CERTAIN SONNETS
WRITTEN BY KNIGHTS-ERRANT, LADIES, SQUIRES, AND
HORSES, IN THE PRAISE OF DON QUIXOTE,
HIS DAME, HIS SQUIRE AND STEED
Amadis of Gaule, in Praise of Don Quixote.
Thou that my doleful life didst imitate,
When, absent and disdained, it befell,
Devoid of joy, I a repentant state
Did lead, and on the Poor Rock's top did dwell;
Thou, that the streams so often from thine eyes
Didst suck of scalding tears' disgustful brine;
And, without pewter, copper, plate likewise,
Wast on the bare earth oft constrain'd to dine,—
Live of one thing secure eternally,
That whilst bright Phoebus shall his horses spur
Through the fourth sphere's dilated monarchy,
Thy name shall be renowned, near and fur;
And as, 'mongst countries, thine is best alone,
So shall thine author peers on earth have none.
Don Belianis of Greece to Don Quixote of the Mancha.
I tore, I hackt, abolish'd, said and did,
More than knight-errant else on earth hath done:
I, dexterous, valiant, and so stout beside,
Have thousand wrongs reveng'd, millions undone.
I have done acts that my fame eternise,
In love I courteous and so peerless was:
Giants, as if but dwarfs, I did despise;
And yet no time of love-plaints I let pass.
I have held fortune prostrate at my feet,
And by my wit seiz'd on Occasion's top,
Whose wandering steps I led where I thought meet;
And though beyond the moon my soaring hope
Did crown my hap with all felicity,
Yet, great Quixote, do I still envy thee.
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