The Greek Sonnets 153-154 Flashcards
The final two sonnets are very different and draw upon the Roman myth of Cupid, to whom the poet has already compared his muses.
Sonnet 153: Cupid Laid By His Brand And Fell Asleep
Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep:
A maid of Dian’s this advantage found,
And his love-kindling fire did quickly steep
In a cold valley-fountain of that ground;
Which borrowed from this holy fire of Love,
A dateless lively heat, still to endure,
And grew a seething bath, which yet men prove
Against strange maladies a sovereign cure.
But at my mistress’ eye Love’s brand new-fired,
The boy for trial needs would touch my breast;
I, sick withal, the help of bath desired,
And thither hied, a sad distempered guest,
But found no cure, the bath for my help lies
Where Cupid got new fire; my mistress’ eyes.
Cupid set his torch aside and fell asleep. A maid who served Diana took advantage and quickly immersed his love-inducing fire in a cold spring nearby. The spring borrowed heat from this holy fire of love and became an eternal, hot, bubbling bath which men still regard as a universal cure for illness. But, with one look from my mistress, Cupid’s torch flared up again and he tested it by touching my heart with it. Lovesick, I needed the bath to cure me of it so I hurried there, a sad, sick visitor, but I found no cure: the bath was of no help – the only thing that could work was the one thing that gave Cupid his new fire – a glance from my mistress’s eye.
Sonnet 154: The Little Love-God Lying Once Asleep
The little Love-god lying once asleep,
Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand,
Whilst many nymphs that vowed chaste life to keep
Came tripping by; but in her maiden hand
The fairest votary took up that fire
Which many legions of true hearts had warmed;
And so the General of hot desire
Was, sleeping, by a virgin hand disarmed.
This brand she quenched in a cool well by,
Which from Love’s fire took heat perpetual,
Growing a bath and healthful remedy,
For men diseased; but I, my mistress’ thrall,
Came there for cure and this by that I prove,
Love’s fire heats water, water cools not love.
One day the little love god was asleep, having put his heart-inflaming torch down, while several of Diana’s maids, who had all taken vows of lifelong chastity, were tripping by. The most beautiful votary lifted the torch that had warmed the hearts of legions of true lovers. And so, the general of hot desire was disarmed while sleeping. The maid quenched the torch in a nearby cool spring and the spring took eternal heat from this fire of love and became a hot bath full of healthful qualities. But when I, entirely captivated by my mistress, went there to be cured, this is what I found: the fire of love heats water but water doesn’t cool love down.
