Samuel Daniel (1562–1619)

LET others sing of Knights and Paladines,

In agèd accents and untimely words,

Paint shadows in imaginary lines,

Which well the reach of their high wit records.

But I must sing of thee, and those fair eyes

Authentic shall my verse in time to come,

When yet th’ unborn shall say, Lo where she lies!

Whose beauty made him speak, that else was dumb!

These are the arcs, the trophies I erect,

That fortify thy name against old age;

And these thy sacred virtues must protect

Against the Dark, and Time’s consuming rage.

Though th’ error of my youth in them appear,

Suffice, they show I lived, and loved thee dear.