| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Idea | | Sonnet 63. Truce, gentle Love! a Parley now I crave! | | Michael Drayton (1563–1631) |
| | [First printed in 1599 (No. 55), and in all later editions.] |
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TRUCE, gentle Love! a Parley now I crave! | |
| Methinks, ’tis long since first these wars begun. | |
| Nor thou, nor I, the better yet can have! | |
| Bad is the match, where neither party won. | |
| I offer free Conditions of fair Peace! | 5 |
| My heart for hostage that it shall remain. | |
| Discharge our forces! Here, let malice cease! | |
| So for my pledge, thou give me pledge again. | |
| Or if no thing but death will serve thy turn, | |
| Still thirsting for subversion of my State, | 10 |
| Do what thou canst! raze! massacre! and burn! | |
| Let the World see the utmost of thy hate! | |
| I send Defiance! since if overthrown, | |
Thou vanquishing, the conquest is mine own!
F I N I S. | | | |
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