| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Sonnets after Astrophel, etc. | | Conclusion: If floods of tears could cleanse my follies past | | Anonymous |
| | | IF floods of tears could cleanse my follies past | |
| And smokes of sighs might sacrifice for sin; | |
| If groaning cries might salve my fault at last; | |
| Or endless moan for error, pardon win: | |
| Then would I cry, weep, sigh, and ever moan | 5 |
| Mine error, fault, sins, follies past and gone. | |
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| I see my hopes must wither in their bud, | |
| I see my favours are no lasting flowers, | |
| I see that words will breathe no better good | |
| Than loss of time, and lightning but at hours. | 10 |
| Then when I see, then this I say therefore, | |
That favours, hopes and words can blind no more.
F I N I S. | | | | |
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