Sonnet · Nature
Sonnet 94: They that have power to hurt, and will do none
They that have power to hurt, and will do none,
That do not do the thing they most do show,
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow;
They rightly do inherit heaven's graces,
And husband nature's riches from expense;
They are the lords and owners of their faces,
Others, but stewards of their excellence.
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,
Though to itself, it only live and die,
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Sonnet 94: They that have power to hurt, and will do none” by William Shakespeare — quilloak.com/poems/sonnet-94
Quick facts
- Poem
- Sonnet 94: They that have power to hurt, and will do none
- Poet
- William Shakespeare
- Length
- 14 lines
- Form
- Sonnet
- Themes
- Nature, Summer, 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
- Lines run 10-11 syllables (median 10), consistent with pentameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
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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 94: They that have power to hurt, and will do none 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 5ecaa3735bed79b5…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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