Men of Kent and Kentishmen/Mary Sidney

by John Hutchinson

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Mary Sidney,

POET,

Sister of Sir Philip, was born probably at Penshurst in 1556. She married in 1576 Henry, Earl of Pembroke. It was for her amusement, it is said, that her brother began his "Arcadia." She possessed a talent for poetical composition, which she assiduously cultivated. She died September 25th, 1601, and was interred in Salisbury Cathedral, where her epitaph by Ben Jonson best records the esteem with which she was held by her contemporaries:—

"Underneath this sable herse
 Lies the subject of all verse;
Sydney's sister, Pembroke's mother;
 Death, ere thou hast slain another,
Fair and learn'd and good as she,
 Time shall throw his dart at thee."

[See "Zouch's Memoirs," "Ballard's Memoirs," and "Royal and Noble Authors."]