Prais'd be Diana's Fair and Harmless Light

Sir Walter Raleigh 1552 (Hayes Barton, East Budleigh, Devon) – 1618 (London)



Prais'd be Diana's fair and harmless light;
Prais'd be the dews wherewith she moists the ground;
Prais'd be her beams, the glory of the night;
Prais'd be her power by which all powers abound.
Prais'd be her nymphs with whom she decks the woods,
Prais'd be her knights in whom true honour lives;
Prais'd be that force by which she moves the floods;
Let that Diana shine which all these gives.
In heaven queen she is among the spheres;
In aye she mistress-like makes all things pure;
Eternity in her oft change she bears;
She beauty is; by her the fair endure.
Time wears her not: she doth his chariot guide;
Mortality below her orb is plac'd;
By her the virtue of the stars down slide;
In her is virtue's perfect image cast.
A knowledge pure it is her worth to know:
With Circes let them dwell that think not so.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

48 sec read
77

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDEDFGHGIJIKLL
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 802
Words 153
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 18

Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh, also spelled Ralegh, was an English landed gentleman, writer, poet, soldier, politician, courtier, spy and explorer. more…

All Sir Walter Raleigh poems | Sir Walter Raleigh Books

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