| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. |
| |
| Sir Henry Wotton. 1568–1639 |
| |
| 178. Elizabeth of Bohemia |
| |
| YOU meaner beauties of the night, | |
| That poorly satisfy our eyes | |
| More by your number than your light, | |
| You common people of the skies; | |
| What are you when the moon shall rise? | 5 |
| |
| You curious chanters of the wood, | |
| That warble forth Dame Nature's lays, | |
| Thinking your passions understood | |
| By your weak accents; what 's your praise | |
| When Philomel her voice shall raise? | 10 |
| |
| You violets that first appear, | |
| By your pure purple mantles known | |
| Like the proud virgins of the year, | |
| As if the spring were all your own; | |
| What are you when the rose is blown? | 15 |
| |
| So, when my mistress shall be seen | |
| In form and beauty of her mind, | |
| By virtue first, then choice, a Queen, | |
| Tell me, if she were not design'd | |
| Th' eclipse and glory of her kind. | 20 |
|
|
