To his lady, that by hap when he kissed her and made her lip bleed, controlled him and took disdain, by George Turberville

edited by Mary Lynn Bea

George Turberville, born in Dorset, England, lived from 1540? to 1610. He was scholar of Winchester College at 14 years of age. After attending the University of Oxford, Turberville went to Russia (1568-69) as secretary to Thomas Randolph, the first ambassador there, and later settled at Shapwick, Dorset. In Epitaphes, Epigrams, Songs, and Sonets...(1567), Turberville followed models in Tottel's Miscellany, addressing poems to the Countess of Warwick. He was also notable for his translations of Ovid and Mantuanus (1567), which included some of the first attempts at blank verse in English. It is interesting to note that this poem was odd for the time because it seems to have a sexual aggression, bordering on violence, which was very uncommon in poems during this time.
Turberville was a scholar and poet and also wrote volumes on hunting, falconry, as well as sonnets, and songs. He was the first English poet to publish a book of verses to his lady, a genre that became popular in the Elizabethan age. 

Discharge thy dole,
Thou subtle soul,
It stands in little stead
To curse the kiss
That causer is				5
Thy cherry lip doth bleed.
Thy blood ascends
To make amends
For damage thou hast done:
For by the same				10
I felt a flame
More scorching than the sun.
Thou reft'st my heart
By secret art,
My sprites were quite subdued:		15
My senses fled
And I was dead,
Thy lips were scarce imbrued.
The kiss was thine,
The hurt was mine,			20
My heart felt all the pain:
'Twas it that bled
And looked so red,
I tell thee once again.
But if you long				25
To wreak your wrong
Upon your friendly foe;
Come kiss again
And put to pain
The man that hurt you so.		30

1.by hap] by chance, casually; perchance, perhaps.
2.subtle] of fine or delicate texture; also, delicately formed or molded.
3.stead] standing still, as opposed to movement; stoppage, delay.
13.reft'st] split, tore, broke, in pieces.
15.sprites] spirits. Subdued] to reduce to order or obedience.
18.imbrued] stained with blood.
26.wreak] the fact of being brought to disaster; downfall, overthrow, ruin; the action of wrecking or breaking apart.

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