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O happie ground

A collection of English Grounds
Edited by Gordon Gregory

Like as the Lute that ioyes or els dislikes,
As is his arte that playes vpon the same:
So sounds my Muse according as she strikes,
 On my hart strings high tun'd vnto her fame.
Her touch doth cause the warble of the sound,
Which heere I yeeld in lamentable wise,
A wailing deskant on the sweetest ground,
Whose due reports giue honor to her eyes.
Els harsh my style, vntunable my Muse,
Hoarce sounds the voyce that prayseth not her name:
If any pleasing realish heere I vse,
Then iudge the world her beautie giues the same.
O happie ground that makes the musique such,
And blessed hand that giues so sweete a tuch.
 

From "Delia. Contayning certayne Sonnets: vvith the complaint of Rosamond." by Samuel Daniel, published 1592 and dedicated to Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke

For Lucy & Polly