| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. |
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| Henry Constable. 1562?–1613? |
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| 110. On the Death of Sir Philip Sidney |
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| GIVE pardon, blessèd soul, to my bold cries, | |
| If they, importune, interrupt thy song, | |
| Which now with joyful notes thou sing'st among | |
| The angel-quiristers of th' heavenly skies. | |
| Give pardon eke, sweet soul, to my slow eyes, | 5 |
| That since I saw thee now it is so long, | |
| And yet the tears that unto thee belong | |
| To thee as yet they did not sacrifice. | |
| I did not know that thou wert dead before; | |
| I did not feel the grief I did sustain; | 10 |
| The greater stroke astonisheth the more; | |
| Astonishment takes from us sense of pain; | |
| I stood amazed when others' tears begun, | |
| And now begin to weep when they have done. | |
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