THAT TIME OF YEAR THOU MAYST IN ME BEHOLD

 THAT TIME OF YEAR THOU MAYST IN ME BEHOLD

(SONNET No. 73)

- WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

That time of year thou mayst in me behold

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang

Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,

Bare ruine'd choirs where late the sweet birds sang.

In me thou seest the twilight of such day 

As after sunset fadeth in the west,

Which by and by black night doth take away,

Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.

In me thou seest the glowing of such fire

That on the ashes ashes of his youth doth lie,

As the death-bed whereon it must expire,

Consum'd with that which it was nourishe'd by.

This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong, 

 To love that well which thou must leave ere long.