Act I, Scene 79

---

• Shakespeare. Whilst I alone did call upon thy aid,
  My verse alone had all thy gentle grace,
  But now my gracious numbers are decay'd 1095
  And my sick Muse doth give another place.
  I grant, sweet love, thy lovely argument
  Deserves the travail of a worthier pen,
  Yet what of thee thy poet doth invent
  He robs thee of and pays it thee again. 1100
  He lends thee virtue and he stole that word
  From thy behavior; beauty doth he give
  And found it in thy cheek; he can afford
  No praise to thee but what in thee doth live.
  Then thank him not for that which he doth say, 1105
  Since what he owes thee thou thyself dost pay.