English poem
Sonnet 78: So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse
So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse, And found such fair assistance in my verse As every alien pen hath got my use And under thee their poesy disperse. Thine eyes, that taught the dumb on high to sing And heavy ignorance aloft to fly, Have added feathers to the learned's wing And given grace a double majesty. Yet be most proud of that which I compile, Whose influence is thine, and born of thee: In others' works thou dost but mend the style, And arts with thy sweet graces graced be; But thou art all my art, and dost advance As high as learning, my rude ignorance.
More by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet 74: But be contented: when that fell arrest
- Sonnet 75: So are you to my thoughts as food to life
- Sonnet 76: Why is my verse so barren of new pride
- Sonnet 77: Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear
- Sonnet 79: Whilst I alone did call upon thy aid
- Sonnet 7: Lo! in the orient when the gracious light
- Sonnet 80: O! how I faint when I of you do write
- Sonnet 81: Or I shall live your epitaph to make