Let dainty wits cry on the sisters nine, That, bravely mask'd, 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 newfound tropes with problems old; Or with strange similes enrich each line, Of herbs or beasts which 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.
Form: sonnet: ababababccdeed1. sisters nine: the Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who presided over the various kinds of poetry and other arts.3.
Pindar's apes, flaunt they: as imitators of the Greek poet Pindar, let them proudly show off.
