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Home  »  Familiar Quotations  »  2024 Sir Henry Wotton 1568-1639 John Bartlett

John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

2024 Sir Henry Wotton 1568-1639 John Bartlett

 
NUMBER:2024
AUTHOR:Sir Henry Wotton (1568–1639)
QUOTATION:You meaner beauties of the night,
  That poorly satisfy our eyes
More by your number than your light;
  You common people of the skies,—
  What are you when the moon 1 shall rise?
ATTRIBUTION:On his Mistress, the Queen of Bohemia. 2
 
Note 1.
”Sun” in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (eds. 1651, 1654, 1672, 1685). [back]
Note 2.
This was printed with music as early as 1624, in Est’s “Sixth Set of Books,” etc., and is found in many MSS.—Hannah: The Courtly Poets. [back]