Astrophel and Stella: LXXI
by Sir Philip Sidney
Who will in fairest book of nature know
How virtue may best lodg’d in beauty be,
Let him but learn of love to read in thee,
Stella, those fair lines which true goodness show.
There shall he find all vices’ overthrow,
Not by rude force, but sweetest sovereignty
Of reason, from whose light those night-birds fly;
That inward sun in thine eyes shineth so.
And, not content to be perfection’s heir
Thyself, dost strive all minds that way to move,
Who mark in thee what is in thee most fair.
So while thy beauty draws thy heart to love,
As fast thy virtue bends that love to good:
But “Ah,” Desire still cries, “Give me some food!”
End of the poem
15 random poems
- Dedication
- Алишер Навои – Осрамился я
- Казалось, осталось недолго
- Collateral Damage by Martina Reisz Newberry
- “Look up, desponding hearts! See, Morning sallies” poem – Alfred Austin
- The Settler by Rudyard Kipling
- A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns
- Curtis by Susan King Saunders
- Жан де Лафонтен – Городская и полевая Крысы
- Trio Of Love Songs by Sylvia Plath
- Occasioned By Some Verses of His Grace the Duke of Buckingham poem – Alexander Pope
- Николай Гербель – Бокал
- Владислав Ходасевич – Опять во тьме. У наших ног
- To the City of London by William Dunbar
- Elegy III. Anno Aet. 17. On The Death Of The Bishop Of Winchester (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
Some external links:
Duckduckgo.com – the alternative in the US
Quant.com – a search engine from France, and also an alternative, at least for Europe
Yandex – the Russian search engine (it’s probably the best search engine for image searches).
Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586) was an English courtier, statesman, soldier, diplomat, writer, and patron of scholars and poets. He was a godson of Philip II of Spain. Sir Philip Sidney was considered the ideal gentleman of his day. He is also one of the most important poets of the Elizabethan Era.