Astrophil and Stella
Sonnet 110
Thou blind man's mark, thou fool's self-chosen snare,
Fond fancy's scum, and dregs of scattered thought:
Band of all evils, cradle of causelesse care;
Thou web of will, whose end is never wrought:
Desire! Desire! I have too dearly bought,
With prize of mangled mind, thy worthlesse ware;
Too long, too long, asleep thou hast me brought,
Who shouldst my mind to higher things prepare.
But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought;
In vain thou madest me to vain things aspire;
In vain thou kindlest all thy smokey fire;
For virtue hath this better lesson taught -
Within my self to seek my only hire,
Desiring nought but how to kill desire.
Sir Philip Sidney
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