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Sonnet 121
Shakespeare's Sonnets Translation Sonnet 122
Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain Full charactered with lasting memory, Which shall above that idle rank remain Beyond all date, ev'n to eternity; Or at the least, so long as brain and heart Have faculty by nature to subsist; Till each to razed oblivion yield his part Of thee, thy record never can be missed. That poor retention could not so much hold, Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score; Therefore to give them from me was I bold, To trust those tables that receive thee more; To keep an adjunct to remember thee Were to import forgetfulness in me.
Your gift, your note-book, is in my brain
Written in lasting memory,
Which will remain above the rank of physical things
Beyond all end, even to eternity;
Or at the least, as long as the brain and the heart
Have their natural faculty of survival;
Until they have submitted to erased oblivion their parts
Of you, your memory can never be forgotten.
That weak receptacle of memory could not hold so much,
Nor do I need records to remind me of my love for you;
Therefore I gave away the book,
To trust my memory to retain your image better;
To keep a helper to remember you
Would imply I could forget you.
