Sonnet 40 – Oh, yes! they love through all this world of ours!
Oh, yes! they love through all this world of ours!
I will not gainsay love, called love forsooth.
I have heard love talked in my early youth,
And since, not so long back but that the flowers
Then gathered, smell still. Mussulmans and Giaours
Throw kerchiefs at a smile, and have no ruth
For any weeping. Polypheme’s white tooth
Slips on the nut if, after frequent showers,
The shell is over-smooth,-and not so much
Will turn the thing called love, aside to hate
Or else to oblivion. But thou art not such
A lover, my Beloved! thou canst wait
Through sorrow and sickness, to bring souls to touch,
And think it soon when others cry ‘Too late.’





Related poetry:
- Sonnet 17 – My poet, thou canst touch on all the notes My poet, thou canst touch on all the notes God set between his After and Before, And strike up and […]...
- Sonnet 14 – If thou must love me, let it be for nought If thou must love me, let it be for nought Except for love’s sake only. Do not say ‘I love […]...
- Holy Sonnet X: Death Be Not Proud Death, be not proud, though some have callèd thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom […]...
- Sonnet 149: Canst thou, O cruel, say I love thee not Canst thou, O cruel, say I love thee not, When I against my self with thee partake? Do I not […]...
- Holy Sonnet IV: Oh My Black Soul! Now Art Thou Summoned Oh my black soul! now art thou summoned By sickness, death’s herald, and champion; Thou art like a pilgrim, which […]...
- Sonnet 10: For shame, deny that thou bear'st love to any For shame, deny that thou bear’st love to any Who for thy self art so unprovident. Grant, if thou wilt, […]...
- Sonnet LXIII: Truce, Gentle Love Truce, gentle Love, a parley now I crave; Methinks ’tis long since first these wars begun; Nor thou nor I […]...
- Sonnet 16 – And yet, because thou overcomest so And yet, because thou overcomest so, Because thou art more noble and like a king, Thou canst prevail against my […]...
- Sonnet 12 – Indeed this very love which is my boast Indeed this very love which is my boast, And which, when rising up from breast to brow, Doth crown me […]...
- Sonnet LXXXIX Say that thou didst forsake me for some fault, And I will comment upon that offence; Speak of my lameness, […]...
- Sonnet 25 – A heavy heart, Beloved, have I borne A heavy heart, Beloved, have I borne From year to year until I saw thy face, And sorrow after sorrow […]...
- Sonnet 40: Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all; What hast thou then more than thou hadst before? No […]...
- Sonnet 105: Let not my love be called idolatry Let not my love be called idolatry, Nor my belovèd as an idol show, Since all alike my songs and […]...
- Greek Love-Talk What I have already learned as a lover, I see you, beloved, learning angrily; Then for you it distantly departed, […]...
- Sonnet 89: Say that thou didst forsake me for some fault Say that thou didst forsake me for some fault, And I will comment upon that offence; Speak of my lameness, […]...
- I ask of thee, love, nothing but relief I ask of thee, love, nothing but relief. Thou canst not bring the old days back again; For I was […]...
- A Farewell to the World FALSE world, good night! since thou hast brought That hour upon my morn of age; Henceforth I quit thee from […]...
- To The Accuser Who is The God of This World Truly My Satan thou art but a Dunce And dost not know the Garment from the Man Every Harlot was […]...
- Sonnet 72: O, lest the world should task you to recite O, lest the world should task you to recite What merit lived in me that you should love After my […]...
- Sonnet 11 – And therefore if to love can be desert And therefore if to love can be desert, I am not all unworthy. Cheeks as pale As these you see, […]...
- Sonnet 30 – I see thine image through my tears to-night I see thine image through my tears to-night, And yet to-day I saw thee smiling. How Refer the cause?-Beloved, is […]...
- Sonnet 69: Those parts of thee that the world's eye doth view Those parts of thee that the world’s eye doth view Want nothing that the thought of hearts can mend; All […]...
- Sonnet 07 – The face of all the world is changed, I think The face of all the world is changed, I think, Since first I heard the footsteps of thy soul Move […]...
- To A World-Reformer “I Have sacrificed all,” thou sayest, “that man I might succor; Vain the attempt; my reward was persecution and hate.” […]...
- Sonnet 21 – Say over again, and yet once over again Say over again, and yet once over again, That thou dost love me. Though the word repeated Should seem ‘a […]...
- UPON LOVE:BY WAY OF QUESTION AND ANSWER I bring ye love. QUES. What will love do? ANS. Like, and dislike ye. I bring ye love. QUES. What […]...
- Sonnet 10 – Yet, love, mere love, is beautiful indeed Yet, love, mere love, is beautiful indeed And worthy of acceptation. Fire is bright, Let temple burn, or flax; an […]...
- Sonnet 142: Love is my sin, and thy dear virtue hate Love is my sin, and thy dear virtue hate, Hate of my sin, grounded on sinful loving, O, but with […]...
- Sonnet 44 – Beloved, thou hast brought me many flowers Beloved, thou hast brought me many flowers Plucked in the garden, all the summer through And winter, and it seemed […]...
- Love Calls Us To The Things Of This World The eyes open to a cry of pulleys, And spirited from sleep, the astounded soul Hangs for a moment bodiless […]...
- 495. Song-Canst thou leave me thus, my Katie Chorus-Canst thou leave me thus, my Katie? Canst thou leave me thus, my Katie? Well thou know’st my aching heart, […]...
- Sonnet XI: In Truth, Oh Love In truth, oh Love, with what a boyish kind Thou doest proceed in thy most serious ways: That when the […]...
- Sonnet XVII: Love Steals Unheeded Love steals unheeded o’er the tranquil mind, As Summer breezes fan the sleeping main, Slow through each fibre creeps the […]...
- Sonnet IV: Unthrifty Loveliness, Why Dost Thou Spend Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend Upon thy self thy beauty’s legacy? Nature’s bequest gives nothing, but doth lend, And […]...
- Sonnet IV Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend Upon thyself thy beauty’s legacy? Nature’s bequest gives nothing but doth lend, And being […]...
- Sonnet 4: Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend Upon thy self thy beauty’s legacy? Nature’s bequest gives nothing, but doth lend, And […]...
- Sonnet 13 – And wilt thou have me fashion into speech And wilt thou have me fashion into speech The love I bear thee, finding words enough, And hold the torch […]...
- Sonnet 63: Against my love shall be, as I am now Against my love shall be, as I am now, With Time’s injurious hand crushed and o’erworn; When hours have drained […]...
- Sonnet 56: Sweet love, renew thy force, be it not said Sweet love, renew thy force! Be it not said Thy edge should blunter be than appetite, Which but today by […]...
- Late Love How they strut about, people in love, How tall they grow, pleased with themselves, Their hair, glossy, their skin shining. […]...