Sonnet XXIV: I Hear Some Say

Portrait of Michael Drayton
Michael Drayton 1563–1631

I hear some say, "This man is not in love." "What? Can he love? A likely thing," they say; "Read but his verse, and it will easily prove." O judge not rashly, gentle Sir, I pray. Because I trifle loosely in this sort, As one that fain his sorrows would beguile, You now suppose me all this time in sport, And please yourself with this conceit the while. Ye shallow censors, sometime see ye not In greatest perils some men pleasant be? Where fame by death is only to be got, They resolute? So stands the case with me. Where other men in depth of passion cry, I laugh at Fortune, as in jest to die.

Keep reading

Discover more of Michael Drayton’s poetry.

Explore all poems

Readers

Reader discussion

Your turn

Shown with your comment.

Never published. Only so we can reach you.

Comments are read before they appear. See our terms.