My glass shall not persuade me I am oldSo long as youth and thou are of one date,But when in thee time's furrows I behold,Then look I death my days should expiate.For all that beauty that doth cover theeIs but the seemly raiment of my heart,Which in thy breast doth live, as thine in me.How can I then be elder than thou art?O therefore love be of thy self so waryAs I, not for my self but for thee, will,Bearing thy heart which I will keep so charyAs tender nurse her babe from faring ill. Presume not on thy heart when mine is slain, Thou gav'st me thine not to give back again.
Shakespeare's Sonnets: My glass shall not persuade me I am old
written byWilliam Shakespeare
© William Shakespeare