William Shakespeare
1564-1616
Sonnet
CXLVI
Poor soul,
the centre of my sinful earth,
My sinful earth these
rebel powers array,
Why dost thou pine
within and suffer dearth,
Painting thy outward
walls so costly gay?
Why so large cost,
having so short a lease,
Dost thou upon thy
fading mansion spend?
Shall worms, inheritors
of this excess,
Eat up thy charge?
Is this thy body's end?
Then soul, live thou
upon thy servant's loss,
And let that pine
to aggravate thy store;
Buy terms divine in
selling hours of dross;
Within be fed, without
be rich no more:
So shall thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,
And Death once dead, there's no more dying then.
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