Poem by Edmund Spenser

Amoretti 11. Dayly when I do seeke and sew for peace

Dayly when I do seeke and sew for peace,
And hostages doe offer for my truth,
She, cruell warriour, doth her selfe addresse
To battell, and the weary war renew’th;
Ne wilbe moov’d, with reason or with rewth*,
To graunt small respit to my restlesse toile;
But greedily her fell intent poursewth,
Of my poore life to make unpittied spoile.
Yet my poore life, all sorrowes to assoyle,
I would her yield, her wrath to pacify;
But then she seeks, with torment and turmoyle,
To force me live, and will not let me dy.
  All paine hath end, and every war hath peace;
  But mine, no price nor prayer may surcease.

[* Rewth, ruth, pity.] 

1. Amoretti 5. Then was the faire Dodonian tree far seene
2. Amoretti 77. Was it a dreame, or did I see it playne?
3. Amoretti 41. Is it her nature, or is it her will
4. Amoretti 65. The doubt which ye misdeeme, fayre Love, is vaine
5. Amoretti 34. Lyke as a ship, that through the ocean wyde

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