Splendidis Longum Valedico Nugis

Sir Philip Sidney

Leave me, O Love, which reachest but to dust,
And thou, my mind, aspire to higher things!
Grow rich in that which never taketh rust:
Whatever fades, but fading pleasure brings.
Draw in thy beams, and humble all thy might
To that sweet yoke where lasting freedoms be;
Which breaks the clouds and opens forth the light
That doth both shine and give us sight to see.
O take fast hold! let that light be thy guide
In this small course which birth draws out to death,
And think how evil becometh him to slide
Who seeketh Heaven, and comes of heavenly breath.
Then farewell, world! thy uttermost I see:
Eternal Love, maintain thy life in me! 

Next 10 Poems

• Sir Philip Sidney : Stanzas To Love
• Sir Philip Sidney : The Bargain
• Sir Philip Sidney : The Dart, The Beams, The Sting, So Strong I Prove
• Sir Philip Sidney : The Highway
• Sir Philip Sidney : The Seven Wonders Of England
• Sir Philip Sidney : The Smokes Of Melancholy
• Sir Philip Sidney : This Lady's Cruelty
• Sir Philip Sidney : Thou Blind Man's Mark
• Sir Philip Sidney : To The Sad Moon
• Sir Philip Sidney : To The Tune Of A Neapolitan Villanel

Previous 10 Poems

• Sir Philip Sidney : Sonnet Xxxix: Come, Sleep!
• Sir Philip Sidney : Sonnet Xxxiii: I Might
• Sir Philip Sidney : Sonnet Xxxi: With How Sad Steps, O Moon
• Sir Philip Sidney : Sonnet Xxx: Whether The Turkish New Moon
• Sir Philip Sidney : Sonnet Xxviii: You That With Allegory's Curious Frame
• Sir Philip Sidney : Sonnet Xxvii: Because I Oft
• Sir Philip Sidney : Sonnet Xxvi: Though Dusty Wits
• Sir Philip Sidney : Sonnet Xxv: The Wisest Scholar
• Sir Philip Sidney : Sonnet Xxix: Like Some Weak Lords
• Sir Philip Sidney : Sonnet Xxiv: Rich Fools There Be