“Fool," said my muse to me. "Look in thy heart and write.”

Sonnet 1,Concluding couplet from Loving in truth,and fain in verse my love to show
Compare: "Look, then, into thine heart and write", Henry W. Longfellow, Voices of the Night, Prelude.
Variant: Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
"Fool!" said my muse to me, "look in thy heart, and write.
Source: Astrophel and Stella (1591)
Context: .... But words came halting forth, wanting Invention's stay,
Invention, Nature's child, fled step-dame Study's blows,
And others' feet still seemed but strangers in my way.
Thus great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,
Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
"Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart and write."

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Do you have more details about the quote "Fool," said my muse to me. "Look in thy heart and write." by Philip Sidney?
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Philip Sidney 26
English diplomat 1554–1586

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