SparkNotes Shopping Cart  |     |  Checkout
Brought to you by Barnes and Noble
Shakespeare's Sonnets
  
 

Sonnet 81

Or I shall live your epitaph to make,1
Or you survive when I in earth am rotten;
From hence your memory death cannot take,
Although in me each part will be forgotten.
Your name from hence immortal life shall have,5
Though I, once gone, to all the world must die:
The earth can yield me but a common grave,
When you entombed in men's eyes shall lie.
Your monument shall be my gentle verse,
Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read;10
And tongues to be, your being shall rehearse,
When all the breathers of this world are dead;
You still shall live,—such virtue hath my pen,—
Where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men.
Help | Feedback | Make a request | Report an error | Send to a friend
 
Read the complete texts of Shakespeare's plays along with an easy to understand translation.
More...
 
No Fear English Grammar is a step-by-step guide to English grammar presented in a fresh, lively tutorial.
More...
 
 
Go to top