Not marble, nor the gilded monuments Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;

Back in high school when I first read these lines I was struck by the poet's confidence in words. His cocky self-assurance that the gift of a few words will grant a more everlasting memorial than, say, the graveyard called the Pyramids or the love note known as the Taj Mahal.

But you shall shine more bright in these contents Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time.

Of course, that was the poet's persona--a