| Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904. | | | | Idea | | Sonnet 57. You best discerned of my mind’s inward eyes | | Michael Drayton (1563–1631) |
| | [First printed in 1605 (No. 57), and in all later editions.] |
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YOU best discerned of my mind’s inward eyes, | |
| And yet your graces outwardly Divine, | |
| Whose dear remembrance in my bosom lies, | |
| Too rich a relic for so poor a shrine. | |
| You, in whom Nature chose herself to view, | 5 |
| When she, her own perfection would admire; | |
| Bestowing all her excellence on you, | |
| At whose pure eyes, LOVE lights his hallowed fire; | |
| Even as a man that in some trance hath seen | |
| More than his wondring utterance can unfold; | 10 |
| That, rapt in spirit, in better worlds hath been. | |
| So must your praise distractedly be told! | |
| Most of all short, when I would shew you most, | |
| In your perfections so much am I lost. | | | |
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