William Shakespeare, Sonnet xl
Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all;
What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?
No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call;
4
All mine was thine, before thou hadst this more.
Then if for my love thou my love receivest,
I cannot blame thee for my love thou usest; [*]
But yet be blam'd , if thou thyself deceivest
8
By wilful taste of what thyself refusest.
I do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief,
Although thou steal thee all my poverty;
And yet, love knows, it is a greater grief
12
To hear love's wrong, than hate's known injury.
Lascivious grace, in whom an ill well shows,
Kill me with spites; yet we must not be foes.
Notes
line 6: For here signifies because. [ Back to text ]
Most notes to Shakespeare's sonnets are from Charles Knight's edition, but those in square brackets are mine.