Description of Spring,
wherein eche thing renews, save onelie the lover
The soote season, that bud and bloom forth brings,
With green hath clad the hill and eke the vale:
The nightingale with feathers new she sings;
The turtle to her make hath told her tale.
Summer is come, for every spray now springs:
The hart hath hung his old head on the pale;
The buck in brake his winter coat he flings;
The fishes flete with new repairèd scale.
The adder all her slough away she slings;
The swift swallow pursueth the flies smale;
The busy bee her honey now she mings;
Winter is worn that was the flowers' bale.
And thus I see among these pleasant things
Eche care decays, and yet my sorrow springs.
~~
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547)
from Tottel's Miscellany, 1870
[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey biography
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ReplyDeleteL1 soote = sweet
ReplyDeleteL2 eke = also
L4 make = mate
L11 mings = mixes
L12 bale = bane