Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904.
Parthenophil and Parthenophe[Dedicatory Sonnets.] To the Right Noble and virtuous Lord, Henry, Earl of Southampton
Barnabe Barnes (1569?–1609)R
(Which sacred Muses make their instrument)
These worthless leaves! which I, to thee present!
(Sprung from a rude and unmanured land)
That with your countenance graced, they may withstand
Hundred-eyed Envy’s rough encounterment;
Whose Patronage can give encouragement
To scorn back-wounding Z
Vouchsafe, right virtuous Lord! with gracious eyes,
(Those heavenly lamps which give the Muses light,
Which give and take, in course, that holy fire)
To view my Muse with your judicial sight;
Whom, when time shall have taught, by flight, to rise
Shall to thy virtues, of much worth, aspire.