Here the Lover replies to Reason.
Love before all else
“Nay, nay!” I cried, “that would but be
To treat my master treacherously,
Who hath the power to make me rich
With wealth that monarchs’ palms might itch
In vain for. His kind hand will give
To me the Rose if I but live
True to my oath, and if I gain
That prize, I count all else but vain.
Your Socrates, and all his riches,
I value not three bodkin stitches;7290
I pray you speak of him no more;
My master, Love, I prize before
Aught else, and joyfully confess
His might, his love, his tenderness.
Nay, though he led the way to hell
I’d follow him and cry ‘’tis well.
My heart belongs no more to me,
’Tis his to deal with utterly,
And past persuasion am I loth
To make to any other oath7300
Of fealty; my testament
Fair-Welcome hath, wherein I’ve spent
My very soul; my fate is sealed
By law that ne’er can be repealed.
My precious Rose I would not change
For all your promise, nor estrange
My heart therefrom.
It seems to me
You lack the flower of courtesy,
For erstwhile did you cullions name,
A word no maid, with sense of shame,7310
