Page:Shakespeare Collection of Poems.djvu/45

And now 'tis dark, and going I shall fall:
In night (quoth she) desire sees best of all.

But if thou fall, oh, then imagine this,
The earth in love with thee, thy footing trips,
And all is but to rob thee of a kiss.
Rich preys make true men thieves: so do thy lips
Make modest Diane cloudy and forlorn,
Lest she should steal a kiss and die forsworn.

Now of this dark night I perceive the reason,
Cynthia for shame obscures her silver shine,
Till forging Nature be condemn'd of treason,
For stealing moulds from heaven that were divine,
Wherein she fram'd thee in hie heavens despite,
To shame the Sun by day, and her by night.

And therefore hath she brib'd the Destinies,
To cross the curious workmanship of nature,
To mingle beauty with infirmities,
And pure perfection with impure defeature,
Making it subject to the tyranny
Of sad mischances and much misery.

As burning fevers; agues pale and faint,
Life-poisoning pestilence, and frenzies wood,
The marrow eating sickness, whose attaint
Disorder breeds by beating of the blood:
Surfets, impostumes, grief, and damn'd despair,
Swear natures death for framing thee so fair.

And