 | The Poems and Sonnets of Henry Constable |  |
xlix
TO MY LADIE ARBELLA.
That worthie Marquesse, pride of Italie!
Whoe for all worth, and for her wit & phrase,
Both best deserv'd, and best desert could prayse,
Immortall Ladie! is reviv'd in thee.
Whoe for all worth, and for her wit & phrase,
Both best deserv'd, and best desert could prayse,
Immortall Ladie! is reviv'd in thee.
But thinke not strange that thy divinitie
I by some goddesse' title doe not blaze,
But through a woeman's name thy glorie rayse;
For things unlike of unlike prayses be.
I by some goddesse' title doe not blaze,
But through a woeman's name thy glorie rayse;
For things unlike of unlike prayses be.
When we prayse men, we call them gods; but when
We speake of gods we liken them to men;
Not them to prayse, but only them to knowe.
Not able thee to prayse, my drift was this:
Some earthlye shadowe of thy worth to showe,
Whose heavenly selfe above world's reason is.
We speake of gods we liken them to men;
Not them to prayse, but only them to knowe.
Not able thee to prayse, my drift was this:
Some earthlye shadowe of thy worth to showe,
Whose heavenly selfe above world's reason is.
| The Poems and Sonnets of Henry Constable | |