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Thy glasse will shew thee how thy beauties weare,
Thy dyall how thy precious mynuits waste,
The vacant leaves thy mindes imprint will beare,
And of this booke, this learning maist thou taste.
The wrinckles which thy glasse will truly show,
Of mouthed graves will give thee memorie,
Thou by thy dyals shady stealth maist know,
Times theevish progresse to eternitie.
Looke what thy memorie cannot containe,
Commit to these waste blacks, and thou shalt find
Those children nurst, deliverd from thy braine,
To take a new acquantance of thy minde.
These offices, so oft as thou wilt looke,
Shall profit thee, and much inrich thy booke.
Commentary
Commentary
Address to his beloved on the occasion of giving him a blank book
Address to his beloved on the occasion of giving him a blank book
Changes to the original text: line 1, 'were' changed to 'wear'
In the first quatrain, the poet notes that the beloved's mirror will show him how his beauty diminishes, his clock (dyall) will indicate how time passes (mynuits waste), and the blank book which he (the poet) is presenting him (the beloved) will show him the 'imprint' of his own mind when he reads it in later days.
In the second quatrain, the poet expands on the similes: the beloved's glass will show him (the beloved) his wrinkles, and remind him (the beloved) of the gaping (mouthed) grave; by his clock, he (the beloved) will know the progress of time to death (eternitie).
In the third quatrain, the poet encourages his beloved to write down (committ to these waste blacks) what he cannot retain in his memory, and these thoughts (children nurst deliverd from thy braine) when he rereads them later will show him his own mind anew.
In the final couplet, the poet suggests that this practice of writing down his experiences will be of great profit to him.
If he (the beloved) did so, the book has never been found.
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