| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Cœlia | | Sonnet XI. Of all the women which of yore have been | | William Percy (1575–1648) |
| | To POLYXENA.
OF all the women which of yore have been, | |
| ALCEST for virtue may be glorified; | |
| For courage, TEUCE; for features, Sparta’s Queen; | |
| For all in one, POLYXEN deified. | |
| If true it be, by old philosophy, | 5 |
| These souls to have, since destin, entered | |
| To other bodies of like sympathy; | |
| Thou art the last of these metampsychosed! | |
| Thy courage wondrous! thy virtues peerless! | |
| Thy features have the fairest ladies blamed! | 10 |
| Then (if thou scorn’st not such a Monarchess) | |
| Henceforth, by reason good, thou shalt be named, | |
| Nor TEUCE, nor ALCEST, nor fair HELENA; | |
| Thou shalt be named my dear POLYXENA! | | | | |
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