Not marble nor the glided monument …

‘Not Marble, Nor the Gilded Monuments’, otherwise known as Sonnet 55, is written by William Shakespeare. It is a pledge by a poet who tells his beloved that his neither marble nor the gilded monuments can preserve her glory. Only his verses have the power to immortalize her as monuments built even out of the sturdiest material can be subjected to wear. It is only the poet’s rhyme that can sustain the harshest of conditions and the effects of time.

In the sonnet, the poet claims that marble or gilded monuments built by princes cannot outlive his verses. In fact, his beloved would shine better in the poet’s words than in stone.

He says that fine masonry can be destroyed during a war, but neither the sword of Mars (Roman god of war) nor the fire of war can harm the beloved’s memory in the poet’s mind.

The golden verses of the poet can defeat death and enmity and his beloved’s praises may still be immortalized for the future generations. She will live in her lover’s eyes till the judgement day.