At Liberty I Sit and See
At Liberty I Sit and See
Original Text
Songes and Sonettes (London: Tottel, 1557). Facs. edn. (Leeds: Scolar, 1966). PR 1205 T6 1966 Victoria College Library,
1 At liberty I sit and see
2 Them, that have erst laugh'd me to scorn,
3Whipp'd with the whip that scourged me:
5 I see them sit full soberly
6 And think their earnest looks to hide;
7Now, in themselves, they cannot spy
8 That they or this in me have spied.
9 I see them sitting all alone,
10 Marking the steps, each word and look;
11And now they tread where I have gone,
12 The painful path that I forsook.
13 Now I see well I saw no whit
14 When they saw well, that now are blind;
16 And just judgement hath them assign'd.
17 I see them wander all alone,
18 And tread full fast, in dreadful doubt,
19The self-same path that I have gone:
20 Blessed be hap that brought me out!
21 At liberty all this I see,
23Smiling at them that laugh'd at me:
24 Lo, such is hap! Mark well my song!
Notes
4] ban: curse. Back to Line
15] hap: fortune. Back to Line
22] among: all the while. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1557
RPO poem Editors
N. J. Endicott
RPO Edition
2RP.1.234; RPO 1996-2000.
Rhyme