quote · Legacy record
Thy glass will shew thee how thy beauties wear, Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste, Thy vacant leaves thy mind’s imprint will bear, And of this book this learning may’st thou taste: The wrinkles which thy glass will truly show, Of mouthed graves will give thee memory; Thou by the dial’s shady stealth may’st know Time’s thievish progress to eternity; Look, what thy memory cannot contain, Commit to these waste blanks, and thou shall find Those children nursed delivered from thy brain To take a new acquaintance of thy mind. These offices so oft as thou wilt look, Will profit thee, and much enrich thy book.
Thy glass will shew thee how thy beauties wear, Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste, Thy vacant leaves thy mind’s imprint will bear, And of this book this learning may’st thou taste: The wrinkles which thy glass will truly show, Of mouthed graves will give thee memory; Thou by the dial’s shady stealth may’st know Time’s thievish progress to eternity; Look, what thy memory cannot contain, Commit to these waste blanks, and thou shall find Those children nursed delivered from thy brain To take a new acquaintance of thy mind. These offices so oft as thou wilt look, Will profit thee, and much enrich thy book.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Shakspere (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 85 · printed citation: Shakspere · subject: BOOK
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.