William Shakespeare, Sonnet cxxxiv
So now I have confess'd that he is thine,
And I myself am mortgag'd to thy will;
Myself I'll forfeit, so that other mine
4
Thou wilt restore, to be my comfort still:
But thou wilt not, nor he will not be free,
For thou art covetous, and he is kind;
He learn'd but, surety-like, to write for me,
8
Under that bond that him as fast doth bind.
The statute of thy beauty thou wilt take, [*]
Thou usurer, that putt'st forth all to use,
And sue a friend, came debtor for my sake;
12
So him I lose through my unkind abuse.
Him have I lost; thou hast both him and me;
He pays the whole, and yet am I not free.
Notes
line 9: Statute -- security, or oblivion. [ Back to text ]
Most notes to Shakespeare's sonnets are from Charles Knight's edition, but those in square brackets are mine.