Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun

By William Shakespeare 1564–1616 William Shakespeare

GUIDERIUS. Feare no more the heate o' th' Sun,

Nor the furious Winters rages,

Thou thy worldly task hast don,

Home art gon, and tane thy wages.

Golden Lads, and Girles all must,

As Chimney-Sweepers come to dust.

ARVIRAGUS. Feare no more the frowne o' th' Great,

Thou art past the Tirants stroake,

Care no more to cloath and eate,

To thee the Reede is as the Oake:

The Scepter, Learning, Physicke must,

All follow this and come to dust.

GUIDERIUS. Feare no more the Lightning flash.

ARVIRAGUS. Nor th' all-dreaded Thunderstone.

GUIDERIUS. Feare not Slander, Censure rash.

ARVIRAGUS. Thou hast finish'd Ioy and mone.

BOTH. All Louers young all Louers must,

Consigne to thee and come to dust.

GUIDERIUS. No Exorcisor harme thee,

ARVIRAGUS. Nor no witch-craft charme thee.

GUIDERIUS. Ghost vnlaid forbeare thee.

ARVIRAGUS. Nothing ill come neere thee.

BOTH. Quiet consumation haue,

And renowned be thy graue.

Source: Cymbeline, Act 4, scene 2. ()

Biography

While William Shakespeare's reputation is based primarily on his plays, he became famous first as a poet. With the partial exception of the Sonnets (1609), quarried since the early nineteenth century for autobiographical secrets allegedly encoded in them, the nondramatic writings have traditionally been pushed to the margins of the Shakespeare industry. Yet the study of his nondramatic poetry can illuminate Shakespeare's . . .

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