Follow Thy Fair Sun
Follow Thy Fair Sun
Original Text
Philip Rosseter, A booke of ayres (London: Peter Short, 1601). STC 21332.
1 Follow thy fair sun, unhappy shadow;
2 Though thou be black as night,
3 And she made all of light,
4Yet follow thy fair sun, unhappy shadow.
5 Follow her, whose light thy light depriveth;
6 Though here thou liv'st disgrac'd,
7 And she in heaven is plac'd,
8Yet follow her whose light the world reviveth.
9 Follow those pure beams, whose beauty burneth;
10 That so have scorched thee,
11 As thou still black must be,
12Till her kind beams thy black to brightness turneth.
13 Follow her, while yet her glory shineth;
14 There comes a luckless night
15 That will dim all her light;
16And this the black unhappy shade divineth.
17 Follow still, since so thy fates ordained;
18 The sun must have his shade,
19 Till both at once do fade,
20The sun still proud, the shadow still disdained.
Publication Start Year
1601
RPO poem Editors
N. J. Endicott
RPO Edition
2RP.1.249; RPO 1996-2000.
Rhyme
Form