Sonnet 77

Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear,Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste;The vacant leaves thy mind's imprint will bear,And of this book this learning mayst thou taste. 4The wrinkles which thy glass will truly showOf mouthed graves will give thee memory;Thou by thy dial's shady stealth mayst knowTime's thievish progress to eternity. 8Look! what thy memory cannot contain,Commit to these waste blanks, and thou shalt findThose children nurs'd, deliver'd from thy brain,To take a new acquaintance of thy mind. 12These offices, so oft as thou wilt look,Shall profit thee and much enrich thy book.

1–14 Cf. n.4 Cf. n.7 shady stealth: stealthy shadow10 waste blanks: empty pages11, 12 Cf. n.13 offices; cf. n.