Sir Philip Sidney was one of many soldiers, lawyers, and bureaucrats around the Queen who wrote poetry about her, all seeking political influence and a royal pension. His writing was better and more ambitious than his peers. He produced the first serious cycle of 118 sonnets and two great poems, though they were not widely known until after his death. As a militant Protestant and an advocate of war against Spain, he joined in the battle of the Netherlands against the invading Spanish. The Netherlands lost and Sidney was mortally wounded, dying of gangrene a month later. It was famously said that he spent his last days writing a song to be sung at his deathbed, and that as he died, he shared his water with another wounded soldier, saying "thy necessity is yet greater than mine".
