William Shakespeare, Sonnet lxii
Sin of self-love possesseth all mine eye,
And all my soul, and all my every part;
And for this sin there is no remedy,
4
It is so grounded inward in my heart.
Methinks no face so gracious is as mine, [*]
No shape so true, no truth of such account,
And for myself mine own worth to define,
8
As I all other in all worths surmount.
But when my glass shows me myself indeed,
Mine own self-love quite contrary I read,
12
Self so self-loving were iniquity.
'Tis thee (myself) that for myself I praise,
Painting my age with beauty of thy days.
Notes
line 5: Gracious -- beautiful. [ Back to text ]
line 10: Beated. So in the old copy; and it has been followed by Malone. He suggests that the true word may be bated; but he receives beated as the participle of the verb to beat. [ Back to text ]
Most notes to Shakespeare's sonnets are from Charles Knight's edition, but those in square brackets are mine.