Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904.
CœliaSonnet IV. O Heavenly Cœlia, as fair as virtuous!
William Percy (1575–1648)O H
The only Minor of true Chastity!
Have I been ’gainst thy godhead impious,
That thus am guerdoned for my fealty?
Have I not shed upon thine iv’ry shrine
Huge drops of tears with large eruptions?
Have I not offered, Evening, and at Prime,
My sighs, my Psalms of invocations?
“What be men’s sighs but cauls of guilefulness?”
“They shew, dear Love! true proofs of firmity!”
“What be your tears but mere ungraciousness?”
“Tears only plead for our simplicity!”
When all strike mute, She says “It is my duty!”
And claims as much as to her deity.