Shakespeare's Sonnet 2 exists not only in the 1609 Quarto, but in thirteen manuscript versions none of which are probably earlier than about 1620. Still, eleven of these versions are very close in their readings, and one of them in particular seems to be an echo of an earlier version of Shakespeare's sonnet, revised some time before 1609.
Here is Sonnet 2 as it appears in the 1609 Quarto:
VVHen fortie Winters shall beseige thy brow, And digge deep trenches in thy beauties field, Thy youthes proud liuery so gaz'd on now, Wil be a totter'd weed of smal worth held: Then being askt, where all thy beautie lies, Where all the treasure of thy lusty daies; To say within thine owne deepe sunken eyes, Were an all-eating shame, and thriftlesse praise. How much more praise deseru'd thy beauties vse, If thou couldst answere this faire child of mine Shall sum my count, and make my old excuse Proouing his beautie by succession thine. This were to be new made when thou art ould, And see thy blood warme when thou feel'st it could.
And here it is as it appears in the best of the eleven documents with the variant version, held by Westminster Abbey, MS. 41, fol. 49:
When forty winters shall beseige thy brow And trench deepe furrowes in y|t| louely feild Thy youths faire liurey so accounted now Shall be like rotten weeds of no worth held Then beeing askt where all thy bewty lyes Where all y|e| lustre of thy youthfull dayes To say within these hollow suncken eyes Were an all-eaten truth, & worthlesse prayse O how much better were thy bewtyes vse If thou couldst say this pretty child of mine Saues my account & makes my old excuse Making his bewty by succession thine This werr to bee new borne when thou art old And see thy bloud warme when thou feelst it cold.
Long s has been normalised to s in these transcriptions, and the punctuation normalised. The superscript t is delimited with pipes. Here's an enfolded comparison, with the 1609 published version making the second lines:
When forty winters shall beseige thy brow VVHen fortie Winters shall beseige thy brow, And trench deepe furrowes in y|t| louely feild And digge deep trenches in thy beauties field, Thy youths faire liurey so accounted now Thy youthes proud liuery so gaz'd on now, Shall be like rotten weeds of no worth held Wil be a totter'd weed of smal worth held: Then beeing askt where all thy bewty lyes Then being askt, where all thy beautie lies, Where all y|e| lustre of thy youthfull dayes Where all the treasure of thy lusty daies; To say within these hollow suncken eyes To say within thine owne deepe sunken eyes, Were an all-eaten truth, & worthlesse prayse Were an all-eating shame, and thriftlesse praise. O how much better were thy bewtyes vse How much more praise deseru'd thy beauties vse, If thou couldst say this pretty child of mine If thou couldst answere this faire child of mine Saues my account & makes my old excuse Shall sum my count, and make my old excuse Making his bewty by succession thine Proouing his beautie by succession thine. This werr to bee new borne when thou art old This were to be new made when thou art ould, And see thy bloud warme when thou feelst it cold. And see thy blood warme when thou feel'st it could.
And the titles of the various manuscripts, with supposed parent documents following them in interpolation brackets:
Spes Altera - B1[Z], B2[Z], B3[B2,Z] Spes Altera A song - F3[Z] A lover to his Mistres - N[Z] The Benefitt of Mariage - R[Z] (Spes Altera: "Another Hope" or "Second Hope") To one y|t| would dye A mayd - B4[W], B5[W], F2[W,X], W, Y[W,X]
This information is from: