XIV.

Retourne agayne, my forces late dismayd,

Unto the siege by you abandon’d quite.

Great shame it is to leave, like one afrayd,

So fayre a peece* for one repulse so light.

’Gaynst such strong castles needeth greater might

Then those small forts which ye were wont belay**:

Such haughty mynds, enur’d to hardy fight,

Disdayne to yield unto the first assay.

Bring therefore all the forces that ye may,

And lay incessant battery to her heart;

Playnts, prayers, vowes, ruth, sorrow, and dismay;

Those engins can the proudest love convert:

And, if those fayle, fall down and dy before her;

So dying live, and living do adore her.

[l _Peece_, fortress.]

[** _Belay_, beleaguer.]

The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, Volume 5 · 第 201 / 327 题