See the Introduction to this presentation of early poems by Edward de Vere. Click here to go to the next poem or the previous poem in the series. All the poems, and a printable pdf version of the entire presentation, may also be accessed from the Introduction. See also Note on Sources, Titles, and Presentation of Parallels, Key to Abbreviations, and Bibliography of Works Cited.
Poem No 7: “What Wonders Love Hath Wrought”
1 My meaning is to work what wonders love hath wrought,
2 Wherewith I muse why men of wit have love so dearly bought;
3 For love is worse than hate, and eke more harm hath done:
4 Record I take of those that rede of Paris, Priam’s son.
5 It seemed the God of sleep had mazed so much his wits
6 When he refused wit for love, which cometh but by fits;
7 But why accuse I him, whom earth hath covered long?
8 There be of his posterity alive, I do him wrong.
9 Whom I might well condemn to be a cruel judge
10 Unto myself, who hath the crime in others that I grudge.
Textual sources: Poems 2 through 9 were first published in The Paradise of Dainty Devices (Richard Edwards ed. 1576), the sole source for No. 7, which was omitted from all later editions. See Hannah (241, text not provided); Grosart (410); Looney (1921, 36, Miller ed. 1975, 1: 594); May (#7) (1980, 30, 68-69, 71-72, 118; 1991, 275).
Many of the poems in Paradise (perhaps most of the eight by de Vere) were apparently written as song lyrics to be put to music (see May 1980, 70). Since Edwards, the editor who apparently collected them, died in 1566, they may all date to the 1560s, when de Vere was still a teenager.
Structure: Two four-line stanzas of couplets rhyming AABB, with terminal rhyming couplet.
Looney’s title: “Love and Wit”
Past commentaries on parallels: Sobran (244-45).
Clarifications of the text:
(2, 5-6) The terms wit or wits, as used here, refer to intelligence or mental sharpness, not humor (OED 20: 432-34).
(3) The word eke as used here is an archaic synonym for “also,” “too,” or “in addition” (OED 5: 105).
(4) The word rede is an archaic verb meaning to advise or counsel (OED 13: 409). Paris, in Greek mythology, is the son of King Priam of Troy.
(5) In modern English, mazed has fairly mild connotations of being amazed, dazed, confused, or bewildered, but a meaning it had into the 16th century included more severe mental derangement — to be crazed or delirious (OED 9: 507-08). See also No. 10.3 (My mazed mind in malice so is set).
None of the parallels to No. 7 (second-shortest of the 20 poems) seem particularly strong, taken individually. But the following seem significant as additional echoes, especially in overall context.
(1) what wonders love hath wrought
‘Love wrought these miracles’ (Shrew, 5.1.124).
The locution hath wrought occurs about half a dozen times in Shakespeare (Spevack 1555).
(4) Paris, Priam’s son
This is a common mythological point of reference throughout the Shakespeare canon, e.g.:
‘Had doting Priam checked his son’s desire’ (Lucrece, 1490); ‘As Priam was for all his valiant sons’ (3 Hen. VI, 2.5.120); ‘sons, Half of the number that King Priam had’ (Titus, 1.1.80); ‘all Priam’s sons’ (Troil., 2.2.126); ‘You valiant offspring of great Priamus’ (Troil., 2.2.207); ‘a son of Priam’ (Troil., 3.3.26); ‘the youngest son of Priam’ (Troil., 4.5.96); ‘great Priam’s seed’ (Troil., 4.5.121); ‘A bastard son of Priam’s’ (Troil., 5.7.15).
(5) It seemed the God of sleep had mazed so much his wits
‘on your eyelids crown the god of sleep, Charming your blood with pleasing heaviness’ (1 Hen. IV, 3.1.214).
An interest in the curative powers of sleep (and here, the bewitching powers of this deity) is another motif in Shakespeare’s variegated study of psychology. Neither Shakespeare nor this de Vere poem uses the god’s proper name, Hypnos or Somnus.
(6) love, which cometh but by fits
‘a woman’s fitness comes by fits’ (Cym., 4.1.6).
Continue to Poem No. 8, return to Poem No. 6, or return to the Introduction.
[published June 22, 2018, updated 2021]
