To the Shadow <br /> <br />Letters and lines we see are soon defac'd, <br />Metals do waste and fret with canker's rust, <br />The diamond shall once consume to dust, <br />And freshest colors with foul stains disgrac'd; <br />Paper and ink can paint but naked words, <br />To write with blood of force offends the sight; <br />And if with tears I find them all too light, <br />And sighs and signs a silly hope affotds, <br />O sweetest shadow, how thou serv'st my turn, <br />Which still shalt be, as long as there is sun, <br />Nor, whilst the world is, never shalt be done, <br />Whilst moon shall shine or any fire shall burn; <br />That everything whence shadow doth proceed <br />May in my shadow my love's story read.<br /><br />Michael Drayton<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-xiii-letters-and-lines/
