William Shakespeare. 1564-1616
154. Sonnets x
1 min to read
122 words

THEN hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now; Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross, Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow, And do not drop in for an after loss: Ah! do not, when my heart hath 'scaped this sorrow, Come in the rearward of a conquer'd woe; Give not a windy night a rainy morrow, To linger out a purposed overthrow. If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last, When other petty griefs have done their spite, But in the onset come: so shall I taste At first the very worst of fortune's might;   And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,   Compared with loss of thee will not seem so!

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William Shakespeare. 1564-1616
155. Sonnets xi
1 min to read
106 words
Return to The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250–1900






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