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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ASTROPHEL AND STELLA: 110 by PHILIP SIDNEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: LEAVE ME, O LOVE, WHICH REACHEST BUT TO DUST
Last Line: ETERNAL LOVE, MAINTAIN THY LIFE IN ME.
Subject(s): LOVE;

Leave me, O love which reachest but to dust,
And thou, my mind, aspire to higher things;
Grow rich in that which never taketh rust;
What ever fades, but fading pleasure brings.
Draw in thy beams, and humble all thy might
To that sweet yoke where lasting freedoms be,
Which breaks the clouds, and opens forth the light
That doth both shine, and give us sight to see.
O take fast hold, let that light be thy guide
In this small course which birth draws out to death,
And think how ill becometh him to slide,
Who seeketh heaven, and comes of heavenly breath:
Then farewell, world; thy uttermost I see;
Eternal love, maintain thy life in me.



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