A question regarding the use of “but” in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 1 Does anyone understand the use of “but” in “But as the riper should by time decease”? : "From fairest creatures we desire increase, That thereby beauty's rose might never die, But as the riper should by time decease, His tender heir might bear his memory:" I don’t feel that line 3 and 4 in any way contrast line 1 and 2 and thus don’t see any reason to use a “but”. Thanks a lot for your help! The rest of Sonnet 1 is below, but I don’t feel that it explains the use of “but”: But thou contracted to thine own bright eyes, Feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel, Making a famine where abundance lies, Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel: Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament, And only herald to the gaudy spring, Within thine own bud buriest thy content, And, tender churl, mak'st waste in niggarding: Pity the world, or else this glutton be, To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.