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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ASTROPHEL AND STELLA: 11 by PHILIP SIDNEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: IN TRUTH, O LOVE, WITH WHAT A BOYISH KIND
Last Line: BUT, FOOL, SEEK'ST NOT TO GET INTO HER HEART.
Subject(s): LOVE; STARS;

In truth, O Love, with what a boyish kind
Thou dost proceed in thy most serious ways:
That when the heaven to thee his best displays
Yet of that best thou leav'st the best behind
For like a child, that some fair book doth find,
With gilded leaves or coloured vellum plays,
Or at the most, on some fine picture stays,
But never heeds the fruit of writer's mind:
So when thou saw'st, in nature's cabinet,
Stella, thou straight look'st babies in her eyes,
In her cheek's pit thou did'st thy pit-fold set,
And in her breast bo-peep or couching lies,
Playing and shining in each outward part:
But, fool, seek'st not to get into her heart.




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