Against that time, if ever that time come,
When I shall see thee frown on my defects,
When as thy love hath cast his utmost sum,
Call’d to that audit by advis’d respects;
Against that time when thou shalt strangely pass,
And scarcely greet me with that sun, thine eye,
When love, converted from the thing it was,
Shall reasons find of settled gravity;
Against that time do I ensconce me here,
Within the knowledge of mine own desert,
And this my hand, against my self uprear,
To guard the lawful reasons on thy part:
To leave poor me thou hast the strength of laws,
Since why to love I can allege no cause.
In plain English
I'm preparing myself now for the day when you'll look at me and see only my flaws, when you finally tally up what this love has cost you and decide it's not worth the price. I'm bracing for the moment when you'll pass by me like a stranger, barely acknowledging me, when your love cools and hardens into something reasonable and distant.
So I'm fortifying myself with honesty: I know exactly what I'm worth, and I'm not even going to fight back. I'll stand as a witness against myself, making your case for you — because the truth is, you have every legal right to leave me. I can't give you a single rational reason why you should love me in the first place.
