They that have power to hurt and will do none, That do not do the thing they most do show, Who, moving others, are themselves as stone, Unmoved, cold and to temptation slow; They rightly do inherit heaven’s graces And husband nature’s riches from expense; They are the lords and owners of their faces, Others but stewards of their excellence.

The summer’s flower is to the summer sweet, Though to itself it only live and die, But if that flower with base infection meet, The basest weed outbraves his dignity: For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

It follows the typical rhyme scheme of the form, ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, and is composed in iambic pentameter, a type of poetic metre based on five pairs of metrically weak/strong syllabic positions.

In 90-93 the Youth seems ready to abandon the poet and forget past promises; it is possible that some act or failure to act, or some statement, in the real-life circle of the Youth's admirers has convinced the poet that his beloved is one of those who moves others but is himself "as stone", giving a false impression of his intentions.

Therefore, there are grounds for cautious optimism, or so the poet thinks, for the Youth may in fact remain faithful despite past suspicions.