Shakespeare's Sonnets (1923) Yale/Text/Sonnet 70
70
That thou art blam'd shall not be thy defect,
For slander's mark was ever yet the fair;
The ornament of beauty is suspect,
A crow that flies in heaven's sweetest air. 4
So thou be good, slander doth but approve
Thy worth the greater, being woo'd of time;
For canker vice the sweetest buds doth love,
And thou present'st a pure unstained prime. 8
Thou hast pass'd by the ambush of young days,
Either not assail'd, or victor being charg'd;
Yet this thy praise cannot be so thy praise,
To tie up envy evermore enlarg'd: 12
If some suspect of ill mask'd not thy show,
Then thou alone kingdoms of hearts shouldst owe.
1–14 Cf. n.
3 ornament: identifying badge
suspect: suspicion, distrust
5 approve: prove
6 woo'd of time: wooed by the world
8 prime: spring, youth
10 charg'd: attacked
11 so thy praise: so much thy praise
12 To tie up: that it will tie up
enlarg'd: at liberty
13 mask'd not thy show: did not disfigure your beauty
14 owe: own