William Shakespeare
1564-1616
Sonnet XXI
So is it not
with me as with that Muse,
Stirr'd by a painted
beauty to his verse,
Who heaven itself
for ornament doth use
And every fair with
his fair doth rehearse,
Making a couplement
of proud compare'
With sun and moon,
with earth and sea's rich gems,
With April's first-born
flowers, and all things rare,
That heaven's air
in this huge rondure hems.
O! let me, true in
love, but truly write,
And then believe me,
my love is as fair
As any mother's child,
though not so bright
As those gold candles
fix'd in heaven's air:
Let them say more that like of hearsay well;
I will not praise that purpose not to sell.
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