Shakespeare's Sonnets: No more be griev'd at that which thou hast done

Shakespeare's Sonnets: No more be griev'd at that which thou hast done

Sonnet 35

Original Text
SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS (London: G. Eld for T. T. and sold by William Aspley, 1609): c4r.
1No more be griev'd at that which thou hast done,
2Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud,
3Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,
4And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.
5All men make faults, and even I in this,
6Authorizing thy trespass with compare,
7My self corrupting salving thy amiss,
8Excusing their sins more than their sins are:
9For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense,
10Thy adverse party is thy advocate,
11And 'gainst my self a lawful plea commence,
12Such civil war is in my love and hate,
13    That I an accessary needs must be
14    To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me.

Notes

6] compare] comparison. Back to Line
8] their sins] Q (twice); thy widely-adopted emendation. The apparent reference of "their" is "All men" (5), who of course include the beloved, so that, strictly speaking, emendation is unnecessary to preserve the sense of the passage. Back to Line
9] sense] common sense. Back to Line
13] accessary] the Q spelling (usually modernized to "accessory") has an OED main entry. Back to Line
14] sourly] in a bad temper. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1609
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2008
Rhyme
ababcdcdefefgg
Form
sonnet