Love

Diana: Fourth Decade, Sonnet 2

by Henry Constable 156?–1604?

From Elizabethan Sonnet-Cycles, ed. M. F. Crow (1896)

Love

Sweet sovereign, since so many minds remain
Obedient subjects at thy beauty's call,
So many hearts bound in thy hairs as thrall,
So many eyes die with one look's disdain,
Go, seek the honour that doth thee pertain,
That the Fifth Monarchy may thee befall!
Thou hast such means to conquer men withal,
As all the world must yield or else be slain.
To fight, thou need'st no weapons but thine eyes,
Thine hair hath gold enough to pay thy men,
And for their food thy beauty will suffice;
For men and armour, Lady, care have none;
For one will sooner yield unto thee then
When he shall meet thee naked all alone.

MLA

Constable, Henry. “Diana: Fourth Decade, Sonnet 2.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/constable/26/.

Chicago

Constable, Henry. “Diana: Fourth Decade, Sonnet 2.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/constable/26/.

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