Shakespeare's Sonnets: No! Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change
Shakespeare's Sonnets: No! Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change
Sonnet 123
Original Text
SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS (London: G. Eld for T. T. and sold by William Aspley, 1609): h2v.
1No! Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change.
3To me are nothing novel, nothing strange;
4They are but dressings of a former sight.
6What thou dost foist upon us that is old
7And rather make them born to our desire
8Than think that we before have heard them told.
9Thy registers and thee I both defy,
10Not wond'ring at the present, nor the past,
12Made more or less by thy continual haste.
13 This I do vow and this shall ever be,
14 I will be true despite thy scythe and thee.
Notes
2] pyramids] At the entrance of James I to London on March 15, 1604, triumphal arches were topped by pyramids or obelisks. Duncan-Jones (356) cites Stephen Harrison's The Arch's of Triumph (1604), sigs. d1v, e1r, f1r. Back to Line
5] dates] lifetimes. admire] treat with awe. Back to Line
11] lie] deceive. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1609
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2008
Rhyme
Form