Sonnet 60: Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore
William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
1609

Cold Library · Open Stacks · S-004003 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/004003
Rights: Published in 1609 (Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Thomas Thorpe); the author died in 1616. Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026. Guidance, not legal advice.
Source: Project Gutenberg, https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1041/pg1041.txt (retrieved 2026-10-11)
Generated 2026-10-14 from https://coldlibrary.com/en/open-stacks/shakespeare-sonnet-60

----

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown’d,
Crooked eclipses ’gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty’s brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature’s truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
  And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand,
  Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.