Sonnets Xciv: They That Have Power To Hurt And Will Do None Poem by William Shakespeare

Sonnets Xciv: They That Have Power To Hurt And Will Do None

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They that have power to hurt and will do none,
That do not do the thing they most do show,
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow:
They rightly do inherit heaven's graces
And husband nature's riches from expense;
They are the lords and owners of their faces,
Others but stewards of their excellence.
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet
Though to itself it only live and die,
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Ratnakar Mandlik 02 October 2016

Sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds. Great observation. Thanks for sharing.

2 0 Reply
Brian Jani 26 April 2014

Awesome I like this poem, check mine out 

3 1 Reply
Egal Bohen 06 September 2007

If you only ever read one piece of poetry, let it be this

3 1 Reply
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