This is a short summary of Shakespeare sonnet 77. Continue reading for complete analysis and meaning in the modern text. For the complete list of 154 sonnets, check the collection of Shakespeare Sonnets with analysis. It is highly recommended to buy “The Monument” by Hank Whittemore, which is the best book on Shakespeare Sonnets.

Shakespeare Sonnet 77 (Original Text)

Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear,

Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste;

The vacant leaves thy mind’s impr’nt will bear,

And of this book this learning mayst thou taste:

The wrinkles which thy glass will truly show

Of mouthèd graves will give thee memory;

Thou by thy dial’s shady stealth mayst know

Time’s thievish progress to eternity.

Look what thy memory cannot contain,

Commit to these waste blanks, and thou shalt find

Those children nursed, delivered from thy brain,

To take a new acquaintance of thy mind.

These offices, so oft as thou wilt look,

Shall profit thee and much enrich thy book.

–WIKI

Shakespeare Sonnet 77 Modern Text (Translation)

Shakespeare Sonnet 77 Analysis

Addressing the fair lord Shakespeare says that a mirror will show how his beauty is wearing away “thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear, “and his clock shows him that he is ageing slowly as precious minutes of his life pass by. “Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste “ The pages of the poet’s notebook though blank “The vacant leaves “will be used to record the youth’s thoughts “thy mind’s impr’nt will bear” and from that book he can learn something “this book this learning mayst thou taste”

The youth’s age will be seen in wrinkles reflected by his mirror “wrinkles which thy glass will truly show” which the poet compares to as an open grave to remind the youth “Of mouthèd graves will give thee memory” how he will look as an old man and his dial “thy dial’s shady stealth mayst know” will reveal how time like a thief will advance to eternity “Time’s thievish progress to eternity”

Whatever he can’t remember from his mind, “Look what thy memory cannot contain” he should record in the poets notebook “Commit to these waste blanks” where he will find “and thou shalt find” that his thoughts will be nourished like a nursing child “Those children nursed” by his constant reflection which will become like a friend to his brain “a new acquaintance of thy mind”

By doing this every day (writing his thoughts in a book) “These offices, so oft as thou wilt look, ”the youth will benefit greatly and so will his book grow rich with the words he has written “Shall profit thee and much enrich thy book”