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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SONNET: 32, by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography
First Line: If thou survive my well-contented day
Last Line: Theirs for their style I'll read, his for his love.'
Variant Title(s): Post Mortem
First Line: If thou survive my well-contented day
Last Line: Theirs for their style I'll read, his for his love.'
Variant Title(s): Post Mortem
If thou survive my well-contented day,
When that churl Death my bones with dust shall cover,
And shalt by fortune once more re-survey
These poor rude lines of thy deceased lover,
Compare them with the bettering of the time,
And though they be outstripp'd by every pen,
Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme,
Exceeded by the height of happier men.
O, then vouchsafe me but this loving thought:
'Had my friend's Muse grown with this growing age,
A dearer birth than this his love had brought,
To march in ranks of better equipage:
But since he died and poets better prove,
Theirs for their style I'll read, his for his love.'
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Other Poems of Interest...
APRIL, FR. LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
ARIEL'S SONG (1) [OR, DIRGE] [OR, A SEA DIRGE]. FR. THE TEMPEST by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
ARIEL'S SONG (2), FR. THE TEMPEST by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
AUBADE [OR, A MORNING SONG FOR IMOGEN], FR. CYMBELINE by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
CALIBAN [ON THE ISLAND], FR. THE TEMPEST by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
FANCY, FR. THE MERCHANT OF VENICE by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
FESTE'S SONG (1), FR. TWELFTH NIGHT by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
FESTE'S SONG (2), FR. TWELFTH NIGHT by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
FRIENDSHIP [OR, THE TRUE FRIEND] by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
HEALTHFUL OLD AGE, FR. AS YOU LIKE IT by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
IMAGINATION, FR. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE