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Sonnet 65

Original Text

Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea, But sad mortality o’ersways their power, How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea, Whose action is no stronger than a flower?

Modern English

Since brass, stone, earth, and the boundless sea are all at the mercy of sad mortality, how can beauty put up any defense against that force when beauty's claim is no stronger than a flower's?

Original Text

O! how shall summer’s honey breath hold out, Against the wrackful siege of battering days, When rocks impregnable are not so stout, Nor gates of steel so strong but Time decays?

Modern English

Oh, how will summer's sweet breath hold out against the battering siege of days that wreck everything, when solid rock is not strong enough to resist, and no gate of steel can hold against what Time destroys?

Original Text

O fearful meditation! where, alack, Shall Time’s best jewel from Time’s chest lie hid? Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back? Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?

Modern English

A terrifying thought — where, then, can Time's most precious jewel hide from Time's own vault? What powerful hand can slow that swift, relentless foot? Who can forbid Time from plundering beauty?

Original Text

O! none, unless this miracle have might, That in black ink my love may still shine bright.

Modern English

No one — unless this one miracle holds: that in black ink my love may still shine bright.

Shakespeare's Sonnets

Sonnet 65

Sonnet 65