Astrophil and Stella
Sonnet 36
Stella, whence doth these new assaults arise,
A conquered yielding ransacked heart to win,
Whereto long since, through my long-battered eyes,
Whole armies of thy beauties entered in?
And there, long since, love, thy lieutenant, lies;
My forces razed, thy banners raised within:
Of conquest, do not these effects suffice,
But wilt new war upon thine own begin?
With so sweet voice, and by sweet nature so
In sweetest strength, so sweetly skilled withal
In all sweet stratagems sweet art can show,
That not my soul, which at thy foot did fall
Long since, forced by thy beams, but stone nor tree,
By sense's privilege, can scape from thee!
Sir Philip Sidney
Back to Sonnet 35
Forward to Sonnet 37