William Shakespeare

Sonnet 66: "Tir'd with all these, for restful death I cry..."

Tir'd with all these, for restful death I cry, As, to behold desert a beggar born, And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity, And purest faith unhappily forsworn, And gilded honour shamefully misplac'd, And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted, And right perfection wrongfully disgrac'd, And strength by limping sway disabled, And art made tongue-tied by authority, And folly, doctor-like, controlling skill, And simple truth miscall'd simplicity, And captive good attending captain ill. Tir'd with all these, from these would I be gone, Save that, to die, I leave my love alone. NOTES Form: sonnet: ababcdcdefefgg 3. needy nothing: i. e. , the undeserving. 4. unhappily: evilly. 8. strength . . . disabled: strength of character crushed by incompetent authority\; or possibly, but less likely: a man strong in body or mind overcome by drunkenness. disabled is pronounced as four syllables: disabeled. 10. doctor: learned person. 11. simplicity: folly. 14. to die: by dying. Visit the Shakespeare Glossary for vocabulary questions!