William Shakespeare, Sonnet xxxvii
As a decrepit father takes delight
To see his active child do deeds of youth,
So I, made lame by fortune's dearest spite [*]
4
Take all my comfort of thy worth and truth;
For whether beauty, birth, or wealth, or wit,
Or any of these all, or all, or more,
Entitled in thy parts do crowned sit,
8
I make my love engrafted to this store:
So then I am not lame, poor, nor despis'd ,
Whilst that this shadow does such substance give,
That I in thy abundance am suffic'd ,
12
And by a part of all thy glory live.
Look what is best, that best I wish in thee;
This wish I have; then ten times happy me!
Notes
line 3: Dearest. So in Hamlet:-- "Would I had met my dearest foe in Heaven!" [ Back to text ]
Most notes to Shakespeare's sonnets are from Charles Knight's edition, but those in square brackets are mine.