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by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599)

Faire ye be sure
Language: English 
Faire ye be sure, but cruell and unkind,
As is a Tygre that with greediness 
Hunts after blood, when he by chance doth find
A feeble beast, doth felly him oppresse.
Faire be ye sure, but proud and pittiless, 
As is a storme that all things doth prostrate,
Finding a tree alone all comfortless,
Beats on it strongly, it to ruinate. 
Faire be ye sure. but hard and obstinate,
As is a rocke amidst the raging floods, 
Gainst which a ship of succour desolate, 
Doth suffer wreck both of her selfe and goods. 

That ship, that tree, and that same beast am I,
Whom ye do wreck, doe ruine and destroy.

Text Authorship:

  • by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599), Sonnet LVI.  [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Maurice Greene (1696 - 1755), "Faire ye be sure", subtitle: "Sonnet XVIII" [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this page: John Versmoren

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 111

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