NOT marble, not 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 judgment that yourself arise, You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AFTER DEATH by FRANCES ISABEL PARNELL BENNINGTON by WILLIAM HENRY BABCOCK THESE TIMES by GERTRUDE RYDER BENNETT ASOLANDO: FLUTE-MUSIC, WITH AN ACCOMPANIMENT by ROBERT BROWNING THE OLD MAID'S STORY by ADA CAMBRIDGE OBSERVATIONS IN THE ART OF ENGLISH POESY: THE WRITER TO HIS BOOK by THOMAS CAMPION |