| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Fidessa | | Sonnet XXI. He that will Cæsar be, or else not be | | Bartholomew Griffin (d. 1602) |
| | | HE that will CÆSAR be, or else not be, | |
| (Who can aspire to CÆSAR’s bleeding fame!) | |
| Must be of high resolve; but what is he | |
| That thinks to gain a second CÆSAR’s name? | |
| Whoe’er he be that climbs above his strength, | 5 |
| And climbeth high; the greater is his fall! | |
| For though he sit awhile, we see at length, | |
| His slippery place no firmness hath at all! | |
| Great is his bruise that falleth from on high. | |
| This warneth me that I should not aspire; | 10 |
| Examples should prevail! I care not, I! | |
| I perish must, or have what I desire! | |
| This humour doth with mine full well agree. | |
| I must FIDESSA’s be, or else not be! | | | | |
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