OF THIS GARDEN OF THE MUSES THOU which delight'st to view this goodly plot, Of speciall vertue, and most precious juyce, And nourished with his celestiall Beames, And watered by the Muses and the Graces, With the fresh dew of those Castalian streames. What sente or colour canst thou but devise That in aboundance is not gather'd hence? Belvedere; or, The Garden THREE HUNDRED ENGLISH SONNETS CHOSEN AND EDITED WITH A FEW NOTES BY DAVID M. MAIN EDITOR OF A TREASURY OF ENGLISH SONNETS' WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON MDCCCLXXXIV All Rights reserved 'UPON A DAY APOLLO MET THE MUSES AND THE GRACES IN SWEET SPORT MIXED WITH EARNEST. MEMORY, THE GRAVE AND NOBLE MOTHER OF THE MUSES, WAS PRESENT " LIKEWISE. EACH OF THE FOURTEEN SPOKE A LINE OF VERSE. APOLLO BEGAN; THEN EACH OF THE NINE MUSES SANG HER PART; THEN THE THREE GRACES WARBLED EACH IN TURN; AND FINALLY, A LOW, SWEET STRAIN FROM MEMORY MADE A HARMONIOUS CLOSE. THIS WAS THE FIRST 'SONNET; AND, MINDFUL OF ITS ORIGIN, ALL TRUE POETS TAKE CARE TO BID APOLLO STRIKE THE KEYNOTE FOR THEM WHEN THEY COMPOSE ONE, AND TO LET MEMORY COMPRESS THE PITH AND MARROW OF THE SONNET INTO ITS LAST 'LINE.'-A Talk about Sonnets. |