You Meaner Beauties of the Night

Sir Henry Wotton 1568 (parish) – 1639 (chapel of Eton College)



You meaner beauties of the night,
That poorly satisfy our eyes
More by your number than your light;
You common people of the skies,
What are you when the sun shall rise?

You curious chanters of the wood,
That warble forth Dame Nature's lays,
Thinking your voices understood
By your weak accents; what's your praise
When Philomel her voice shall raise?

You violets that first appear,
By your pure purple mantles known,
Like the proud virgins of the year,
As if the spring were all your own;
What are you when the rose is blown?

So, when my mistress shall be seen
In form and beauty of her mind,
By virtue first, then choice, a queen,
Tell me, if she were not design'd
Th' eclipse and glory of her kind?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

40 sec read
110

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABB CDCDD EFEFF GHGHH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 690
Words 132
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5

Sir Henry Wotton

Sir Henry Wotton was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. more…

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