Shakespeare's Sonnets: Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain

Shakespeare's Sonnets: Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain

Sonnet 122

Original Text
SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS (London: G. Eld for T. T. and sold by William Aspley, 1609): h2r-h2v.
1Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain
2Full character'd with lasting memory
3Which shall above that idle rank remain
4Beyond all date, ev'n to eternity.
5Or at the least, so long as brain and heart
6Have faculty by nature to subsist,
7Till each to raz'd oblivion yield his part
8Of thee, thy record never can be miss't.
9That poor retention could not so much hold,
10Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score;
11Therefore to give them from me was I bold
12To trust those tables that receive thee more.
13    To keep an adjunct to remember thee
14    Were to import forgetfulness in me.

Notes

1] tables] "A small portable tablet for writing upon, esp. for notes or memoranda; a writing-tablet" (OED, "table," n., 2b). Back to Line
2] character'd] written. Back to Line
3] idle rank] worthless class (of things). Back to Line
4] e'vn] euen Q. Back to Line
7] raz'd oblivion] forgetfulness laid waste. Back to Line
9] retention] capacity for memory. Back to Line
10] tallies] "A stick or rod of wood, usually squared, marked on one side with transverse notches representing the amount of a debt or payment. The rod being cleft lengthwise across the notches, the debtor and creditor each retained one of the halves, the agreement or tallying of which constituted legal proof of the debt, etc." (OED, "tally," n.1, 1.a). Back to Line
14] import] imply. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1609
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2008
Rhyme
ababcdcdefefgg
Form
sonnet