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Poetry · sonnet

Sonnet 1

William ShakespeareFirst edition, 1609sonnet
SOURCE TEXT · English original
From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauties Rose might neuer die,
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heire might beare his memory:
But thou contracted to thine owne bright eyes,
Feed'st thy lights flame with selfe substantiall fewell,
Making a famine where aboundance lies,
Thy selfe thy foe, to thy sweet selfe too cruell:
Thou that art now the worlds fresh ornament,
And only herauld to the gaudy spring,
Within thine owne bud buriest thy content,
And tender chorle makst wast in niggarding:
Pitty the world, or else this glutton be,
To eate the worlds due, by the graue and thee.
Cultural reading

Text and edition

All fourteen lines are checked against the 1609 first-edition scan. Early spelling and punctuation are retained; no modern translation or commentary is supplied.

Language notes

Type and layout

Long s is displayed as s. Decorative initials, italic type, indentation and punctuation spacing are represented in plain text. Early spellings, including u/v forms, are retained.