Sonnet · Nature
Sonnet 16: But wherefore do not you a mightier way
1But wherefore do not you a mightier way
2Make war upon this bloody tyrant, Time?
3And fortify your self in your decay
4With means more blessed than my barren rhyme?
5Now stand you on the top of happy hours,
6And many maiden gardens, yet unset,
7With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers,
8Much liker than your painted counterfeit:
9So should the lines of life that life repair,
10Which this, Time's pencil, or my pupil pen,
11Neither in inward worth nor outward fair,
12Can make you live your self in eyes of men.
13 To give away yourself, keeps yourself still,
14 And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“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.