It is the nature of the strong heart, that like the palm tree it strives ever upwards when it is most burdened.

Mary Sidney who upon her marriage became the Countess of Pembroke was a writer translator and literary patron. In 1583 he married Frances teenage daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham. The work enjoyed great popularity for more than a century after its publication.

Sir Philip Sidney (30 November 1554 – 17 October 1586) was an English poet courtier and soldier and is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan Age.