SONNET

 

When I behold my daughter, fairest child,

That often like some ruffian doth swear,

but yet is gracious like a flower wild

and dances sprightly in the morning air;

When I can see her dancing with the wind

and turn about in cheerful ecstasy,

I join her joy to leave my grief behind,

so I can smile and drink the remedy:

And from her dance this doctrine I derive,

That our beginnings and our ends are fair,

That beauty must on beauty ever thrive,

A golden summer sun beyond compare.

Then do I know my love is second to none

And will be dancing when my summer's gone.

S.M. For S. F. 17*5*MMXVI