Shakespeare's Sonnets: If thou survive my well-contented day

Sonnet 32

Original Text

SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS (London: G. Eld for T. T. and sold by William Aspley, 1609): c3v.

1If thou survive my well-contented day,

2When that churl death my bones with dust shall cover,

3And shalt by fortune once more re-survey

4These poor rude lines of thy deceased lover,

5Compare them with the bett'ring of the time,

6And though they be out-stripp't by every pen,

7Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme,

9Oh then vouchsafe me but this loving thought,

10"Had my friend's muse grown with this growing age,

11A dearer birth than this his love had brought

12To march in ranks of better equipage:

13 But since he died and poets better prove,

14 Theirs for their style I'll read, his for his love."

8] happier] more fortunate or talented. Back to Line

Publication Start Year

1609

RPO poem Editors

Ian Lancashire

RPO Edition

2008

Rhyme

Form