William Shakespeare, Sonnet lv
Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme; [*]
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
4
Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall burn
8
The living record of your memory.
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room,
Even in the eyes of all posterity
12
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes.
Notes
line 2: [Compare Horace, Odes III.xxx, "Exegi monumentum aere perennius / regalique situ pyramidum altius...", "I have raised a monument more lasting than copper, higher than the royal structures of pyramids...".] [ Back to text ]
Most notes to Shakespeare's sonnets are from Charles Knight's edition, but those in square brackets are mine.