Henry Charles Beeching, ed. (1859–1919). Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse. 1903.

By Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586)

Sonnet: “Leave me, O love”


LEAVE 1 me, O love which reachest but to dust,
And thou, my mind, aspire to higher things,
Grow rich in that which never taketh rust;
Whatever fades but fading pleasure brings.
Draw in thy beams, and humble all thy might	5
To that sweet yoke where lasting freedoms be;
Which breaks the clouds and opens forth the light,
That doth both shine and give us sight to see.
Oh, take fast hold; let that light be thy guide
In this small course which birth draws out to death,	10
And think how ill becometh him to slide
Who seeketh heaven and comes of heavenly breath.
Then farewell world, thy uttermost I see;
Eternal Love, maintain Thy life in me.

Note 1. This Sonnet concludes the series of “Sonnets to Stella.” [back]