Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ASTROPHEL AND STELLA: 71, by PHILIP SIDNEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ASTROPHEL AND STELLA: 71, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Who will in fairest book of nature know
Last Line: "but ah,"" desire still cries, ""give me some food."
Variant Title(s): "yes, But;""who Will In Fairest Booke Of Nature Know"";
Subject(s): Desire; Virtue


Who will in fairest book of Nature know
How virtue may best lodged 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 the heart to love,
As fast thy virtue bends that love to good.
"But ah," Desire still cries, "give me some food."




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