Sonnet CCXVI:
‘I write too coldly and I write too much!’
The more, the colder seems whate’er I write,
That I confess; though still I strain for flight,
Who scarce can walk, a cripple, on my crutch.
Through all these leaves, which perish in the clutch
Of my presumption, what poetic height
Of airy song might charm the thoughtful night,
Winged by another’s more melodious touch!
Bear with my sonnets, though they do thee wrong;
Mine is a failure only in degree,
Showing how great a greater bard’s might be.
For what if Petrarch blushed above his song,
Or Dante frowned, or Tasso’s sighs grew long,
To own a shame that humbles only me?
