Sir Philip Sidney. "It is most true, that eyes are formed to serve." Sonnet 5 from "Astrophil and Stella."

Sir Philip Sidney

Astrophel and Stella

Sonnet V

It is most true—that eyes are formed to serve
The inward light; and that the heavenly part
Ought to be King; from whose rules, who doth swerve,
(Rebels to Nature) strive for their own smart:
     It is most true—what we call Cupid's dart,
An image is; which for ourselves we carve,
And, fools! adore, in temple of our heart;
Till that good God make church and churchman starve:
     True—that true beauty, Virtue is indeed;
Whereof this beauty can be but a shade,
Which elements with mortal mixture breed:
True—that on earth, we are but pilgrims made;
     And should in soul, up to our country move:
True—and yet true, that I must Stella love.

Source:
Elizabethan Sonnets. Vol I. Sidney Lee, ed.
Westminster: Archibald Constable and Co., 1904. 13.

to Works of Sir Philip Sidney


©2003 Anniina Jokinen