Shakespeare's Sonnets (1923) Yale/Text/Sonnet 74
74
But be contented: when that fell arrest
Without all bail shall carry me away,
My life hath in this line some interest,
Which for memorial still with thee shall stay. 4
When thou reviewest this, thou dost review
The very part was consecrate to thee:
The earth can have but earth, which is his due;
My spirit is thine, the better part of me: 8
So then thou hast but lost the dregs of life,
The prey of worms, my body being dead;
The coward conquest of a wretch's knife,
Too base of thee to be remembered. 12
The worth of that is that which it contains,
And that is this, and this with thee remains.
3 interest: claim, part
4 Which: this line which
5 reviewest: surveyest
6 was consecrate: that was consecrated
12 of thee: by thee
13 of that: of that body
is that: is that spirit
14 that is this: that spirit is this poetry