| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Cœlia | | Sonnet IV. O Heavenly Cœlia, as fair as virtuous! | | William Percy (1575–1648) |
| | | O HEAVENLY CŒLIA, as fair as virtuous! | |
| The only Minor of true Chastity! | |
| Have I been ’gainst thy godhead impious, | |
| That thus am guerdoned for my fealty? | |
| Have I not shed upon thine iv’ry shrine | 5 |
| Huge drops of tears with large eruptions? | |
| Have I not offered, Evening, and at Prime, | |
| My sighs, my Psalms of invocations? | |
| “What be men’s sighs but cauls of guilefulness?” | |
| “They shew, dear Love! true proofs of firmity!” | 10 |
| “What be your tears but mere ungraciousness?” | |
| “Tears only plead for our simplicity!” | |
| When all strike mute, She says “It is my duty!” | |
| And claims as much as to her deity. | | | | |
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