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 47. In Pride of Wit
2. Sonnet 23. Love, Banish'd Heav'n
3. Roc
4. Sonnet 14. If He From Heav'n
5. The Trent (NEAR to the silver Trent)

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