Sonnetsday 37

If we're being technical, the following is not a sonnet. It does, however, come from John Donne's Songs and Sonnets (1633), so I'm going to include it. It's a lesser-known Donne poem, but powerful as Donne poems tend to be.

Strozzi. Lute Player. 1630-35.                      SONG.               by John Donne SOUL'S joy, now I am gone,               And you alone,               —Which cannot be, Since I must leave myself with thee,        And carry thee with me—        Yet when unto our eyes               Absence denies               Each other's sight, And makes to us a constant night,     When others change to light ;               O give no way to grief,               But let belief                   Of mutual love               This wonder to the vulgar prove,                   Our bodies, not we move. Let not thy wit beweep               Words but sense deep ;               For when we miss By distance our hope's joining bliss,        Even then our souls shall kiss ;        Fools have no means to meet,               But by their feet ;               Why should our clay Over our spirits so much sway,     To tie us to that way?               O give no way to grief,               But let belief                   Of mutual love               This wonder to the vulgar prove,                   Our bodies, not we move.

John Donne Site - Luminarium