...
and uses the same comparisons, Sestina 7:
So many creatures throng not ocean's wave,
So many, above the circle of the moon,
Of stars were never yet beheld by night;
So many birds reside not in the groves;
So many herbs hath neither field nor shore,
But my heart's thoughts outnumber them each eve.
Many of his poems witness to the truth that the love-passion is the
best interpreter of Nature, especially in its woes. The woes of love
are his constant theme, and far more eloquently expressed than its
bliss:
So fair I have not seen the sun arise,
When heaven was clearest of all cloudy stain--
The welkin-bow I have not after rain
Seen varied with so many shifting dyes,
But that her aspect in more splendid guise
Upon the day when I took up Love's chain
Diversely glowed, for nothing mortal vies
Therewith.... (Sonnet 112.)
From each fair eyelid's tranquil firmament
So brightly shine my stars untreacherous,
That none, whose love thoughts are magnanimous,
Would from aught else choose warmth or guidance lent.
Oh, 'tis miraculous, when on the grass
She sits, a very flower, or when she lays
Upon its greenness down her bosom white.
(Sonnet 127.)
Oh blithe and happy flowers, oh favoured sod,
That by my lady in passive mood are pressed,
Lawn, which her sweet words hear'st and treasurest,
Faint traces, where her shapely foot hath trod,
Smooth boughs, green leaves, which now raw juices load,
Pale darling violets, and woods which rest
In shadow, till that sun's beam you attest,
From which hath all your pride and grandeur flowed;
Oh land delightsome, oh thou river pure
Which bathest her fair face and brilliant eyes
And winn'st a virtue from their living light,
I envy you each clear and comely guise
In which she moves.
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