LXV.

The doubt which ye misdeeme, fayre Love, is vaine,

That fondly feare to lose your liberty,

When, losing one, two liberties ye gayne,

And make him bond that bondage earst did fly.

Sweet be the bands the which true love doth tye,

Without constraynt or dread of any ill:

The gentle birde feeles no captivity

Within her cage, but sings, and feeds her fill.

There pride dare not approch, nor discord spill

The league twixt them that loyal love hath bound,

But simple Truth and mutual Good-will

Seeks with sweet peace to salve each others wound:

There Fayth doth fearless dwell in brasen towre,

And spotlesse Pleasure builds her sacred bowre.

The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, Volume 5 · 第 252 / 327 题