Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Thomas Watson Hekatompathia 1592: Sonnet IX
The Marigold 1 so likes the louely Sunne,
That when he settes the other hides her face,
And when he ginnes his morning course to runne,
She spreads abroad, & showes her greatest grace;
So shuts or sprouts my ioy, as doth this flow're,
When my Sheesune doth either laugh or lowre.
When she departes my sight, I die for paine,
In closing up my hearte with cloudie care;
And yet when once I viewe her face againe,
I straight reuiue, and ioye my wonted fare:
Therewith my heart ofte saies, when all is done,
That heau'n and earth haue not a brighter sunne.
A iealous thought yet puttes my mind in feare,
Lest Iove him selfe descending from his throne
Should take by stealth and place her in his spheare,
Or in some higher globe to rule alone:
Which if he should, the heau'ns might boast their praye
But I (alas) might curse yt dismall day.
1Clytia, a water nymph, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys,
was transformed by the Greek gods into a Marigolde. The
Marigolde is named Heliotropium. In this
sonnet, the Marigolde is a lover of Helios (the sun).
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