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The Sonnets LV - Not marble, nor the gilded monuments

By William Shakespeare

Topics: classic

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, besmeard with sluttish time.     When wasteful war shall statues overturn,     And broils root out the work of masonry,     Nor Mars his sword, nor wars 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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"Not marble, nor the gilded monuments..."

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Author:William Shakespeare

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"Not marble, nor the gilded monuments..." by William Shakespeare

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

William Shakespeare

About William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was an English playwright and poet widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. He wrote 154 sonnets and narrative poems including "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece," alongside 37 plays that remain central to world literature.

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