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Home  »  Elizabethan Sonnets  »  Sonnet XXXIX. The stately lion and the furious bear

Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904.

Chloris

Sonnet XXXIX. The stately lion and the furious bear

William Smith (fl. 1596)

THE STATELY lion and the furious bear,

The skill of man doth alter from their kind;

For where before they wild and savage were,

By Art, both tame and meek you shall them find.

The elephant, although a mighty beast,

A man may rule according to his skill.

The lusty horse obeyeth our behest,

For with the curb, you may him guide at will.

Although the flint most hard contains the fire,

By force we do his virtue soon obtain:

For with a steel you shall have your desire.

Thus man may all things by industry gain.

Only a woman, if she list not love;

No art, nor force, can unto pity move.