I made an exile of a king;
Thus choice of meats to want of food is changed;
Thus heaven's loss doth hellish torments bring;
Self crosses make me from myself estranged.
Yet am I still the same but made another;
Then not the same; alas, I am no other!

LIV

If great Apollo offered as a dower
His burning throne to beauty's excellence;
If Jove himself came in a golden shower
Down to the earth to fetch fair Io thence;
If Venus in the curled locks was tied
Of proud Adonis not of gentle kind;
If Tellus for a shepherd's favour died,
The favour cruel Love to her assigned;
If Heaven's winged herald Hermes had
His heart enchanted with a country maid;
If poor Pygmalion was for beauty mad;
If gods and men have all for beauty strayed:
I am not then ashamed to be included
'Mongst those that love, and be with love deluded.

LV

O, No, I dare not! O, I may not speak!
Yes, yes, I dare, I can, I must, I will!
Then heart, pour forth thy plaints and do not break;
Let never fancy manly courage kill;
Intreat her mildly, words have pleasing charms
Of force to move the most obdurate heart,
To take relenting pity of my harms,
And with unfeigned tears to wail my smart.
Is she a stock, a block, a stone, a flint?
Hath she nor ears to hear nor eyes to see?
If so my cries, my prayers, my tears shall stint!
Lord! how can lovers so bewitched be!
I took her to be beauty's queen alone;
But now I see she is a senseless stone.

LVI

Is trust betrayed? Doth kindness grow unkind?
Can beauty both at once give life and kill?
Shall fortune alter the most constant mind?
Will reason yield unto rebelling will?
Doth fancy purchase praise, and virtue shame?
May show of goodness lurk in treachery?
Hath truth unto herself procured blame?
Must sacred muses suffer misery?
Are women woe to men, traps for their falls?
Differ their words, their deeds, their looks, their lives?
Have lovers ever been their tennis balls?
Be husbands fearful of the chastest wives?
All men do these affirm, and so must I,
Unless Fidessa give to me the lie.

LVII

Three playfellows--such three were never seen
In Venus' court--upon a summer's day,
Met altogether on a pleasant green,