Not Marble Nor The Guilded Monuments-Sonnet 55
Not
marble
nor
the
gilded
monuments
Of
princes
shall
outlive
this
powerful
rhyme,
But
you
shall
shine
more
bright
in
these
contents
Than
unswept
stone
besmeared
with
sluttish
time.
When
wasteful
war
shall
statues
overturn,
And
broils
root
out
the
work
of
masonry,
Nor
Mars
his
sword
nor
war’s
quick
fire
shall
burn
The
living
record
of
your
memory.
’Gainst
death
and
all-oblivious
enmity
Shall
you
pace
forth;
your
praise
shall
still
find
room
Even
in
the
eyes
of
all
posterity
That
wear
this
world
out
to
the
ending
doom.
So,
till
the
Judgement
that
yourself
arise,
You
live
in
this,
and
dwell
in
lovers’
eyes.
