Samuel Daniel's sonnets in "Delia" are basically in
Shakespearian form, using the scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
Three quatrains followed by a couplet: the prototype of
Shakespeare's sonnets. These sonnets are dedicated to
Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke.
Samuel Daniel's "Delia" sonnet XLVII
Beauty, sweet love, is like the morning dew,
Whose short refresh upon the tender green
Cheers for a time but till the sun doth show,
And straight 'tis gone as it had never been.
Soon doth it fade that makes the fairest flourish,
Short is the glory of the blushing rose,
The hue which thou so carefully dost nourish,
Yet which at length thou must be forced to lose.
When thou, surcharged with burthen of thy years,
Shalt bend thy wrinkles homeward to the earth,
And that, in beauty's Lease expired, appears
The date of age, the kalends of our death, –
But ah! no more, this must not be foretold,
For women grieve to think they must be old.
Commentary:
"Kalends" was the first day of the month in the ancient Roman calendar.
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