Shakespeare's Sonnet 83

I never saw that you did painting need,And therefore to your fair no painting set;I found, or thought I found, you did exceedThat barren tender of a poet’s debt:And therefore have I slept in your report,That you yourself, being extant, well might showHow far a modern quill doth come too short,Speaking of worth, what worth in you doth grow.This silence for my sin you did impute,Which shall be most my glory being dumb;For I impair not beauty being mute,When others would give life, and bring a tomb.There lives more life in one of your fair eyesThan both your poets can in praise devise.

I never thought you needed cosmetic touches, so I added none to your beauty. I found, or thought I found, that you surpassed the meager offering a poet owes you. And so I have stayed silent about you, letting your own living presence show how far today's poets fall short when describing your worth and all the excellence that grows in you. You counted this silence as my fault, but being silent will be my greatest glory. I do not damage beauty by saying nothing, while others try to bring it to life and instead bury it. There is more life in one of your beautiful eyes than both your poets can invent in their praise.