Sonnet XXXII: If thou Survive my Well-contented Day
Sonnet XXXII: If thou Survive my Well-contented Day
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 Robarts Library
1If thou survive my well-contented day,
2When that churl Death my bones with dust shall cover,
3And shalt by fortune once more re-survey
4These poor rude lines of thy deceased lover,
5Compare them with the bettering of the time,
6And though they be outstripp'd by every pen,
7Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme,
8Exceeded by the height of happier men.
9O then vouchsafe me but this loving thought:
10"Had my friend's Muse grown with this growing age
11A dearer birth than this his love had brought,
12To march in ranks of better equipage:
13But since he died and poets better prove,
14Theirs for their style I'll read, his for his love."
Publication Start Year
1609
RPO poem Editors
N. J. Endicott
RPO Edition
2RP.1.225; RPO 1996-2000.
Rhyme
Form