JOHN LYLY, Sappho and Phao,
   1584 ; acted 1582.





SAPPHO'S SONG.

   O CRUEL Love, on thee I lay
    My curse, which shall strike blind the day ;
    Never may sleep with velvet hand
    Charm thine eyes with sacred wand ;
    Thy jailors shall be hopes and fears ;
    Thy prison-mates groans, sighs, and tears ;
    Thy play to wear out weary times,
    Fantastic passions, vows, and rimes ;
    Thy bread be frowns ; thy drink be gall,
    Such as when you Phao call ;
    The bed thou liest on be despair,
    Thy sleep fond dreams, thy dreams long care ;
    Hope, like thy fool, at thy bed's head,
    Mock thee, till madness strike thee dead,
As, Phao, thou dost me with thy proud eyes ;
In thee poor Sappho lives, for thee she dies.



Schelling, Felix E., Ed. A Book of Elizabethan Lyrics.
Boston: Ginn and Company, 1895. 21-22.



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