Page:The portrait of Mr. W. H (IA portraitofmrwh01wild).pdf/57

 "bring forth eternal numbers to outlive long date," and you shall people with forms of your own image the imaginary world of the stage. These children that you beget, he continues, will not wither away, as mortal children do, but you shall live in them and in my plays: do but—

"Make thee another self, for love of me, That beauty still may live in thine or thee!"

Be not afraid to surrender your personality, to give your "semblance to some other":

"To give away yourself keeps yourself still, And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill."

I may not be learned in astrology, and yet, in those "constant stars" your eyes,

"I read such art As truth and beauty shall together thrive, If from thyself to store thou wouldst convert."

What does it matter about others?

"Let those whom Nature hath not made for store, Harsh, featureless, and rude, barrenly perish":

With you it is different, Nature—