XXXVI.
STELLA! Whence doth this new assault arise?
A conquered, yielded, ransacked heart to win!
Whereto, long since, through my long battered eyes,
Whole armies of thy beauties entered in.
And there, long since, LOVE thy Lieutenant lies:
My forces razed, thy banners raised within.
Of conquest, do not these effects suffice?
But wilt now war upon thine own begin
With so sweet voice, and by sweet Nature so
In sweetest strength; so sweetly skilled withal
In all sweet stratagems sweet Art can show:
That not my soul, which at thy foot did fall,
Long since forced by thy beams; but stone nor tree
By SENSE'S privilege, can 'scape from thee.
XXXVII.
[This is the Sonnet omitted in NEWMAN'S editions of 1591, probably from its being of too personal a character, as it distinctly identifies STELLA with LADY RICH.]
My mouth doth water, and my breast doth swell,
My tongue doth itch, my thoughts in labour be:
Listen then Lordings with good ear to me!
For of my life I must a riddle tell.
Towards AURORA'S Court, a nymph doth dwell
Rich in all beauties which man's eye can see:
Beauties so far from reach of words, that we
Abuse her praise saying she doth excel.
Rich in the treasure of deserved renown.
Rich in the riches of a royal heart.
Rich in those gifts, which give th'eternal crown:
Who, though most rich in these and every part,
Which make the patents of true worldly bliss;
Hath no misfortune, but that RICH she is.
