That time of year thou may'st in me behold

           When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang

           Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,

           Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

           In me thou seest the twilight of such day

           As after sunset fadeth in the west,

           Which by and by black night doth take away,

           Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.

           In me thou seest the glowing of such fire,

           That on the ashes of his youth doth lie

           As the deathbed whereon it must expire,

           Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.

           —This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,

           To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

           When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

           I summon up remembrance of things past,

           I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,

           And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste

           Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,

           For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,

           And weep afresh love's long-since-cancell'd woe,

           And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight.

           Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,

           And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er

           The sad account of fore-bemoanéd moan,

           Which I new pay as if not paid before:

           —But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,

           All losses are restored, and sorrows end.

           Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore

           So do our minutes hasten to their end;

           Each changing place with that which goes before,

           In sequent toil all forwards do contend.

           Nativity once in the main of light

           Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,

           Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,

           And Time that gave, doth now his gift confound.

           Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth,

           And delves the parallels in beauty's brow;

           Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,

           And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow.

           And yet, to times in hope, my verse shall stand

           Praising Thy worth, despite his cruel hand.

           Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing,

           And like enough thou know'st thy estimate:

           The charter of thy worth gives thee releasing,

           My bonds in thee are all determinate.

           For how do I hold thee but by thy granting?

           And for that riches where is my deserving?

           The cause of this fair gift in me is wanting,

           And so my patent back again is swerving.

           Thyself thou gav'st, thy own worth then not knowing,

           Or me, to whom thou gav'st it, else mistaking;

           So thy great gift, upon misprision growing,

           Comes home again, on better judgement making.

           Thus have I had thee as a dream doth flatter;

           In sleep, a king; but waking, no such matter.

           They that have power to hurt, and will do none,

           That do not do the thing they most do show,

           Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,

           Unmovéd, cold, and to temptation slow,—

           They rightly do inherit Heaven's graces,

           And husband nature's riches from expense;

           They are the lords and owners of their faces,

           Others, but stewards of their excellence.

           The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,

           Though to itself it only live and die;

           But if that flower with base infection meet,

           The basest weed outbraves his dignity:

           For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;

           Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

             And wilt thou leave me thus?

             Say nay! say nay! for shame,

             To save thee from the blame

             Of all my grief and grame.

             And wilt thou leave me thus?

             Say nay! say nay!

             And wilt thou leave me thus,

             That hath loved thee so long

             In wealth and woe among:

             And is thy heart so strong

             As for to leave me thus?

             Say nay! say nay!

             And wilt thou leave me thus,

             That hath given thee my heart

             Never for to depart

             Neither for pain nor smart:

             And wilt thou leave me thus?

             Say nay! say nay!

             And wilt thou leave me thus,

             And have