THE DECEIVED LOVER SUETH ONLY FOR LIBERTY by THOMAS WYATT

If chance assigned
Were to my mind
By very kind
Of destiny;
Yet would I crave
Naught else to have
But only life and liberty.

Then were I sure
I might endure
The displeasure
Of cruelty,
Where now I plain
Alas in vain,
Lacking my life for liberty.

For without th' one
Th' other is gone,
And there can none
It remedy;
If th' one be past,
Th' other doth waste,
And all for lack of liberty.

And so I drive
As yet alive,
Although I strive
With misery;
Drawing my breath,
Looking for death,
And loss of life and liberty.

But thou that still
Mayst at thy will
Turn all this ill
Adversity;
For the repair
Of my welfare
Grant me but life and liberty.

And if not so
Then let all go
To wretched woe,
And let me die;
For th' one or th' other
There is none other,
My death, or life with liberty.

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