William Shakespeare
1564-1616
Sonnet LV
Not marble,
nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall
outlive this powerful rhyme;
But you shall shine
more bright in these contents
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
The living record
of your memory.
'Gainst death, and
all-oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth;
your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of
all posterity
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.
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