"Sonnet 116" by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 116

by William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

"Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms" by Thomas Moore

Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms

by Thomas Moore

Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,
Which I gaze on so fondly today,
Were to change by tomorrow, and fleet in my arms,
Like fairy-gifts fading away,
Thou wouldst still be adored, as this moment thou art,
Let thy loveliness fade as it will,
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
Would entwine itself verdantly still.

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own,
And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear
That the fervor and faith of a soul can be known,
To which time will but make thee more dear;
No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close,
As the sunflower turns on her god, when he sets,
The same look which she turned when he rose.

"The Double Fortress" by Alfred Noyes

The Double Fortress

by Alfred Noyes

Time, wouldst thou hurt us? Never shall we grow old.   

   Break as thou wilt these bodies of blind clay,

Thou canst not touch us here, in our stronghold,   

   Where two, made one, laugh all thy powers away.

Though ramparts crumble and rusty gates grow thin,

   And our brave fortress dwine to a hollow shell,   

Thou shalt hear heavenly laughter, far within,

   Where, young as Love, two hidden lovers dwell.

We shall go clambering up our twisted stairs

   To watch the moon through rifts in our grey towers.   

Thou shalt hear whispers, kisses, and sweet prayers   

   Creeping through all our creviced walls like flowers.

Wouldst wreck us, Time? When thy dull leaguer brings   

The last wall down, look heavenward. We have wings.