(sonnet # CCVI)
CCVI
Mere shadows of dear loveliness I paint
Herein with care, extolling sounds and sights
Quite fair and sweet; but transient, aye whose plights
By vanity and ruthless time's foul feint
Do flourish, bloss'ming ere demise acquaint
All with that fateful stain on glory's heights;
As lasting briefly, ever prove delights
Whose worth thus measured lessens by this taint.
Mere outlines trace I lovingly; their hues
But hint at, colouring in vain, for where
Is substance? Life we cannot keep but lose.
Just silhouettes that echo it, quite bare
As frames we fashion them; and thus the ruse:
But empty joys our glories here we share.
22Aug11