XX. Rich is the diamond, a gem of price

Robert Tofte (1561–1620)

RICH is the diamond, a gem of price;

Yet such the nature strange is of the same,

That who the powder thereof drinks, straight dies:

And, as if poison ’twere, doth take his bane.

So thou another precious jewel art;

In name and nature not unmuch alike:

Since death thou giv’st unto the loving heart;

If but a kiss one sucks from thee most sweet.

Whilst he doth swallow down his sugared bait;

The joy ’s so great, it kills him through conceit.