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Sonnet 96: Some Say Thy Fault Is Youth, Some Wantonness, By: William Shakespeare

October 12, 2026 by Editors

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Some say thy fault is youth, some wantonness;
Some say thy grace is youth and gentle sport;
Both grace and faults are lov’d of more and less:
Thou mak’st faults graces that to thee resort.
As on the finger of a throned queen
The basest jewel will be well esteem’d,
So are those errors that in thee are seen
To truths translated, and for true things deem’d.
How many lambs might the stern wolf betray,
If like a lamb he could his looks translate!
How many gazers mightst thou lead away,
If thou wouldst use the strength of all thy state!
But do not so; I love thee in such sort,
As, thou being mine, mine is thy good report.

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

More by William Shakespeare

  • Sonnet 99: The Forward Violet Thus Did I Chide
  • Sonnet 100: Where Art Thou Muse That Thou Forget'st So Long
  • Sonnet 101: O Truant Muse What Shall Be Thy Amends
  • Sonnet 102: My Love Is Strengthen'd, Though More Weak In Seeming
  • Sonnet 103: Alack! What Poverty My Muse Brings Forth

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