Sonnet Xxii

William Shakespeare

     My glass shall not persuade me I am old,
     So long as youth and thou are of one date;
     But when in thee time's furrows I behold,
     Then look I death my days should expiate.
     For all that beauty that doth cover thee
     Is but the seemly raiment of my heart,
     Which in thy breast doth live, as thine in me:
     How can I then be elder than thou art?
     O, therefore, love, be of thyself so wary
     As I, not for myself, but for thee will;
     Bearing thy heart, which I will keep so chary
     As tender nurse her babe from faring ill.
     Presume not on thy heart when mine is slain;
     Thou gavest me thine, not to give back again.

Index + Blog :

Poetry Archive Index | Blog : Poem of the Day