| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Amoretti and Epithalamion | | Sonnet LXXX. After so long a race as I have run | | Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599) |
| | | AFTER so long a race as I have run | |
| Through Faery land, which those six books compile, | |
| Give leave to rest me being half foredone, | |
| And gather to myself new breath awhile. | |
| Then, as a steed refreshed after toil, | 5 |
| Out of my prison I will break anew; | |
| And stoutly will that second work assoil, | |
| With strong endeavour and attention due. | |
| Till then give leave to me, in pleasant mew | |
| To sport my muse, and sing my love’s sweet praise; | 10 |
| The contemplation of whose heavenly hue, | |
| My spirit to a higher pitch will raise: | |
| But let her praises yet be low and mean, | |
| Fit for the handmaid of the Faery Queen. | | | | |
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