Poem by Michael Drayton

Sonnet 62. When First I Ended, then I First Began

When first I ended, then I first began,
The more I travell'd, further from my rest,
Where most I lost, there most of all I wan*,   [won]
Pined with hunger rising from a feast.
Methinks I fly, yet want I legs to go,
Wise in conceit, in act a very sot,
Ravish'd with joy amid a hell of woe;
What most I seem, that surest am I not.
I build my hopes a world above the sky,
Yet with the mole I creep into the earth;
In plenty I am starv'd with penury,
And yet I surfeit in the greatest dearth.
    I have, I want, despair and yet desire, 
    Burn'd in a sea of ice and drown'd amidst a fire.

1. Sonnet 57. You Best Discern'd of my Mind's Inward Eyes
2. Sonnet 47. In Pride of Wit
3. Sonnet 38. Sitting Alone, Love
4. Sonnet 55. My Fair
5. Sonnet 25. O Why should Nature Niggardly Restrain

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