Sonnet 42. Some men there be, which like my method well

Michael Drayton (1563–1631)

[First printed in 1594 (No. 28), and in all later editions.]

SOME men there be, which like my method well,

And much commend the strangeness of my vein.

Some say I have a passing pleasing strain,

Some say that in my humour I excel.

Some, who not kindly relish my conceit,

They say, as poets do I use to feign,

And in bare words paint out my Passions’ pain.

Thus sundry men, their sundry minds repeat.

I pass not, I, how men affected be!

Nor who commends or discommends my Verse!

It pleaseth me, if I my woes rehearse!

And in my lines, if She, my love may see!

Only my comfort still consists in this;

Writing her praise, I cannot write amiss!