Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE TRIUMPH OF DEATH: THE TRIUMPHS OF LOVE, CHASTITY, DEATH. TO READER by PETRARCH

First Line: READER, I HAVE OFT BEEN TOLD, / VERSES THAT SPEAK NOT LOVE ARE COLD
Last Line: WHO HAD ENOUGH TO SERVE ALL THREE.

Reader, I have oft been told,
Verse that speak not Love are cold.
I would gladly please thine ear,
But am loth to buy 't too dear.
And 'tis easier far to borrow
Lovers' tears than feel their sorrow.
Therefore he hath furnisht me
Who had enough to serve all three.



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