University of Virginia Library


13

SONNET VII.

[Sidney, thou star of beaming chivalry]

Sidney, thou star of beaming chivalry,
That rose and set 'mid valour's peerless day;
Rich ornament of knighthood's milky-way;
How much our youth of England owe to thee,
Thou model of high learning and meek grace,
That realized an image which did find
No place before, save in th'inventive mind
Of hoping man. In thee we proudly trace
All that rever'd Antiquity can show
Of acts heroic that adorn her page,
Blending with virtues of a purer age.
Upon thy tomb engrafted spirits grow,
Where sit the warbling Sisters who attend
The shade made sacred to the Muses' friend.