Sonnet 19

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Sonnet 19 | Text of the Poem

Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion’s paws,
And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;
Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger’s jaws,
And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood;
Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleets,     5
And do whate’er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,
To the wide world and all her fading sweets;
But I forbid thee one most heinous crime:
O, carve not with thy hours my love’s fair brow,
Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen;     10
Him in thy course untainted do allow
For beauty’s pattern to succeeding men.
Yet, do thy worst,...

[The entire page is 122 words long]

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