Amoretti, Sonnet XIV

Edmund Spenser· 1552 – 1599· English

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Edmund Spenser

RETOURNE agayne my forces late dismayd,

Vnto the siege by you abandon'd quite,

great shame it is to leaue like one afrayd,

so fayre a peece for one repulse so light.

Gaynst such strong castles needeth greater might,

then those small forts which ye were wont belay,

such haughty mynds enur'd to hardy fight,

disdayne to yield vnto the first assay.

Bring therefore all the forces that ye may,

and lay incessant battery to her heart,

playnts, prayers, vowes, ruth, sorrow, and dismay,

those engins can the proudest loue conuert.

And if those fayle fall downe and dy before her,

so dying liue, and liuing do adore her.

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Complete 89-sonnet sequence. Renascence Editions transcription of Alexander Grosart’s 1882 edition.
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