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Sonnet 6: Then Let Not Winter’s Ragged Hand Deface, By: William Shakespeare

October 12, 2026 by Editors

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Then let not winter’s ragged hand deface,
In thee thy summer, ere thou be distill’d:
Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place
With beauty’s treasure ere it be self-kill’d.
That use is not forbidden usury,
Which happies those that pay the willing loan;
That’s for thyself to breed another thee,
Or ten times happier, be it ten for one;
Ten times thyself were happier than thou art,
If ten of thine ten times refigur’d thee:
Then what could death do if thou shouldst depart,
Leaving thee living in posterity?
Be not self-will’d, for thou art much too fair
To be death’s conquest and make worms thine heir.

Read all of William Shakespeare's poems · About William Shakespeare

More by William Shakespeare

  • Sonnet 7: Lo! In The Orient When The Gracious Light
  • Sonnet 8: Music To Hear, Why Hear'st Thou Music Sadly?
  • Sonnet 9: Is It For Fear To Wet A Widow's Eye
  • Sonnet 10: For Shame! Deny That Thou Bear'st Love To Any
  • Sonnet 11: As Fast As Thou Shalt Wane, So Fast Thou Grow'st

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