Sonnet 30 (Spencer)

by Edmund Spenser

Sonnet XXX

MY loue is lyke to yse, and I to fyre;
  how comes it then that this her cold so great
  is not dissolu'd through my so hot desyre,
  but harder growes the more I her intreat?
Or how comes it that my exceeding heat
  is not delayd by her hart frosen cold:
  but that I burne much more in boyling sweat,
  and feel my flames augmented manifold?
What more miraculous thing may be told
  that fire which all things melts, should harden yse:
  and yse which is congeald with sencelesse cold,
  should kindle fyre by wonderfull deuyse.
Such is the powre of loue in gentle mind,
  that it can alter all the course of kynd.

<Publ. 1595>

Modern spelling

My love is like to ice, and I to fire:
  how comes it then that this her cold so great
  is not dissolv'd through my so hot desire,
  but harder grows, the more I her entreat?
Or how comes it that my exceeding heat
  is not delayed by her heart frozen cold,
  but that I burn much more in boiling sweat,
  and feel my flames augmented manifold?
What more miraculous thing may be told
  that fire, which all thing melts, should harden ice:
  and ice which is congealed with senseless cold,
  should kindle fire by wonderful device?
Such is the pow'r of love in gentle mind
  that it can alter all the course of kind.