Poem by Edmund Spenser

Amoretti 14. Retourne agayne, my forces late dismayd

Retourne agayne, my forces late dismayd,
Unto the siege by you abandon’d quite.
Great shame it is to leave, like one afrayd,
So fayre a peece* for one repulse so light.
’Gaynst such strong castles needeth greater might
Then those small forts which ye were wont belay**:
Such haughty mynds, enur’d to hardy fight,
Disdayne to yield unto the first assay.
Bring therefore all the forces that ye may,
And lay incessant battery to her heart;
Playnts, prayers, vowes, ruth, sorrow, and dismay;
Those engins can the proudest love convert:
   And, if those fayle, fall down and dy before her;
   So dying live, and living do adore her.

[* Peece, fortress.]
[** Belay, beleaguer.] 

1. Amoretti 46. When my abodes prefixed time is spent
2. Amoretti 63. After long stormes and tempests sad assay
3. Amoretti 43. Shall I then silent be, or shall I speake?
4. Amoretti 59. Thrise happie she that is so well assured
5. Amoretti 49. Fayre Cruell! why are ye so fierce and cruell?

Print

1681 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version