English poem
Sonnet 16: But wherefore do not you a mightier way
But wherefore do not you a mightier way Make war upon this bloody tyrant, Time? And fortify your self in your decay With means more blessed than my barren rhyme? Now stand you on the top of happy hours, And many maiden gardens, yet unset, With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers, Much liker than your painted counterfeit: So should the lines of life that life repair, Which this, Time's pencil, or my pupil pen, Neither in inward worth nor outward fair, Can make you live your self in eyes of men. To give away yourself, keeps yourself still, And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill.
More by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet 152: In loving thee thou know'st I am forsworn
- Sonnet 153: Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep
- Sonnet 154: The little Love-god lying once asleep
- Sonnet 15: When I consider every thing that grows
- Sonnet 17: Who will believe my verse in time to come
- Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
- Sonnet 19: Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws
- Sonnet 1: From fairest creatures we desire increase