| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. | | | | Montana the Shepherd, His Love to Aminta | | By Anthony Munday (1553–1633) |
| | | I SERVE 1 Aminta, whiter than the snow, | |
| Straighter than cedar, brighter than the glass; | |
| More fine in trip 2 than foot of running roe, | |
| More pleasant than the field of flowering grass; | |
| More gladsome to my withering joys that fade | 5 |
| Than winter’s sun or summer’s cooling shade. | |
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| Sweeter than swelling grape of ripest wine, | |
| Softer than feathers of the fairest swan; | |
| Smoother than jet, more stately than the pine, | |
| Fresher than poplar, smaller than my span; | 10 |
| Clearer than Phœbus’ fiery-pointed beam, | |
| Or icy crust of crystal’s frozen stream. | |
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| Yet is she curster than the bear by kind, 3 | |
| And harder-hearted than the agèd oak; | |
| More glib than oil, more fickle than the wind, | 15 |
| More stiff than steel, no sooner bent but broke. | |
| Lo! thus my service is a lasting sore, | |
| Yet will I serve, although I die therefore. | |
| | | Note 1. I serve Aminta, whiter than the snow. Like Nos. 253 and 255 (see note supra) this poem is from England’s Helicon, 1600, where it is signed “Shepherd Tony.” [back] | | Note 2. More fine in trip: of daintier step. [back] | | Note 3. Curster … by kind: more vixenish in disposition. [back] | | |
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