The eternal lines live still, but the boy,
where does he dwell, the young man with a face
more fair than any girl, and with more grace
than a princess royal, endowed for her joy?
His eyes like the blue rounded heavens shone
for some one unbounded love, but not you;
and you loved him all the same, though you knew
that his charm would fade, and one day be gone.
And what is he now, this man: an idea
in the mind. But a shade can never die,
and beautiful remains, as long as I’m here
to feel it. One day with him I too will lie.
But the idea will live though we all die,
and the firmament itself disappear.
9 April 2016
thank you very much, Susannah.
Eloquent and wistful.
Thanks Dean. I’m doing a post grad diploma in English, full time. I did law last time, now this, which i love.
Good for you! What is your subject…is it full-time…or a top-up?
btw, i have called it 3rd sonnet because it is the third sonnet i have written. The last one was about 5 years ago, and nothing to do with WS. Im back at uni – aged 51 and 3 quarters
yeh, i like those too. I know the poem itself isn’t much. This was a class exercise- a personal response to Shakespeare’s sonnet 20, and i had to write in that style, you know. I have a couple more to come , which i think are a bit better.
Thanks for the positive note, Dean.
I like, in the 1st stanza, the mid-line rhymes of ‘still’ ‘dwell’ girl & royal…