The Sonnets XXXVII - As a decrepit father takes delight
By William Shakespeare
As a decrepit father takes delight
To see his active child do deeds of youth,
So I, made lame by Fortunes dearest spite,
Take all my comfort of thy worth and truth;
For whether beauty, birth, or wealth, or wit,
Or any of these all, or all, or more,
Entitled in thy parts, do crowned sit,
I make my love engrafted, to this store:
So then I am not lame, poor, nor despisd,
Whilst that this shadow doth such substance give
That I in thy abundance am sufficd,
And by a part of all thy glory live.
Look what is best, that best I wish in thee:
This wish I have; then ten times happy me!