Shakespeare’s Sonnet #30: “When to the sessions of sweet silent thought”

Reading of Sonnet 30

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Modernized Spelling and Punctuation

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste;
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long since cancelled woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight.
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of fore-bemoanèd moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.

Simplified Modern English Translation

When in periods of sweet silent thought
I summon up memories of times gone by,
I lament the fact that many of my loved ones are no longer here
and relive the sorrows that caused this to be.
Then I allow myself to cry, although crying is not something I usually do,
for precious friends who are now gone,
and weep again for things that happened a long time ago,
and moan the loss of many a vanished sight.
My dream allows myself to grieve again
and relive in detail each terrible incident
as my memories recount each individual sorrow,
which I listen to as if for the first time.
But if I interrupt this vision and think about you, dear friend,
all losses are restored and sorrows end.

Text from Original 1609 Quarto

Transcription courtesy of University of Virginia Library:

When to the Sessions of sweet silent thought,
I sommon vp remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lacke of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new waile my deare times waste:
Then can I drowne an eye (vn-vs’d to flow)
For precious friends hid in deaths dateles night,
And weepe a fresh loues long since canceld woe,
And mone th’expence of many a vannisht sight.
Then can I greeue at greeuances fore-gon,
And heauily from woe to woe tell ore
The sad account of fore-bemoned mone,
Which I new pay as if not payd before.
But if the while I thinke on thee (deare friend)
All losses are restord, and sorrowes end.