Sir Phillip Sidney

Sonnet 102: Wher Be Those Roses Gone

By Sir Phillip Sidney 1554-1586

Where be those rose gone, which sweeten'd so our eyes?
Where those red cheeks, where oft with fair increase did frame
The height of honor in the kindly badge of shame?
Who hath the crimson weeds stol'n from my morning skies?

How did the color fade of those vermillion dyes
Which Nature self did make, and self engrain'd the same?
I would know by what right this palenese overcame
That hue, whose force my heart still unto thraldom ties.

Galen's adoptive sons who by a beaten way
Their judgements harkney on the fault of sickness lay,
But feeling proof makes me say theymistake it furre.

it is but Love, which makes his paper perfect while
to write therein more fresh the story of delight
while Beauty's reddest ink Venus for him doth stir.


Astrophel and Stella XXXIX

By Sir Philip Sidney

Come Sleep! O Sleep, the certain knot of peace,
The baiting-place of wit, the balm of woe,
The poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release,
Th' indifferent judge between the high and low.
With shield of proof shield me doth the prease
Of these fierce darts despair at me doth throw:
O make in me these civil wars to cease;
I will good tribute pay, if thou do so.
Take thou of me smooth pillows, sweetest bed,
A chamber deaf to noise and blind to light,
A rosy garland and a weary head:
And if these things, as being thine by right,
Move not thy heavy grace, thou shalt in me,
Livelier than elsewhere, Stella's image see.

Sidney was a wonderful poet, but because he lived so long ago under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in England many people don't read him. That is a shame because many of his poems have echoes that have found themselves in our language today. He lived only into his 30's but left a rich legacy of writings and poetry.

Anyone who has ever had trouble sleeping can understand his second poem only too well. In a sense, it speaks of sleep as the "baiting-place of wit, the balm of woe, the poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release." It can also speak of death in the same voice. Indeed, it is the poor man's wealth as the ability to sleep deeply and well is not dependent on wealth and position so that the gift of sleep belongs to no one. I suspect that the man or woman who works hard in the fields come home and sleeps very well at night while the more wealthier man who works very little has more trouble achieving that restful time.

All of Sidney's poetry and writings are on the Internet free for all as it is in the public domain. It was not hard to find the two poems I wanted to find. I was thinking of roses as I was working on a story that had roses in it. I really recommend Sidney to all people who read poetry as a wonderful exercise in beauty and achievement. It is also free to download and easy to find.