Sonnet XXIX

Portrait of Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser 1552–1599

See how the stubborne damzell doth depraue my simple meaning with disdaynfull scorne: and by the bay which I vnto her gaue, accoumpts my selfe her captiue quite forlorne. The bay (quoth she) is of the victours borne, yielded them by the vanquisht as theyr meeds, and they therewith doe poetes heads adorne, to sing the glory of their famous deedes. But sith she will the conquest challeng needs, let her accept me as her faithfull thrall, that her great triumph which my skill exceeds, I may in trump of fame blaze ouer all. Then would I decke her head with glorious bayes, and fill the world with her victorious prayse.

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