As a Decrepit Father Takes Delight
Title
As a Decrepit Father Takes Delight
Creator
Sir John Gilbert
Format
Color print
Source
William Shakespeare, Sonnet XXXVII
Subject
As a decrepit father takes delight
To see his active child do deeds of youth,
So I, made lame by Fortune's dearest spite,
Take all my comfort of thy worth and truth.
For whether beauty, birth, or wealth, or wit,
Or any of these all, or all, or more,
Intitled in thy parts do crowned sit,
I make my love ingrafted to this store.
So then I am not lame, poor, nor despised
Whilst that this shadow doth such substance give
That I in thy abundance am sufficed
And by a part of all thy glory live.
Look what is best, that best I wish in thee.
This wish I have, then ten times happy me!
To see his active child do deeds of youth,
So I, made lame by Fortune's dearest spite,
Take all my comfort of thy worth and truth.
For whether beauty, birth, or wealth, or wit,
Or any of these all, or all, or more,
Intitled in thy parts do crowned sit,
I make my love ingrafted to this store.
So then I am not lame, poor, nor despised
Whilst that this shadow doth such substance give
That I in thy abundance am sufficed
And by a part of all thy glory live.
Look what is best, that best I wish in thee.
This wish I have, then ten times happy me!
Rights
Public domain
Contributor
Shakespeare Illustrated, Emory University
Omeka record contributed by LM
Date Submitted
January 19, 2017
Source
Shakespeare Illustrated, a website of the English Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Notes
According to the website, "The illustration is tipped into a page that looks as if it has been removed a book. It says on the page 'Drawn by Sir John Gilbert. "As a decrepit father takes delight." Sonnet XXXVII. William MacKenzie, London, Edinburgh & Glasgow.'"
URL
http://shakespeare.emory.edu/illustrated_showimage.cfm?imageid=267
Files
Collection
Reference
As a Decrepit Father Takes Delight, Sir John Gilbert
Cite As
Sir John Gilbert, “As a Decrepit Father Takes Delight,” Victorian Artists at Home, accessed October 22, 2026, https://artistsathome.emorydomains.org/items/show/440.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.