I Abide and Abide and Better Abide

By Sir Thomas Wyatt

I abide and abide and better abide,

And after the old proverb, the happy day;

And ever my lady to me doth say,

"Let me alone and I will provide."

I abide and abide and tarry the tide,

And with abiding speed well ye may.

Thus do I abide I wot alway,

Nother obtaining nor yet denied.

Ay me! this long abiding

Seemeth to me, as who sayeth,

A prolonging of a dying death,

Or a refusing of a desir'd thing.

Much were it better for to be plain

Than to say "abide" and yet shall not obtain.