Sonnet by Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)

 

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Sonnet II*


    Whoso wil seeke, by right deserts, t'attaine
    Unto the type of true nobility,
    And not by painted shewes, and titles vaine,
    Derived farre from famous auncestrie,
    Behold them both in their right visnomy**
    Here truly pourtray'd as they ought to be,
    And striving both for termes of dignitie,
    To be advanced highest in degree.
    And when thou doost with equall insight see
    The ods twist both, of both then deem aright,
    And chuse the better of them both to thee;
    But thanks to him that it deserves behight@:
        To Nenna first, that first this worke created,
        And next to Iones, that truely it translated.



 



Extra Info:
[* Prefixed to "Nennio, or A Treatise of Nobility, &c. Written in Italian by that famous Doctor and worthy Knight, Sir John Baptista Nenna of Bari. Done into English by William Iones, Gent." 1595. TODD.]
[** Visnomy, features.]
[@ Behight, accord.]

 

 

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Sonnet by Editorial Team The PoetBay support member heart!
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Written on 2025-03-17 at 00:07

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Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
A bit chewy, but worth the effort. The Elizabethans were, without question, the greatest English language poets ever.
2025-03-17