Time, cruel Time, come and subdue that brow <br />Which conquers all but thee, and thee, too, stays <br />As if she were exempt from scythe or bow, <br />From love or years unsubject to decays. <br />Or art thou grown in league with those fair eyes <br />That they may help thee to consume our days? <br />Or dost thou spare her for her cruelties, <br />Being merciless like thee that no man weighs? <br />And yet thou seest thy power she disobeys, <br />Cares not for thee, but lets thee waste in vain, <br />And prodigal of hours and years betrays <br />Beauty and youth t'opinion and disdain. <br />Yet spare her, Time, let her exempted be, <br />She may become more kind to thee or me.<br /><br />Samuel Daniel<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-xxiii-time-cruel-time/
