Though of the sort there be that feign And cloak their craft to serve their turn, Shall I, alas, that truly mean, For their offence thus guiltless burn? And if I buy their fault too dear, That their untruth thus heat my fire, Then have I wrong. Though frailty fail not to appear In them that wail as well as I, And though the false by like desire Doth swear himself thine own to be -- If thou dost judge me one of these That so can feign such common ways Then have I wrong. Though chance hath power to change their love That all by chance their will doth guide, Such chance may not my heart remove For I by choice myself have tried And not by chance; wherefore I say, If thou dost not my welfare stay, Then have I wrong. Though steadfastness in them do lack That do protest the contrary And though performance none they make Of that they promise diversely, Yet since their faults are none of mine, If thou refusest me for thine, Then have I wrong. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET (ON AN OLD BOOK WITH UNCUT LEAVES) by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR UNDERWOODS: BOOK 2: 6. THE SPAEWIFE by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON ST. MARTIN'S WALL by ANTON ALEXANDER VON AUERSPERG AS LOVELY AS THEY by EVA MARBELL BONDI ON THE LOSS OF PROFESSOR FISHER by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD THE AUTHOR'S FRIEND TO THE READER by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |