- As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow’st,
- In one of thine, from that which thou departest;
- And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow’st,
- Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest,
- Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase;
- Without this folly, age, and cold decay:
- If all were minded so, the times should cease
- And threescore year would make the world away.
- Let those whom nature hath not made for store,
- Harsh, featureless, and rude, barrenly perish:
- Look, whom she best endow’d, she gave thee more;
- Which bounteous gift thou shouldst in bounty cherish:
- She carv’d thee for her seal, and meant thereby,
- Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die.