Sonnetsday 38

Astrophel and Stella        
(Starlover and Star)        
 
Sonnet III              

Let dainty wits cry on the sisters nine,      That, bravely masked, their fancies may be told;      Or Pindar's apes flaunt they in phrases fine,      Enam'ling with pied flowers their thoughts of gold; Or else let them in statelier glory shine,      Ennobling new-found tropes with problems old;      Or with strange similes enrich each line,      Of herbs or beasts with Ind or Afric hold. For me, in sooth, no Muse but one I know;      Phrases and problems from my reach do grow,      And strange things cost too dear for my poor sprites. How then?  even thus,—in Stella's face I read      What love and beauty be, then all my deed      But copying is, what in her Nature writes. —Sir Philip Sidney.