| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Diana | The Fourth Decade
Sonnet IV. Fools be they, that inveigh ’gainst Mahomet | | Henry Constable (1562–1613) |
| | | FOOLS be they, that inveigh ’gainst MAHOMET; | |
| Who’s but a moral of love’s monarchy. | |
| By a dull adamant, as straw by jet, | |
| He in an iron chest was drawn on high. | |
| In midst of Mecca’s temple roof, some say, | 5 |
| He now hangs, without touch or stay at all. | |
| That MAHOMET is She, to whom I pray; | |
| May ne’er man pray so ineffectual! | |
| Mine eyes, love’s strange exhaling adamants, | |
| Un’wares, to my heart’s temple’s height have wrought | 10 |
| The iron Idol that compassion wants; | |
| Who my oft tears and travails sets at nought. | |
| Iron hath been transformed to gold by art | |
| Her face, limbs, flesh and all, gold; save her heart. | | | | |
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