Sonnet LXXXIX.

Sennuccio, i' vo' che sappi in qual maniera.     HE RELATES TO HIS FRIEND SENNUCCIO HIS UNHAPPINESS, AND THE VARIED MOOD OF LAURA.         To thee, Sennuccio, fain would I declare,     To sadden life, what wrongs, what woes I find:     Still glow my wonted flames; and, though resign'd     To Laura's fickle will, no change I bear.     All humble now, then haughty is my fair;     Now meek, then proud; now pitying, then unkind:     Softness and tenderness now sway her mind;     Then do her looks disdain and anger wear.     Here would she sweetly sing, there sit awhile,     Here bend her step, and there her step retard;     Here her bright eyes my easy heart ensnared;     There would she speak fond words, here lovely smile;     There frown contempt;--such wayward cares I prove     By night, by day; so wills our tyrant Love!     ANON. 1777.         Alas, Sennuccio! would thy mind could frame     What now I suffer! what my life's drear reign;     Consumed beneath my heart's continued pain,     At will she guides me--yet am I the same.     Now humble--then doth pride her soul inflame;     Now harsh--then gentle; cruel--kind again;     Now all reserve--then borne on frolic's vein;     Disdain alternates with a milder claim.     Here once she sat, and there so sweetly sang;     Here turn'd to look on me, and lingering stood;     There first her beauteous eyes my spirit stole:     And here she smiled, and there her accents rang,     Her speaking face here told another mood.     Thus Love, our sovereign, holds me in control.     WOLLASTON.