Fair Samela
Like to Diana in her summer weed,
Girt with a crimson robe of brightest dye,
Goes fair Samela;
Whiter than be the flocks that straggling feed,
When wash'd by Arethusa's fount they lie,
Is fair Samela;
As fair Aurora in her morning gray,
Deck'd with the ruddy glister of her love,
Is fair Samela;
Like lovely Thetis on a calmèd day,
Whenas her brightness Neptune's fancy move,
Shines fair Samela;
Her tresses gold, her eyes like glassy streams,
Her teeth are pearl, the breasts are ivory
Of fair Samela;
Her cheeks, like rose and lily, yield forth gleams,
Her brows, bright arches fram'd of ebony;
Thus fair Samela
Passeth fair Venus in her bravest hue,
And Juno in the show of majesty,
(For she's Samela!)
Pallas in wit,--all three, if you well view,
For beauty, wit, and matchless dignity
Yield to Samela.
Robert Greene (1558 – 1592)
