Sonnet XXX: When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought

Shakespeare, William (1564 - 1616)

Original Text

William Shakespeare, Shake-speares sonnets (London: G. Eld for T. T., 1609). STC 22353. Facs. edn.: London: J. Cape, 1925. PR 2750 B48 1609b ROBA.

1When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

2I summon up remembrance of things past,

3I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,

4And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:

5Then can I drown an eye, unus'd to flow,

6For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,

7And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,

8And moan th' expense of many a vanish'd sight;

9Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,

10And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er

11The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,

12Which I new pay as if not paid before.

13But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,

14All losses are restor'd, and sorrows end.

Notes

4] time's waste: i.e., in seeking many a thing in vain. Back to Line

6] dateless: endless. Back to Line

8] expense: loss. Back to Line

9] grievances foregone: past distresses. Back to Line

Publication Start Year

1609

RPO poem Editors

F. D. Hoeniger

RPO Edition

3RP 1.139.

Rhyme

ababcdcdefefgg

Form

sonnet