| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Laura—Part I. | | XXXVIII. Even as the lamp goeth out, that oil doth want | | Robert Tofte (1561–1620) |
| | | EVEN as the lamp goeth out, that oil doth want, | |
| Or as the sun doth fall in th’ Occident; | |
| So did my heart within me ’gin to pant; | |
| My vital spirits away by little went: | |
| When, taking on me pity, graciously | 5 |
| My Mistress’s hem of garment, trailing down, | |
| Touched me; and me revivèd suddenly. | |
| Then if such virtue be within her gown; | |
| Imagine what doth stay her corpse within! | |
| Which who seeth, through sweetness needs must sin. | 10 | | | |
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