Ben Jonson


  U  N  D  E  R  W  O  O  D  S .

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.


XLVI. — A SONNET, TO THE NOBLE LADY, THE   
LADY MARY WROTH.   


I that have been a lover, and could shew it,
   Though not in these, in rhymes not wholly dumb,
   Since I exscribe your sonnets, am become
A better lover, and much better poet.
Nor is my Muse or I asham'd to owe it
   To those true numerous graces, whereof some
   But charme the senses, others overcome
Both brains and hearts ;  and mine now best do know it :
For in your verse all Cupid's armory,
   His flames, his shafts, his quiver, and his bow,
   His very eyes are yours to overthrow.
But then his mother's sweets you so apply,
   Her joys, her smiles, her loves, as readers take
   For Venus' ceston every line you make.


[ AJ Notes:
   l.14  Venus' ceston, a girdle which endowed the wearer with
           the power of eliciting love. ]


 







Lady Mary Wroth
Lady Mary Wroth

Source:
Jonson, Ben.  The Works of Ben Jonson.
Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Co., 1853. 825.


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