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Caelia - Sonnet - 3

By William Browne

Topics: classic

Fairest, when by the rules of palmistry     You took my hand to try if you could guess     By lines therein if any wight there be     Ordain'd to make me know some happiness;     I wish'd that those characters could explain,     Whom I will never wrong with hope to win;     Or that by them a copy might be ta'en,     By you alone what thoughts I have within.     But since the hand of Nature did not set     (As providently loath to have it known)     The means to find that hidden alphabet.     Mine eyes shall be th' interpreters alone:     By them conceive my thoughts, and tell me, fair,     If now you see her that doth love me there.

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Author:William Browne

"Fairest, when by the rules of palmistry..." by William Browne

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

William Browne

About William Browne

William Browne is a distinguished poet whose works have shaped the landscape of English literature. Their poetry explores the depths of human emotion, nature, love, and philosophical thought through powerful and evocative verse. Readers continue to find solace, inspiration, and beauty in their timeless words.

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"All.     Now that the Spring hath fill'd our vein..."

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