| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. | | | | To Saint Katherine | | By Henry Constable (1562–1613) |
| | | BECAUSE thou wast the daughter of a king, | |
| Whose beauty did all Nature’s works exceed, | |
| And wisdom wonder to the world did breed, | |
| A muse might rouse itself on Cupid’s wing; | |
| But, sith the graces which from nature spring | 5 |
| Were graced by those which from grace did proceed, | |
| And glory have deserved, my Muse doth need | |
| An angel’s feathers when thy praise I sing. | |
| For all in thee became angelical: | |
| An angel’s face had angels’ purity, | 10 |
| And thou an angel’s tongue didst speak withal; | |
| Lo! why thy soul, set free from martyrdom, | |
| Was crowned by God in angels’ company, | |
| And angels’ hands thy body did entomb. | | | | |
|
|
