LXV

Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,

But sad mortality o'ersways their power,

How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,

Whose action is no stronger than a flower?

O! how shall summer's honey breath hold out,

Against the wrackful siege of battering days,

When rocks impregnable are not so stout,

Nor gates of steel so strong but Time decays?

O fearful meditation! where, alack,

Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?

Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?

Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?

O! none, unless this miracle have might,

That in black ink my love may still shine bright.

Shakespeare's Sonnets - Complete Text

Shakespeare's Sonnets E-Text contains the full text of Shakespeare's Sonnets

• Sonnet 1
• Sonnet 2
• Sonnet 3
• Sonnet 4
• Sonnet 5
• Sonnet 6
• Sonnet 7
• Sonnet 8
• Sonnet 9
• Sonnet 10
• Sonnet 11
• Sonnet 12
• Sonnet 13
• Sonnet 14
• Sonnet 15
• Sonnet 16
• Sonnet 17
• Sonnet 18
• Sonnet 19
• Sonnet 20
• Sonnet 21
• Sonnet 22
• Sonnet 23
• Sonnet 24
• Sonnet 25
• Sonnet 26
• Sonnet 27
• Sonnet 28
• Sonnet 29
• Sonnet 30
• Sonnet 31
• Sonnet 32
• Sonnet 33
• Sonnet 34
• Sonnet 35
• Sonnet 36
• Sonnet 37
• Sonnet 38
• Sonnet 39
• Sonnet 40
• Sonnet 41
• Sonnet 42
• Sonnet 43
• Sonnet 44
• Sonnet 45
• Sonnet 46
• Sonnet 47
• Sonnet 48
• Sonnet 49
• Sonnet 50
• Sonnet 51
• Sonnet 52
• Sonnet 53
• Sonnet 54
• Sonnet 55
• Sonnet 56
• Sonnet 57
• Sonnet 58
• Sonnet 59
• Sonnet 60
• Sonnet 61
• Sonnet 62
• Sonnet 63
• Sonnet 64
• Sonnet 65
• Sonnet 66
• Sonnet 67
• Sonnet 68
• Sonnet 69
• Sonnet 70
• Sonnet 71
• Sonnet 72
• Sonnet 73
• Sonnet 74
• Sonnet 75
• Sonnet 76
• Sonnet 77
• Sonnet 78
• Sonnet 79
• Sonnet 80
• Sonnet 81
• Sonnet 82
• Sonnet 83
• Sonnet 84
• Sonnet 85
• Sonnet 86
• Sonnet 87
• Sonnet 88
• Sonnet 89
• Sonnet 90
• Sonnet 91
• Sonnet 92
• Sonnet 93
• Sonnet 94
• Sonnet 95
• Sonnet 96
• Sonnet 97
• Sonnet 98
• Sonnet 99
• Sonnet 100
• Sonnet 101
• Sonnet 102
• Sonnet 103
• Sonnet 104
• Sonnet 105
• Sonnet 106
• Sonnet 107
• Sonnet 108
• Sonnet 109
• Sonnet 110
• Sonnet 111
• Sonnet 112
• Sonnet 113
• Sonnet 114
• Sonnet 115
• Sonnet 116
• Sonnet 117
• Sonnet 118
• Sonnet 119
• Sonnet 120
• Sonnet 121
• Sonnet 122
• Sonnet 123
• Sonnet 124
• Sonnet 125
• Sonnet 126
• Sonnet 127
• Sonnet 128
• Sonnet 129
• Sonnet 130
• Sonnet 131
• Sonnet 132
• Sonnet 133
• Sonnet 134
• Sonnet 135
• Sonnet 136
• Sonnet 137
• Sonnet 138
• Sonnet 139
• Sonnet 140
• Sonnet 141
• Sonnet 142
• Sonnet 143
• Sonnet 144
• Sonnet 145
• Sonnet 146
• Sonnet 147
• Sonnet 148
• Sonnet 149
• Sonnet 150
• Sonnet 151
• Sonnet 152
• Sonnet 153
• Sonnet 154
• Sources

• Biography of William Shakespeare
• About Shakespeare's Sonnets
• Character List
• Major Themes
• Glossary of Terms
• Short Summary
• Full Summary and Analysis
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 1 - "From fairest creatures we desire increase"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 18 - "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 20 - "A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 30 - "When to the sessions of sweet silent thought"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 52 - "So am I as the rich, whose blessed key"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 60 - "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 73 - "That time of year thou mayst in me behold"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 87 - "Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 94 - "They that have power to hurt and will do none"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 116 - "Let me not to the marriage of true minds"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 126 - "O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 129 - "The expense of spirit in a waste of shame"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 130 - "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 146 - "Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 153 - "Cupid laid by his brand, and fell asleep"
• Related Links on Shakespeare's Sonnets
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• The Art of the Shakespearean Sonnet
• A Note on the Pronunciation of Early Modern English
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources
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• Test Yourself! Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! Quiz 2
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