| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Cœlia | Madrigal
When first I heard thy loves to Laya | | William Percy (1575–1648) |
| | To Parthenophil!
Upon his Laya and Parthenophe.
[i.e., inscribed to Barnabe Barnes. The reference at line 9 below seems to be to Barnes’s Sestine 5.] |
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WHEN first I heard thy loves to LAYA, | |
| I wished the gods to turn it to good hap! | |
| Yet since I hear thy blessed flight away, | |
| I joy thy chance, for fear of afterclap! | |
| Unwily man! why couldst not keep thee there? | 5 |
| But must with PARTHENOPH’, thee ’gain entrap! | |
| I little rue thy well deserved tears! | |
| The beast once ’scaped will ever shun the trap! | |
| What tell’st thou me, “By spells, th’ hast won thy Dear!” | |
| Believe her, Friend! no more than LAYA past! | 10 |
| Charmed Love endures but whilst the Charm doth last! | | | |
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