John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
2024 Sir Henry Wotton 1568-1639 John Bartlett
| NUMBER: | 2024 |
| AUTHOR: | Sir Henry Wotton (1568–1639) |
| QUOTATION: | 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 moon 1 shall rise? |
| ATTRIBUTION: | On his Mistress, the Queen of Bohemia. 2 |
| Note 1. ”Sun” in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (eds. 1651, 1654, 1672, 1685). [back] |
| Note 2. This was printed with music as early as 1624, in Est’s “Sixth Set of Books,” etc., and is found in many MSS.—Hannah: The Courtly Poets. [back] |