The Phoenix and Turtle (Quarto, 1601)
Author: William ShakespeareEditor: Hardy M. CookNot Peer Reviewed
1LEt the bird of lowde
st lay,
¶On the
sole
Arabian tree,
¶Herauld
sad and trumpet be:
¶To who
se
sound cha
ste wings obay.
5But thou
shriking harbinger,
¶Foule precurrer of the fiend,
¶Augour of the feuers end,
¶To this troupe come thou not neere.
¶From this Se
ssion interdict
10Euery foule of tyrant wing,
¶Saue the Eagle feath'red King,
¶Keepe the ob
sequie
so
strict.
¶Let the Prie
st in Surples white,
¶That defunctiue Mu
sicke can,
15Be the death-deuining Swan,
¶Le
st the
Requiem lacke his right.
¶And thou treble dated Crow,
¶That thy
sable gender mak'
st,
¶With the breath thou giu'
st and tak'
st,
20Mong
st our mourners
shalt thou go.