Sonnet · Nature
Sonnet 16: But wherefore do not you a mightier way
But wherefore do not you a mightier way
Make war upon this bloody tyrant, Time?
And fortify your self in your decay
With means more blessed than my barren rhyme?
Now stand you on the top of happy hours,
And many maiden gardens, yet unset,
With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers,
Much liker than your painted counterfeit:
So should the lines of life that life repair,
Which this, Time's pencil, or my pupil pen,
Neither in inward worth nor outward fair,
Can make you live your self in eyes of men.
To give away yourself, keeps yourself still,
And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill.
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“Sonnet 16: But wherefore do not you a mightier way” by William Shakespeare — quilloak.com/poems/sonnet-16
Quick facts
- Poem
- Sonnet 16: But wherefore do not you a mightier way
- Poet
- William Shakespeare
- Length
- 14 lines
- Form
- Sonnet
- Themes
- Nature, War & Remembrance
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 14 lines · one 14-line stanza
- Line length
- Mostly 10-syllable lines (pentameter length).
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- William Shakespeare1564–1616
- Source record
- PoetryDBSonnet 16: But wherefore do not you a mightier way by william-shakespeare, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- Not recorded in the imported source
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 4bbce247b0d82728…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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