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Sonnet XVII

The Bard of Avon
The Bard of Avon

Who will believe my verse in time to come,

If it were filled with your most high deserts?

Though yet heaven knows it is but as a tomb

Which hides your life, and shows not half your parts.

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If I could write the beauty of your eyes,

And in fresh numbers number all your graces,

The age to come would say ‘This poet lies;

Such heavenly touches ne’er touched earthly faces.’

So should my papers, yellowed with their age,

Be scorned, like old men of less truth than tongue,

And your true rights be termed a poet’s rage

And stretched metre of an antique song:

But were some child of yours alive that time,

You should live twice, in it, and in my rhyme.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) wrote his sonnets over a period of eight years, between 1593 and 1601. The first published edition of them appeared in 1609 and consisted of 154 poems. The first 17 sonnets, of which this is the last, are sometimes referred to as the “procreation sonnets” because they all suggest that the young man being addressed should marry and have children. The phrase “fresh numbers” in line six means “admirable poetry.” The poet will not fully extol the subject’s virtues, the sonnet tells us, because if he did no one would believe that a young man of such beauty, virtue, and grace actually existed: the author’s songs of praise would be scorned as wild exaggerations. At the poem’s conclusion the poet urges him to procreate so that in future generations he will live twice: in Shakespeare’s sonnets and in that living child.

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The Bard of Avon
The Bard of Avon

Who will believe my verse in time to come,

If it were filled with your most high deserts?

Though yet heaven knows it is but as a tomb

Which hides your life, and shows not half your parts.

Sponsored
Sponsored

If I could write the beauty of your eyes,

And in fresh numbers number all your graces,

The age to come would say ‘This poet lies;

Such heavenly touches ne’er touched earthly faces.’

So should my papers, yellowed with their age,

Be scorned, like old men of less truth than tongue,

And your true rights be termed a poet’s rage

And stretched metre of an antique song:

But were some child of yours alive that time,

You should live twice, in it, and in my rhyme.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) wrote his sonnets over a period of eight years, between 1593 and 1601. The first published edition of them appeared in 1609 and consisted of 154 poems. The first 17 sonnets, of which this is the last, are sometimes referred to as the “procreation sonnets” because they all suggest that the young man being addressed should marry and have children. The phrase “fresh numbers” in line six means “admirable poetry.” The poet will not fully extol the subject’s virtues, the sonnet tells us, because if he did no one would believe that a young man of such beauty, virtue, and grace actually existed: the author’s songs of praise would be scorned as wild exaggerations. At the poem’s conclusion the poet urges him to procreate so that in future generations he will live twice: in Shakespeare’s sonnets and in that living child.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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