Sonnet 55 Memory and the Past Quotes

Memory is crucial to the preservation of the beloved, but it only matters while the world as we know it is still around. Once the Final Judgment hits, death and time won't matter anymore because everyone will be resurrected and granted either eternal happiness in heaven or eternal suffering in hell. As long as this poem can last until the "ending doom" (12), God will take over from there.

As a final sum-up, the speaker reiterates that, while the world may be going to hell in a handbasket, the beloved is staying put. In fact, like any top-dog businessman, this dude has two houses to stay put in: (1) the poem, where his praise will be preserved forever, and (2) the eyes of the sonnet readers, who read this praise and remember the beloved in all his glory.