Sonnet 64

When I have seen by Time’s fell hand defacèd

The rich proud cost of outworn buried age;

When sometime lofty towers I see down-razèd,

And brass eternal slave to mortal rage;

When I have seen the hungry ocean gain

Advantage on the kingdom of the shore,

And the firm soil win of the wat’ry main,

Increasing store with loss and loss with store;

When I have seen such interchange of state,

Or state itself confounded to decay:

Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate

That Time will come and take my love away.

This thought is as a death, which cannot choose

But weep to have that which it fears to lose.

Since I’ve seen treasures, one-time

Marvels, stripped of their value by time,

And towers that once could climb

To the sky razed to the ground—by time;

Since I’ve seen the insatiable ocean

Flood cities, take down whole kingdoms,

And deserts suck up every fountain,

And more loss come when more loss comes;

Since I’ve seen such things change completely,

Or seen them simply decimated,

I’ve realized time will take my love away

In ruins. I have ruminated.

And it’s a thought that strikes me deep—

To have love now just makes me weep.