| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Parthenophil and Parthenophe | | Ode 4. Bacchus! Father of all sport! | | Barnabe Barnes (1569?–1609) |
| | | BACCHUS! Father of all sport! | |
| Worker of Love’s comfort! | |
| VENUS’ best beloved brother! | |
| (Like beloved is none other!) | |
| Greater Father of Felicity! | 5 |
| Fill full, with thy divinity, | |
| These thirsty and these empty veins! | |
| Thence, fuming up into my brains, | |
| Exceed APOLLO, through thy might! | |
| And make me, by thy motion light, | 10 |
| That, with alacrity, I may | |
| Write pleasing Odes! and still display | |
| PARTHENOPHE, with such high praises, | |
| (Whose beauty, Shepherds all amazes) | |
| And, by those means, her loves obtain! | 15 |
| Then, having filled up every vein, | |
| I shall be set in perfect state | |
| The rights of love to celebrate! | |
| Then, each year, fat from my sheepcot, | |
| Thy sacrifice, a tydie goat! | 20 |
| And [Greek] shall be | |
| Loud chanted, everywhere, to thee! | | | | |
|
|
