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SONNET.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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41

SONNET.

[The nightingale is mute, and so art thou]

The nightingale is mute, and so art thou,
Whose voice is sweeter than the nightingale:
While ev'ry idle scholar makes a vow,
Above thy worth and glory to prevail:
Yet shall not envy to that level bring
The true precedence, which is born in thee;
Thou art no less the prophet of the Spring,
Though in the woods thy voice now silent be:
For silence may impair, but cannot kill
The music, that is native to thy soul;
Nor thy sweet mind, in this thy froward will,
Upon thy purest honour have control:
But, since thou wilt not to our wishes sing,
This truth I speak, thou art of poets king.