On His Mistress, the Queen of Bohemia

You meaner beauties of the night
That poorly satisfy our eyes
More by your number than your light,
You common people of the skies,
What are you when the moon doth rise?

You wandering chanters of the wood
That warble forth Dame Nature's lays,
Thinking your passions understood
By weaker accents, what's your praise
When Philomel her voice doth raise?

You violets that first appear,
By your pure purple mantles known,
Like the proud virgins of the year,
As if the spring were all your own,
What are you when the rose is blown?

So, when my mistress shall be seen
In form and beauty of her mind,
By virtue first, then choice, a queen,
Oh tell if she were not designed
The eclipse and glory of her kind?
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