William Shakespeare, Sonnet vi
Then let not winter's ragged hand deface
In thee thy summer, ere thou be distill'd :
Make sweet some phial; treasure thou some place
4
With beauty's treasure, ere it be self-kill'd .
That use is not forbidden usury,
Which happies those that pay the willing loan; [*]
That's for thyself to breed another thee,
8
Or ten times happier, be it ten for one;
Ten times thyself were happier than thou art,
If then of thine ten times refigur'd thee:
Then what could Death do if thou shouldst depart,
12
Leaving thee living in posterity?
Be not self-will'd , for thou art much too fair
To be Death's conquest, and make worms thine heir.
Notes
line 6: Happies: makes happy [ Back to text ]
Most notes to Shakespeare's sonnets are from Charles Knight's edition, but those in square brackets are mine.