English History

  • Poets
    • Byron
      • Letters
      • Poems
    • Keats
      • Letters
      • Poetry
    • Shakespeare
      • Poetry
      • Plays
    • Tennyson
  • Middle Ages
  • Vikings
  • Romans
  • Kings and Queens
    • Stuarts
    • Tudor
  • About
    • History of English Art
    • Privacy & Cookie Policy
    • Contact
    • The Right to Display Public Domain Images
    • Author & Reference Information For Students

Sonnet 16

But wherefore do not you a mightier way
Make war upon this bloody tyrant, Time?
And fortify yourself in your decay
With means more blessed than my barren rhyme?
Now stand you on the top of happy hours,
And many maiden gardens yet unset
With virtuous wish would bear your living flowers,
Much liker than your painted counterfeit:
So should the lines of life that life repair,
Which this, Time’s pencil, or my pupil pen,
Neither in inward worth nor outward fair,
Can make you live yourself in eyes of men.
    To give away yourself keeps yourself still,
    And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill.

Link/cite this page

If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content.

Link will appear as Hanson, Marilee. "Sonnet 16" https://englishhistory.net/shakespeare/sonnets/sonnet-16/, March 4, 2022

You are here: Home » Shakespeare » Sonnets » Sonnet 16

Search English History

Learn About Shakespeare

  • William Shakespeare
  • Shakespeare Biography
  • Shakespeare Plays
  • Shakespeare Sonnets
  • Shakespeare Quotes
  • Elizabethan Theatre
  • Queen Elizabeth I

Popular Posts

Sonnet 14
Sonnet 47
Sonnet 26
Sonnet 4
Sonnet 37
Sonnet 15
Sonnet 48
Sonnet 27
Sonnet 5
Sonnet 38

The Tudors

Lord Byron

John Keats

shakespeare

Copyright © 1999-2026 All Rights Reserved.
English History
Other Sites: Make A Website Hub