The Sonnets
Sonnet 12
by William Shakespeare
When I do count the clock that tells the time
When I do count the clock that tells the time
Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage
Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is took
Unthrifty loveliness why dost thou spend
Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea
Those parts of thee that the world’s eye doth view
How sweet and lovely dost thou make the shame
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
A celebration of Florida's tropic climate.
That thou hast her it is not all my grief
Some rainbow coming from the fair!
For shame deny that thou bear’st love to any
Mine eye hath played the painter and hath stelled
Nature and the movement of clouds at dusk ignite the author's imagination.
Going to him! Happy letter! Tell him —
SOON as the sun forsook the eastern main
I meant to have but modest needs
O truant Muse what shall be thy amends
Poor soul the centre of my sinful earth
When forty winters shall besiege thy brow
The Whip-Poor-Will sings a sad song throughout the night.
The forward violet thus did I chide
How oft when thou, my music, music play’st
Then let not winter’s ragged hand deface
The author describes his love for his wife.