| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Chloris | | To all Shepherds in general | | William Smith (fl. 1596) |
| | | YOU whom the World admires for rarest style, | |
| You which have sung the Sonnets of True Love, | |
| Upon my maiden verse with favour smile! | |
| Whose weak-penned Muse, to fly too soon doth prove: | |
| Before her feathers have their full perfection, | 5 |
| She soars aloft, pricked on by blind affection. | |
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| You whose deep wits, ingine, and industry, | |
| The everlasting palm of praise have won! | |
| You paragons of learned Poesy | |
| Favour these mists! which fall before you sun: | 10 |
| Intentions leading to a more effect, | |
| If you them grace but with your mild aspect. | |
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| And Thou, the Genius of my ill tuned note! | |
| Whose beauty urgèd hath my rustic vein, | |
| Through mighty oceans of despair to float; | 15 |
| That I in rhyme thy cruelty complain: | |
| Vouchsafe to read these lines both harsh and bad! | |
| Nuntiates of Woe, with sorrow being clad. W. SMITH. | | | | |
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