To St Mary Magdalen

 
 

     FOR fewe nyghtes solace in delitious bedd,
         where heate of luste, dyd kyndle flames of hell:
         thou nak'd on naked rocke in desert cell
         lay thirty yeares, and teares of griefe dyd shedd.
     But for that tyme, thy hart there sorrowed,
         thou now in heaven æternally dost dwell,
         and for ech teare, which from thyne eyes then fell,
         a sea of pleasure now ys rendered.
     If short delyghtes, entyce my hart to straye,
         lett me by thy longe pennance learne to knowe
         how deare I should for triflyng pleasures paye:
     And if I vertues roughe beginnyng shunne,
         Lett thy æternal ioyes vnto me showe
         what hyghe Rewarde, by lyttle payne ys wonne.

 

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Henry Constable (1562-1613)

 
 
   

created by Heather C. Milligan