That thou art blamed shall not be thy defect,
For slander’s mark was ever yet the fair;
The ornament of beauty is suspect,
A crow that flies in heaven’s sweetest air.
So thou be good, slander doth but approve
Thy worth the greater, being woo’d of time;
For canker vice the sweetest buds doth love,
And thou present’st a pure unstained prime.
Thou hast pass’d by the ambush of young days,
Either not assail’d or victor being charged;
Yet this thy praise cannot be so thy praise,
To tie up envy evermore enlarged:
If some suspect of ill mask’d not thy show,
Then thou alone kingdoms of hearts shouldst owe.
The poet attempts to defend his beloved against the slanderous accusations of the previous sonnet. Some casuistry is involved, as usually happens in these cases, but the conclusion is reasonably serene, and the power of the youth to rule over others by his beauty and perfection is acknowledged. If there were no blemishes, real or imaginary, attached to him, then surely he would be the wonder of the world and whole kingdoms would fall at his feet.
Sonnet LXX
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