The Poetry Corner

Astrophel and Stella - Sonnet XII

By Philip Sidney (Sir)

Cupid, because thou shin'st in Stellaes eyes That from her locks thy day-nets none scapes free That those lips sweld so full of thee they be That her sweet breath makes oft thy flames to rise That in her breast thy pap well sugred lies That her grace gracious makes thy wrongsthat she, What words soere shee speake, perswades for thee That her clere voice lifts thy fame to the skies, Thou countest Stella thine, like those whose pow'rs Hauing got vp a breach by fighting well, Crie Victorie, this faire day all is ours! O no; her heart is such a cittadell, So fortified with wit, stor'd with disdaine, That to win it is all the skill and paine.