General Editor
Representative Poetry Online, edition 6.0, is a web anthology of 4,800 poems in English and French by over 700 poets spanning 1400 years. more about RPO
Shakespeare's Sonnets: When I do count the clock that tells the time
Sonnet 12
5When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
6Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
7And summer's green all girded up in sheaves
9Then of thy beauty do I question make
10That thou among the wastes of time must go,
11Since sweets and beauties do them-selves forsake,
12And die as fast as they see others grow,
13 And nothing 'gainst time's scythe can make defence
14 Save breed to brave him, when he takes thee hence.
Notes
1] count the clock] by listening to the chiming. Back to Line
2] brave] splendid. hid'ous] hidious Q. Back to Line
3] prime] pinnacle of excellence. Back to Line
4] sable] black (a heraldic colour). curls' or] (paint-blackened) curls made of gold, as on a heraldic shield. or silver'd o'er] Q "or siluer'd ore" is a crux. Editors variously emend to "all silvered o'er", "are silver'd o'er", "o'er-silver'd all", "ensilvered o'er", and "o'er-silvered are". Any of these might be correct, and the general meaning is clear (the beloved's dark hair is whitening with age). I defend the original reading by reading "curls" as a genitive in the belief that interpretation of a crux that does least damage to the original has a correspondingly diminished chance to be wrong. Back to Line
8] bier] litter for a corpse. Back to Line
