Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. I. Early Poetry: Chaucer to Donne

Henry Constable (1562–1613)

Sonnet to Sir Philip Sidney’s Soul

Prefixed to Sidney’s Apology for Poetry, 1595

GIVE pardon, blessed soul! to my bold cries,

If they, importune, interrupt thy song,

Which now with joyful notes thou sing’st among

The angel-quiristers of th’ heavenly skies.

Give pardon eke, sweet soul! to my slow cries,

That since I saw thee now it is so long;

And yet the tears that unto thee belong,

To thee as yet they did not sacrifice;

I did not know that thou wert dead before,

I did not feel the grief I did sustain;

The greater stroke astonisheth the more,

Astonishment takes from us sense of pain:

I stood amaz’d when others’ tears begun,

And now begin to weep when they have done.