Sonnet · Nature

Sonnet 25: Let those who are in favour with their stars

by William Shakespeare

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1Let those who are in favour with their stars

2Of public honour and proud titles boast,

3Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars

4Unlook'd for joy in that I honour most.

5Great princes' favourites their fair leaves spread

6But as the marigold at the sun's eye,

7And in themselves their pride lies buried,

8For at a frown they in their glory die.

9The painful warrior famoused for fight,

10After a thousand victories once foil'd,

11Is from the book of honour razed quite,

12And all the rest forgot for which he toil'd:

13Then happy I, that love and am belov'd,

14Where I may not remove nor be remov'd.

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“Sonnet 25: Let those who are in favour with their stars” by William Shakespeare — quilloak.com/poems/sonnet-25

Quick facts

Poem: Sonnet 25: Let those who are in favour with their stars
Poet: William Shakespeare
Length: 14 lines
Form: Sonnet
Themes: Nature, Love, Death & Loss

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 25: Let those who are in favour with their stars 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 2cc27c95503db311…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Sonnet Nature Love Death & Loss

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