Sonnet 18

Shakespeare:
Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?
Thou art more louely1 and more temperate:
Rough windes2 do hake3 the darling buds of Maie4,
And Sommers5 leae6 hath all too hort7 a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heauen8 hines9,
And often is his gold complexion dimmd,
And euery10 faire from faire ome-time11 declines,
By chance, or natures changing coure12 vntrimd13:
But thy eternall Sommer hall14 not fade,
Nor looe15 poeion16 of that faire thou owt17,
Nor hall18 death brag thou wandrt19 in his hade20,
When in eternall lines to time thou growt21,
So long as men can breath22 or eyes can ee23,
So long liues24 this, and this giues25 life to thee,

Modern:
Shall I compare thee to a summers day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summers lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmd,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or natures changing course untrimmd:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owst,
Nor shall death brag thou wandrst in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growst,
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee,

1 lovely 14 shall
2 winds 15 lose
3 shake 16 possession
4 May 17 owest
5 Summers 18 shall
6 lease 19 wanderest
7 short 20 shade
8 heaven 21 growest
9 shines 22 breathe
10 every 23 see
11 sometime 24 lives
12 course 25 gives
13 untrimmed
Partial transcription:

shl kmpe th to a smmes d?

th at moe lvl and moe tempet :

f wnds d shk the dalin bds m,

n smmes les th ll too shot a dt :

smtm too hot the v heaven shns,

nd ofn is z gold complekson dimmd,

nd ev f fm f smtm dclns,

b chnce, o nts chngin cose ntimmd :

bt th tnal smme shll not fd,

no lose possesson of that f th owst,

no shll death bag th wndst in z shd,

en in tnal lns t tm th gowst,

s long z men cn beth o z cn se,

s long lives this, n this gives lf t the,

Full transcription:

l kmp tu smmes d?

at mo lvl nd mo tempert:

rf wnds d k e dln bds m,

n sms les l tu t dt:

smtm tu t v evn ns,

nd fn z z gold kmpleksn dmd,

nd ev f fm f smtm dklns,

b ns, o nts nn ks ntmd:

bt tnl sm l nt fd,

no luz pzesn v at f ost,

no l d bag wndst n z d,

en n tnl lns t tm gost,

s lg z mn kn be o z kn se,

s lg lvs s, n s gvz lf t e,