Love

Sonnet III: He Calls His Ears, Eyes, and Heart as Witnesses of Her Sweet Voice, Beauty, and Inward Virtuous Perfections

by Walter Davison born 1581; living 1602

From A Poetical Rhapsody (1602), ed. A. H. Bullen (1890–91)

Love

Fair is thy face, and great thy wit's perfection;
So fair, alas, so hard to be exprest,
That if my tired pen should never rest,
It should not blaze thy worth, but my affection:
Yet let me say, the Muses make election
Of your pure mind, there to erect their nest;
And that your face is such, a flint-hard breast
By force thereof without force feels subjection.
Witness mine ear, ravished when you it hears;
Witness mine eyes, ravished when you they see:
Beauty and virtue, witness eyes and ears,
In you, sweet Saint, have equal sovereignty.
But if nor eyes nor ears can prove it true,
Witness my heart, there's none that equals you;

✦ ✦ ✦

In the Rhapsody (ii. 1-20) among the poems Bullen gives to Walter Davison.

MLA

Davison, Walter. “Sonnet III: He Calls His Ears, Eyes, and Heart as Witnesses of Her Sweet Voice, Beauty, and Inward Virtuous Perfections.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/davison_w/3/.

Chicago

Davison, Walter. “Sonnet III: He Calls His Ears, Eyes, and Heart as Witnesses of Her Sweet Voice, Beauty, and Inward Virtuous Perfections.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/davison_w/3/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

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