Helen, did Homer never see Thy beauties, yet could write of thee? Did Sappho on her seven-tongued lute, So speak (as yet it is not mute) Of Phao's form? Or doth the boy In whom Anacreon once did joy, Lie drawn to life, in his soft verse, As he whom Maro did rehearse? Was Lesbia sung by learned Catullus? Or Delia's graces, by Tibullus? Doth Cynthia, in Propertius' song Shine more, than she the stars among? Is Horace his each love so high Rapt from the earth, as not to die? With bright Lycoris, Gallus' choice, Whose fame hath an eternal voice? Or hath Corinna, by the name Her Ovid gave her, dimmed the fame Of Caesar's daughter, and the line Which all the world then styled divine? Hath Petrarch since his Laura raised Equal with her? Or Ronsard praised His new Cassandra, 'bove the old, Which all the fate of Troy foretold? Hath our great Sidney, Stella set, Where never star shone brighter yet? Or Constable's ambrosiac muse Made Dian not his notes refuse? Have all these done (and yet I miss The swan so relished Pancharis) And shall not I my Celia bring, Where men may see whom I do sing? Though I, in working of my song, Come short of all this learned throng, Yet sure my tunes will be the best, So much my subject drowns the rest. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CHAUCER; SONNET by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE WHITE SHIP by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE NUANCES OF MENDACITY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS BILL'S LENGTH by ALEXANDER ANDERSON THE WRESTLERS by WILLIAM ROSE BENET AT SEA by FRANCIS WILLIAM BOURDILLON JOY AND SORROW MIX'D TOGETHER by RICHARD CLIMSALL ON THE CHRISTENING OF A FRIEND'S CHILD by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE |