Sonnet 65. Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea

Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea

But sad mortality o'ersways their power

How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea

Whose action is no stronger than a flower?

O how shall summer's honey breath hold out

Against the wrackful siege of batt'ring days

When rocks impregnable are not so stout

Nor gates of steel so strong but time decays?