Sonnet 55 by William Shakespeare is a testimony to memories of a loved one. Shakespeare is saying, as mentioned in Post #3, that the memory of the departed loved one will live on because of the words of the sonnet - that nothing will prevent these words from having a life of their own; these words that celebrate a life will outlive monuments of stone.
Shakespeare says that the dearly departed will live on more brightly because of the contents of this particular sonnet. The sonnet is a testament to this person's life. War no anything else will
burn
The living record of your memory.
The person who has died will continue to live in this poem, and in the hearts, minds, and eyes, of loved ones left behind, until the day of this person's judgement at the resurrection.
Sonnets
Sonnet 55 is basically about a friend of Shakespeare's that he wants to keep alive through the poem. He comments that:
Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme (lines 1-2)
He is embracing the power of words to live forever, long after their subject is gone. He also comments that his friend will love on "in lovers' eyes" so the people who loved him will continue his memory and keep him alive that way.
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