Sonnet CVI: When in the Chronicle of Wasted Time by William Shakespeare : The Poetry Foundation [poem] : Find Poems and Poets. Discover Poetry.

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Sonnet CVI: When in the Chronicle of Wasted Time

by William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

When in the chronicle of wasted time

I see descriptions of the fairest wights,

And beauty making beautiful old rhyme

In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights,

Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty's best,

Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow,

I see their antique pen would have express'd

Even such a beauty as you master now.

So all their praises are but prophecies

Of this our time, all you prefiguring;

And, for they look'd but with divining eyes,

They had not skill enough your worth to sing:

For we, which now behold these present days,

Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.

William Shakespeare

Actor, dramatist, and poet, William Shakespeare is the most highly regarded writer in the English . . . MORE »

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