Penshurst Castle

ays that might

nights in pens

ay-to be put

-and pine with

en

Queen had a sorry time of it during P

should not be received with due pomp in London, and sending for Lord Burleigh and the Earl of Leicester a

on her tire-women, boxing their ears if they failed to please her in the erection of her head-gear, or d

ocess of the Queen's toilette on this May morning to i

Greville with him. What keeps them against my

wholly given up to the effort he is making that the coming tourney may be

l, and had best hold your tongue if yo

end he has in view, Madam, and he desir

fool than I thought you. I warrant you think Philip Sidney is in love with you-you are in

the really wise and able monarch, who earnestly desired the good of her people; here her counsellors were often fairly amazed at her far-seeing intelligence and her wide culture. No contrast could be greater than between the middle-aged Maiden Queen pluming her feathers to win the hearts of her courtiers, and listening with satis

as about to summon Sir Francis Walsingham, when one of th

raves an audience w

s welcome, had followed the page into the Queen's presence, and, before Elizabeth ha

a punishment-but, mayhap, this will do as well for the nonce,' and the Queen stroked

ded playfully, 'do not shine in the dark, they need the sun to call fort

ut in train for the due observance of such an event as the coming of t

y said, 'and I pray it may result in

ared to say of disapproval of this marriage three y

ou my sentiments. You were not pleased to hear

the old protest, so have a care. We exercise our royal prerogative in the mat

worthy of your approval and worthy of the occasion. The Fortress of Beauty is erected, and the

are tale-bearers, who have neither clean hearts nor clean tongues. Sure you can pick and choose amongst many ladies

d he bear to have this sore wound touched. He rose from his half-kneelin

eath, but pardon me if I beseech your Highness to refrain from the menti

But I hear the voices of Burleigh and Leicester in the ante-chamber! Your good uncle is like to die of jealousy; if he finds I am closeted with you

ord I would say. It is upo

money, he has spent a goodly sum in Ireland, and yet cries out for more, an

eceives as Lord President of Wales. It is ever a struggle for my mother to maintain the dignity of your representative there. She is wearing o

his Whitsuntide, there is a chamber at her service. Now, I must to business. Stay if it suits you;

, he was secretly conscious that there were heights which he had failed to reach, and that his nephew, Philip Sidney, had won a place in the favour of his sovereign, which even the honest protest he had made against this marriage with the Duke of Anjou had failed to destroy; a high place also in the esteem of the world by

nd went to his own apartments, where he expected to meet some friends, and discuss with them topics

ndar is well known, and there can be no doubt that

st, and a sort of club had been established, of which the members were Gabriel Harvey, Edward Dyer, Fulke Greville and others, intended for the formation of a new school of poetry. Philip Sidney was th

very curious, and the attempt made to force the Engl

verse, and they had to endure some opposition and even raillery from Gabriel Harvey, who was especially annoye

rresponded or met at intervals with Sidney to compare their literary efforts and criticise them freely, Spenser's

in. Sir Henry Sidney would have been willing to return as Deputy with his son under him; but, having been badly supported in the past, h

him Edward Dyer, who had come to discuss a letter fr

, and beseeches me,' Philip said, 'to do my best that he s

'if the rumour is true that your good father is again to

it happened so, I should not accept the post under him. I will write to our friend Spenser and bid him take courage. His friends will

good friend Harvey at last giving him his meed of praise, albeit he was so rash as to say that hexameters in

ille laugh

as bold enow to make; but read on, Philip. I see

in his mind a fair morning, when we walked together at Penshurst, and that the

ome, man, let us have no melancholy remembr

ou never heard, Fulke, of the hope deferred that maketh a sick heart, nor

r what Spenser saith of that time of which you speak. I'll warrant

hilip

y heard a most

ote delight a

ce might not o

aradise, be he

as for wight wh

anner musicke

pleasing is t

nsorted in o

struments, windes,

es, shrouded in

to the voyce a

l soft trembl

ents divine re

unding instru

murmure of the

ll with differ

loud, unto the

ling wind low a

Second Book of the Faerie Queene have seldom been read to a more appreciative a

flow like the stream rippling adown from the mountain s

ight say there should not be two words of the same spelling and soun

necessity poetry, nor poetry rhyme. There be many true poets w

on the further side of this sheet. I will

d Philip Sidney read, with a depth of patho

faire thing do

flowre the im

irgin rose, h

e foorth with b

mes, the lesse

after how more

ome she doth

ter how she fade

in the pass

the leafe, the

flourish afte

ought to deck b

die, and man

e, the rose, whi

ge that will her

e of love, whi

u mayst loved be

in silence. There was no remar

lip's dearest friends, except his sister Mary, the Countess of Pembroke, who ever approached the subject of his love for Stella-that rose which Philip had not

h had made Philip unusually thoughtful. The very words the Queen had used

riends when they met, read some verses he had

called upon to contri

rivalled the sweet flow of Edmund Spenser's verse, he had the gift of making his verses vividly express w

ty-four and the boy of eighteen, who had gone abroad for thoughtful travel and diligent study, a strong-even a romantic-friendship had sprung up, and the letters wh

had been less frequent, and the last he had received during the present year, had

ifelong gratitude he felt for him. They are clothed, as was the two frequent custom of the time, in pastoral images; but Fulke Greville and Edward Dyer

ng, old Langue

epherd, best sw

ead, and hatin

t, clean hands, a

skill my skille

ling taste of

ven, far more

sic best those

rd between ou

notes to godli

nk, not down

ales he wont mi

id of yore, how

ck, or while 'twix

a sharp censor, indeed, who could find fault with them. We must do our best to bring good o

end in whose praise the verses w

ny months. As soon as this tourney is over I must get leave to

re in higher favour than ever, methinks; nor do I grudge

ject, and, gathering together their papers, the three frie

how the graceful courtier, who that evening after the banquet at Whitehall led the Queen, as a mark of especial favour, through the mazes of the dance, could ever have so completely thrown off the melancholy mood for one of gaiety and apparent joyousness. How many looked at hi

h, who gorgeously attired, her hoop and stiff brocade making a wide circle

e left cheek, while Philip, bending on his knee, performed the same ceremony with the lady who had been the partner of the gentleman before whom the Queen had stopped. By th

iers, exciting, as she believed, the jealousy of the ladies, who could not h

ke Greville and several other gentlemen, and curtseyed and tripp

iers who were burning with ill-concealed anger as they saw Leicester

sed dais at the end of the withdrawing-room where the dancing took place, and then, at her comma

g, but he escaped now and then to circulate amongst the ladies

indows Philip found his sister, the Countess of Pembroke, wh

ewomen will occupy at the tourney. I have several eager to see the show, more eager, methinks,

who control such matters. But, my sweet

you have freed yourself from the bonds which I know in your better moments you feel irkso

ister. 'Let me have respite till this tournament is over at least.' And as he spoke, his eyes were following Lady Rich as she moved t

t in yonder dance,' Philip said. 'I refrained from claim

nlawful? See, now, I am struck with the change in her since I beheld her last. The modesty which charmed me in Penelope Devereux seems vanished. Even now I hear her laugh, hollow and unreal

he affairs of his father, and to beg Lady Pembroke to advise his mother to be wary in what she urged when the Queen gave her an interview, it was evident to his sister t

its effect, and long after the sounds of revelry had died away, and the qu

tted to him at Whitehall, and this sonnet, one of the most beautiful which he ever wrote

ove! which reach

ind, aspire to

hat, which nev

, but fading p

ams, and humbl

oke, where last

clouds, and ope

shine and give

old! let that l

rse which birth d

evil becomet

en, and comes of

world, thy u

maintain thy

light shine upon the way in that 'sm

ow lament that they were so few, know how his aspirations were abundantly fulfill