed:
The
curtains
³⁶⁷
being
close
, about he walks,
Rolling his greedy eyeballs in his head.
By their
high treason
³⁶⁹
is his heart misled,
      Which gives the
watchword
³⁷⁰
to his hand
full
soon
      To
draw the cloud
³⁷¹
that hides the silver
moon
.