William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. | | Montana the Shepherd, His Love to Aminta | By Anthony Munday (15531633) |
| 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 winters sun or summers 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 Phbus fiery-pointed beam, | |
Or icy crust of crystals 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 Englands 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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