"Alas, so all things now do hold their peace!"

By Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey 1517–1547 Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

Translated By Henry Howard

Alas, so all things now do hold their peace!

Heaven and earth disturbèd in no thing;

The beasts, the air, the birds their song do cease,

The nightès car the stars about doth bring;

Calm is the sea; the waves work less and less:

So am not I, whom love, alas! doth wring,

Bringing before my face the great increase

Of my desires, whereat I weep and sing,

In joy and woe, as in a doubtful case.

For my sweet thoughts sometime do pleasure bring:

But by and by, the cause of my disease

Gives me a pang that inwardly doth sting,

When that I think what grief it is again

To live and lack the thing should rid my pain.

Biography

Tudor poet Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey, was born in Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of the third Duke of Norfolk. Associated with the royal court, he grew up at Windsor, where he was a childhood companion to the Duke of Richmond, son of Henry VIII. Surrey was also a first cousin to Anne Boleyn. Educated by tutors, he lived an eventful life as a soldier and a courtier, eventually marrying Lady Frances de . . .

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