Sonnet 73 (That time of year)

¹That time of year thou mayst in me behold

²When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang

³Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,

⁴Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

⁵In me thou see'st the twilight of such day

⁶As after sunset fadeth in the west,

⁷Which by and by black night doth take away,

⁸Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.

⁹In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire

¹⁰That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,

¹¹As the death-bed whereon it must expire,

¹²Consumed with that which it was nourished by.

¹³This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,

¹⁴To love that well which thou must leave ere long.