More Shakespeare's Sonnets
By Fox-Trot-9

Sonnet 111: Fair Youth
(Names Ignoble: Acrostic 1)

Over the ruins of my shattered pride,
Hated amongst my peers, I shift about
For someplace in the shadows I can hide
Only to find a grim supply of drought,
Nothing to gain but traces of reproach—
Difficult to undo when all my senses
Are plagued with doubts about my fell approach—
That settle on their judging countenances.
Their eyes are filled with traces of my doom,
Embittered by their bitter tongue of rumors,
Marking my name with scandal on my tomb,
Perhaps t' abuse me in their bitter humors.
Their guessing looks compel me to move on
To better shades, where ignorance bestows
On eyes unused to laying views upon
Gloomy men kindred looks that I suppose
      Intend to leave alone my circumstance,
      Verily paying me no second glance.

(Quoted) Oh fond attempt to give a deathless lot,
—William Cowper

(To be continued...)

A/N: Believe it or not, this is a sonnet.. Besides being an acrostic, it's also called a "heroic sonnet," in which there's a 4th quatrain added before the concluding couplet... I've only seen one other heroic sonnet, "The Token" by John Donne...