Astrophil and Stella
Sonnet 3
Let dainty wits cry on the sisters nine,
That bravely masked, their fancies may be told:
Or Pindar's apes, flaunt they in phrases fine,
Enam'lling with pied flowers their thoughts of gold:
Or else let them in statelier glory shine,
Ennobling new-found tropes with problems old:
Or with strange similes enrich each line,
Of herbs or beasts, which Ind or Afric hold.
For me, in sooth, no muse but one I know;
Phrases and problems from my reach do grow,
And strange things cost too dear for my poor sprites.
How then? Even thus: in Stella's face I read
What love and beauty be; then all my deed
But copying is, what in her nature writes.
Sir Philip Sidney
Back to Sonnet 2
Forward to Sonnet 4