Shakespeare's Sonnets: That thou are blam'd shall not be thy defect

Shakespeare's Sonnets: That thou are blam'd shall not be thy defect

Sonnet 70

Original Text
SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS (London: G. Eld for T. T. and sold by William Aspley, 1609): e3v.
1That thou are blam'd shall not be thy defect,
2For slander's mark was ever yet the fair,
3The ornament of beauty is suspect,
4A crow that flies in heaven's sweetest air.
5So thou be good, slander doth but approve,
6Their worth the greater, being woo'd of time,
7For canker vice the sweetest buds doth love,
8And thou present'st a pure unstainèd prime.
9Thou hast past by the ambush of young days,
10Either not assail'd, or victor, being charg'd;
11Yet this thy praise cannot be so thy praise,
12To tie up envy, evermore enlarged,
13    If some suspect of ill mask't not thy show,
14    Then thou alone kingdoms of hearts should'st owe.

Notes

5] approve] apprvue Q ("test by experience"). Back to Line
6] Their] Q; Thy frequent emendation. The apparent referent of "Their" is "the fair" (2), which can be a plural that does not take a final "s" (an expression such as "the fair are countless" in northern countries), so that emendation is not necessary to preserve the sense of the passage. Back to Line
9] past] passed. The beloved has matured beyond adolescence into his "prime" or early adulthood. See John Cowell's Interpreter (1607): "The age of 21. yeres is termed the full age in a man, the age of fourteene yeares, the age of discretion Litleton li. 2. ca. 4." Back to Line
13] some] some (other) persons. Back to Line
14] owe] own. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1609
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2008
Rhyme
ababcdcdefefgg
Form
sonnet