William Shakespeare
1564-1616
Sonnet XXIV
Mine eye hath
play'd the painter and hath stell'd,
Thy beauty's form
in table of my heart;
My body is the frame
wherein 'tis held,
And perspective it
is best painter's art.
For through the painter
must you see his skill,
To find where your
true image pictur'd lies,
Which in my bosom's
shop is hanging still,
That hath his windows
glazed with thine eyes.
Now see what good
turns eyes for eyes have done:
Mine eyes have drawn
thy shape, and thine for me
Are windows to my
breast, where-through the sun
Delights to peep,
to gaze therein on thee;
Yet eyes this cunning want to grace their art,
They draw but what they see, know not the heart.
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