| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Delia | | Sonnet XXX. And yet, I cannot reprehend the flight | | Samuel Daniel (1562–1619) |
| | [First printed in this edition.]
AND yet, I cannot reprehend the flight, | |
| Or blame th’attempt, presuming so to soar: | |
| The mounting venture, for a high delight, | |
| Did make the honour of the fall the more. | |
| For who gets wealth, that puts not from the shore? | 5 |
| Danger hath honour! great designs, their fame! | |
| Glory doth follow! courage goes before! | |
| And though th’event oft answers not the same; | |
| Suffice that high attempts have never shame. | |
| The Mean-observer (whom base safety keeps) | 10 |
| Lives without honour, dies without a name; | |
| And in eternal darkness ever sleeps. | |
| And therefore, D E L I A! ’tis to me, no blot; | |
| To have attempted, though attained thee not! | | | | |
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