i8o THE WILD-FLOWERS OF SELBORNE 



alluding at the same time to the fact that his father 



was dead : — 



" Dear my love, you know 

 You had a father : let your son say so."— xiii. 



Then the " faire EHzabeth " comes across Southamp- 

 ton's vision, and the vicissitudes of true love begin. 

 The lovers, owing partly to the Earl's imprudence in 

 ** courting with too much familiarity," but chiefly to 

 the enmity of the Queen, are forced to part, and South- 

 ampton cries : — 



" Farewell ! thou art too dear for my possessing." 



— Ixxxvii. 

 And again : — 



" Let me confess that we two must be twain, 

 Although our undivided loves are one."— xxxvi. 



He keenly feels his banishment from Court : — 



" When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, 

 I all alone beweep my outcast state." 



He hastens to bed, seeking rest and finding none : — 



" But then begins a journey in my head, 

 To work my mind, when body's work's expired ; 

 For then my thoughts . . . 

 Present thy shadow to my sightless view, 

 Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night, 

 Makes black night beauteous, and her old face new. 

 Lo ! thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind, 

 For thee and for myself no quiet find." — xxvii. 



He travels on the Continent with a heavy heart : — 



" How heavy do I journey on my way. 



The beast that bears me, tired with my woe, 

 Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me." — 1. 



