Sonnet 75

ONE day I wrote her name upon the strand1,

But came the waves and washed it away:

Agayne I wrote it with a second hand2,

But came the tyde, and made my paynes his pray3.

“Vayne man, ”sayd she, “that doest in vaine assay4,

A mortall thing so to immortalize!

For I my selve shall lyke to this decay,

And eek5 my name bee wypéd out lykewize6.”

“Not so, (quod7 I) “let baser things devize,

To dy in dust, but you shall live by fame:

My verse your vertues rare shall eternize,

And in the hevens wryte your glorious name;

Where, whenas death shall all the world subdew,

Our love shall live, and later life renew.

注释：1.strand：海滩，沙滩。

2.second hand ：手写。

3.pray：猎获物。

4.assay：尝试。

5.eek：又。

6.lykewize：图谋；企图。

7.quod：说。