Text of the Day
A Brief Introduction
On a daily basis (or as often as I return to my web page), as a form of meditation and study, I like to visit a little-known and relatively inaccessible poem from the English Renaissance. The idea is to offer the poem and a brief commentary to a readership who might not otherwise have access to them. The commentary is by no means exhaustive and it can be idiosyncratic, but that I believe is the most attractive feature the Text of the Day. For the moment, I have decided to concentrate on sonnets from the 1590s. They offer ideal scope for quotidian meditation.
March 21, 1996
Commentary and Glossary Notes
The Day Before's Text
Sonnet (1)
Jos(h)ua(h) Sylvester
“Were I as base as is the lowly playne,
And You (my Love) as high as heav’n above,
Yet should the thoughts of me your humble swaine,
Ascend to Heaven in honour of my Love.
Were I as high as Heav’n above the playne,
And you (my Love) as humble and as low
As are the deepest bottoms of the Mayne,
Whereso’ere you were, with you my Love should go.
Were you the Earth (deere Love) and I the skies,
My love should shine on you like to the Sun,
And looke vpon you with ten thousand Eyes,
Till heav’n waxt, and till the world were dun.
Whereso’ere I am, below, or else above you,
Whereso’ere you are, my hart shall truly love you.”
(1592-1602?)