Sonnet 22

My glasse shall not perswade me I am ould,

So long as youth and thou are of one date,

But when in thee times forrwes I behould,

Then look I death my daies should expiate.

For all that beauty that doth cover thee,

Is but the seemely rayment of my heart,

Which in thy brest doth live, as thine in me,

How can I then be elder then thou art?

O therefore love be of thy selfe so wary,

As I not for my selfe, but for thee will,

Bearing thy heart which I will keepe so chary

As tender nurse her babe from faring ill,

Presume not on they heart when mine is slaine,

Thou gav'st me thine not to give backe againe.

Commentary

Address to a fair young man

Changes made to the original text: comma changed to full stop at the end of line 12.

In the first quatrain, the poet observes that he will not consider himself old so long as the fair young man is young, but when furrows begin to appear in the young man's face, he will know that, for him, death is just around the corner.

In the second quatrain, the poet offers an explanation for the strange state of affairs noted in the first quatrain, which explanation is that they have exchanged hearts. The poet cannot therefore be older than his loved one.

In the third quatrain, the poet exhorts the young man to be careful of his heart, and vice versa.

In the final couplet, the poet warns the young man not to expect to have his heart back when he (the poet) dies, since he did not give it to take it back again.

Is this not a little presumptuous?