Part One

Sweet is the rose, but grows upon a briar

Sweet is the juniper, but sharp his bough;

Sweet is the eglantine, but pricketh near;

Sweet is the fir bloom, but his branch is rough;

Sweet is the cypress but his rind is tough;

Sweet is the nut, but bitter is his pill;

Sweet is the broom flower, but yet sour enough,

And sweet is moly, but his root is ill.

So every sweet with sour is tempered still,

That maketh it be coveted the more:

For easy things that may be got at will,

Most sorts of men do set but little store.

Why then should I account of little pain,

That endless pleasure shall unto me gain!

—Edmund Spenser