William Shakespeare
1564-1616
Sonnet XVI
But wherefore
do not you a mightier way
Make war upon this
bloody tyrant, Time?
And fortify your self
in your decay
With means more blessed
than my barren rhyme?
Now stand you on the
top of happy hours,
And many maiden gardens,
yet unset,
With virtuous wish
would bear you living flowers,
Much liker than your
painted counterfeit:
So should the lines
of life that life repair,
Which this, Time's
pencil, or my pupil pen,
Neither in inward
worth nor outward fair,
Can make you live
your self in eyes of men.
To give away yourself, keeps yourself still,
And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill.
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