Shakespeare Sonnet 17 - Who will believe my verse in time to come (original) (raw)

SONNET 17Who will believe my verse in time to come,If it were fill'd with your most high deserts?Though yet Heaven knows it is but as a tomb Which hides your life and shows not half your parts.If I could write the beauty of your eyes, And in fresh numbers number all your graces, The age to come would say, 'This poet lies, Such heavenly touches ne'er touch'd earthly faces.'So should my papers yellow'd with their age, Be scorn'd like old men of less truth than tongue,And your true rights be term'd a poet's rage And stretched metre of an antique song: But were some child of yours alive that time, You should live twice,-- in it and in my rhyme. NOTESXVII. The poet's record is, moreover, open to two objections; it is very imperfect, and, besides, posterity would not believe a full and accurate description of Mr. W. H.'s beauty, even if such a description were made. But the living record is open to no such objections; and, besides, it would confer an immortality additional to that given by the poet's verses. 2. Fill'd.-Q. has "fild." 6. In fresh numbers. Meaning probably "in successive new poems," rather than "in new metres." 11. A poet's rage. The product of poetical enthusiasm. 12. Stretched metre. Mere inflated words. Q. has the spelling "miter." How to cite this article: Shakespeare, William. Sonnets. Ed. Thomas Tyler. London: D. Nutt, 1890. Shakespeare Online. 12 Nov. 2013. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/17.html >. ______ Even More... Shakespeare in Old English? Shakespeare's Influence on Other Writers An Elizabethan Christmas Clothing in Elizabethan England Queen Elizabeth: Shakespeare's Patron King James I of England: Shakespeare's Patron The Earl of Southampton: Shakespeare's Patron Going to a Play in Elizabethan London Ben Jonson and the Decline of the Drama Publishing in Elizabethan England Shakespeare's Audience Religion in Shakespeare's England Alchemy and Astrology in Shakespeare's Day Entertainment in Elizabethan England London's First Public Playhouse Shakespeare Hits the Big Time

More to Explore Introduction to Shakespeare's Sonnets Shakespearean Sonnet Style How to Analyze a Shakespearean Sonnet The Rules of Shakespearean Sonnets Shakespeare's Sonnets: Q & A Are Shakespeare's Sonnets Autobiographical? Petrarch's Influence on Shakespeare Themes in Shakespeare's Sonnets Shakespeare's Greatest Love Poem Shakespeare and the Earl of Southampton The Order of the Sonnets The Date of the Sonnets Who was Mr. W. H.? Are all the Sonnets addressed to two Persons? Who was The Rival Poet?_____ Did You Know? ... "The poet was throughout his life greatly indebted to the patronage and support of royal and noble personages; his royal patrons were Queen Elizabeth and King James I, both of whom greatly loved the drama. The virgin queen devoted herself to the study of the ancient classical period; she also delighted in our own theatrical entertainments, and used her influence in the progress of the English drama, and fostered the inimitable genius of Shakespeare." Henry Brown. Read on.... _____ Shakespeare on Jealousy Shakespeare on Lawyers Shakespeare on Lust Shakespeare on Marriage Blank Verse and Diction in Shakespeare's Hamlet Analysis of the Characters in Hamlet Shakespeare on the Seasons Shakespeare on Sleep