Astrophil and Stella — Sonnet XXVIII
Astrophil and Stella — Sonnet XXVIII
Sir Philip Sidney
You that with Allegories curious frame
Of others children changelings vse to make,
With me those pains, for Gods sake, do not take:
I list not dig so deep for brazen fame,
When I say Stella I do meane the same
Princesse of beauty for whose only sake
The raines of Loue I loue, though neuer slake,
And ioy therein, though nations count it shame.
I beg no subiect to vse eloquence,
Nor in hid wayes to guide philosophy:
Looke at my hands for no such quintessence;
But know that I in pure simplicitie
Breathe out the flames which burn within my heart,
Loue onely reading vnto me this arte.
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108 sonnets and 11 songs. Source: Renascence Editions public-domain transcription. Two supplementary sonnets printed after CVIII are outside the sequence.
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