Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904.
ChlorisTo the most excellent and learned Shepherd Colin Clout
William Smith (fl. 1596)or
The Complaint of the
passionate despised
Shepherd.
By W
Imprinted at London,
By E
1596.
To the most excellent and learned
Shepherd C
[i.e., E
C
My Muse audacious stoops her pitch to thee!
Desiring that thy patience be not moved
By these rude lines, written here you see.
Fain would my Muse, whom cruel Love hath wronged,
Shroud her love-labours under thy protection!
And I myself, with ardent zeal, have longed
That thou mightst know, to thee my true affection.
Therefore, good C
A few sad Sonnets which my Muse hath framed:
Though they but newly from the shell are crept,
Suffer them not by envy to be blamed!
But, underneath the shadow of thy wings,
Give warmth to these young-hatchèd orphan things!
Which, chill with cold, to thee for succour creep.
They of my study are the budding springs:
Longer I cannot them in silence keep.
They will be gadding! sore against my mind.
But, courteous Shepherd, if they run astray,
Conduct them, that they may the pathway find:
And teach them how the Mean observe they may!
Thou shalt them ken by their discording notes!
Their weeds are plain, such as poor shepherds wear;
Unshapen, torn, and ragged are their coats:
Yet forth they wandering are, devoid of fear.
They which have tasted of the Muses’ spring,
I hope, will smile upon the tunes they sing.