In Cupid's court

by Unknown

THE LOVE THAT IS REQUITED WITH DISDAIN

In search of things that secret are my mated muse began,

What it might be molested most the head and mind of man;

The bending brow of prince’s face, to wrath that doth attend,

Or want of parents, wife, or child, or loss of faithful friend;

The roaring of the cannon shot, that makes the piece to shake,

Or terror, such as mighty Jove from heaven above can make:

All these in fine, may not compare, experience so doth prove,

Unto the torments, sharp and strange, of such as be in love.

Love looks aloft, and laughs to scorn all such as griefs annoy,

The more extreme their passions be, the greater is his joy,

Thus Love, as victor of the field, triumphs above the rest,

And joys to see his subjects lie with living death in breast;

But dire Disdain lets drive a shaft, and galls this bragging fool,

He plucks his plumes, unbends his bow, and sets him new to school;

Whereby this boy that bragged late, as conqueror over all,

Now yields himself unto Disdain, his vassal and his thrall.

William Hunnis.