Synopsis:

This sonnet seems to have been written to accompany the gift of a blank notebook. The poet encourages the beloved to write down the thoughts that arise from observing a mirror and a sundial and the lessons they teach about the brevity of life.

 
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,
4And of this book this learning mayst thou taste:
The wrinkles which thy glass will truly show,
Of mouthèd graves will give thee memory;
Thou by thy dial’s shady stealth mayst know
8Time’s thievish progress to eternity.
Look what thy memory cannot contain
Commit to these waste ⌜blanks,⌝ and thou shalt find
Those children nursed, delivered from thy brain,
12To take a new acquaintance of thy mind.
 These offices, so oft as thou wilt look,
 Shall profit thee and much enrich thy book.

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