William Shakespeare
1564-1616
Sonnet LXXVII
Thy glass
will show thee how thy beauties wear,
Thy dial how thy precious
minutes waste;
These vacant leaves
thy mind's imprint will bear,
And of this book,
this learning mayst thou taste.
The wrinkles which
thy glass will truly show
Of mouthed graves
will give thee memory;
Thou by thy dial's
shady stealth mayst know
Time's thievish progress
to eternity.
Look! what thy memory
cannot contain,
Commit to these waste
blanks, and thou shalt find
Those children nursed,
deliver'd from thy brain,
To take a new acquaintance
of thy mind.
These offices, so oft as thou wilt look,
Shall profit thee and much enrich thy book.
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