Delia XXXVII

By Samuel Daniel 1562–1619 Samuel Daniel

When men shall find thy flower, thy glory pass,

And thou, with careful brow sitting alone,

Receivèd hast this message from thy glass,

That tells thee truth, and says that all is gone,

Fresh shalt thou see in me the wounds thou madest,

Though spent thy flame, in me the heat remaining,

I that have loved thee thus before thou fadest,

My faith shall wax, when thou art in thy waning.

The world shall find this miracle in me,

That fire can burn when all the matter’s spent;

Then what my faith hath been thyself shall see,

And that thou wast unkind thou mayst repent.

Thou mayst repent that thou hast scorned my tears,

When Winter snows upon thy golden hairs.

Biography

Though admired as a lyric poet and historian, Samuel Daniel has found few enthusiastic readers for his dramatic works. Sober minded, restrained, reflective, and frequently prosaic, Daniel stands outside the popular-stage tradition, yet as an innovator he is of considerable importance in the history of Renaissance drama. Cleopatra is one of the earliest and best attempts to transplant French Senecan closet drama to the English . . .

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