Premium Only Content
"The Phoenix and the Turtle" by William Shakespeare
And by "turtle" he means turtledove.
You can support me on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/sststr
Let the bird of loudest lay,
On the sole Arabian tree,
Herald sad and trumpet be,
To whose sound chaste wings obey.
But thou shrieking harbinger,
Foul precurrer of the fiend,
Augur of the fever's end,
To this troop come thou not near.
From this session interdict
Every fowl of tyrant wing,
Save the eagle, feather'd king;
Keep the obsequy so strict.
Let the priest in surplice white,
That defunctive music can,
Be the death-divining swan,
Lest the requiem lack his right.
And thou treble-dated crow,
That thy sable gender mak'st
With the breath thou giv'st and tak'st,
'Mongst our mourners shalt thou go.
Here the anthem doth commence:
Love and constancy is dead;
Phoenix and the turtle fled
In a mutual flame from hence.
So they lov'd, as love in twain
Had the essence but in one;
Two distincts, division none:
Number there in love was slain.
Hearts remote, yet not asunder;
Distance and no space was seen
'Twixt the turtle and his queen;
But in them it were a wonder.
So between them love did shine,
That the turtle saw his right
Flaming in the phoenix' sight;
Either was the other's mine.
Property was thus appalled,
That the self was not the same;
Single nature's double name
Neither two nor one was called.
Reason, in itself confounded,
Saw division grow together;
To themselves yet either neither,
Simple were so well compounded.
That it cried, How true a twain
Seemeth this concordant one!
Love hath reason, reason none,
If what parts can so remain.
Whereupon it made this threne
To the phoenix and the dove,
Co-supremes and stars of love,
As chorus to their tragic scene.
THRENOS
Beauty, truth, and rarity.
Grace in all simplicity,
Here enclos'd in cinders lie.
Death is now the phoenix' nest;
And the turtle's loyal breast
To eternity doth rest.
Leaving no posterity:—
'Twas not their infirmity,
It was married chastity.
Truth may seem, but cannot be;
Beauty brag, but 'tis not she;
Truth and beauty buried be.
To this urn let those repair
That are either true or fair;
For these dead birds sigh a prayer.
-
19:58
BlaireWhite
1 day agoThey're Lying About Charlie Kirk's Assassin, Tyler Robinson.
3597 -
LIVE
Game On!
19 hours agoNFL Week 11 Early DEEP DIVE And BEST BETS!
148 watching -
1:04:13
Crypto Power Hour
13 hours ago $3.35 earnedIn The Blockchain World,, What Is TOKEN MINTING
29.1K8 -
LIVE
BEK TV
1 hour agoTrent Loos in the Morning - 11/12/2025
95 watching -
17:23
T-SPLY
12 hours agoThousands Of ICE Watch Kits Passed Out In Chicago!
2.7K15 -
25:09
Jasmin Laine
17 hours agoReporter CATCHES Carney Red-Handed—Liberal MP SNAPS in Public MELTDOWN
5.64K34 -
9:05
Adam Does Movies
16 hours ago $0.78 earnedIT: Welcome To Derry Episode 3 - Recap
13.1K -
14:43
Producer Michael
18 hours agoBILLION DOLLAR GOLD MOGUL'S PRIVATE WATCH COLLECTION
11.3K -
38:44
State of the Second Podcast
18 hours agoThe Mini Gun Brand Everyone’s Talking About (ft. Goat Guns)
3.91K3 -
9:59
TheSaltyCracker
15 hours agoBerkeley Communists Rob & Attack Man Outside TPUSA Event
88.2K183