BOOK EDU

Summary Sonnet 87 reads like a conclusion to the sonnet sequence describing the dominance of the rival poet, but in fact is the poet’s farewell to the youth, who has returned to him but “art too dear” for the poet to possess. The theme of farewell unifies this sonnet; in […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 87

Summary Unlike the previous sonnets dealing with the rival poet, this last sonnet in the rival-poet sequence is written in the past tense and indicates that the rival is no longer a threat. Up to this point, the rival was shown gaining on the poet for the youth’s affection, and […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 86

Summary The poet likens himself to an “unlettered clerk” and finds his Muse “tongue-tied” — the identical phrase the poet used in Sonnet 80 to characterize himself. His rival seems a more gifted poet and a better-esteemed person, but in supposing himself and his work to possess little virtue, the […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 85

Summary The poet offers advice — while criticizing the rival poet — to any writer who wishes to achieve true poetry: Copying and interpreting nature are necessary for art, but lavishly ornamenting nature creates false art. For this reason, no distortion of the youth’s beauty describes him. The poet need […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 84

Summary Apparently having been reproached by the youth for withdrawing from competition against the rival poet, the poet argues that it is better not to write any poetry than to write falsely. Recalling the phrase “gross painting” from the previous sonnet, the poet responds to what must have been the […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 83

Summary A less subdued poet challenges the rival poet. In contrast to the intellectually fashionable rival, the poet possesses an intuitive, almost spiritual inspiration. As wise as his rival is merely clever, he agrees with the young man that his verse may be inferior to the beauty of its subject, […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 82

Summary The poet rebounds somewhat in the face of the rival poet’s opposition. Reverting to tried-and-tested themes, he heroically assures the youth that he, unlike the rival poet, can immortalize the young man through his sonnets: “Your name from hence immortal life shall have, / Though I, once gone, to […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 81

Summary The poet acknowledges that the rival poet displaces him in the youth’s favor. Feeling discouraged by the superiority of the “better spirit” of the rival poet, whom he describes throughout the sonnet using nautical imagery, the poet complains of being “tongue-tied,” unable to compete with his rival’s exalted verse. […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 80

Summary Sonnet 79 presents the first specific reference to a rival poet who vies for the young man’s affections. Without losing his sense of moral superiority, the poet bitterly resents the other poet. His first response to the challenge is feeble and characteristically modest: “I grant, sweet love, thy lovely […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 79

Summary The poet’s success in gaining entry into the youth’s good graces inspires imitators: “As every alien pen hath got my use, / And under thee their poesy disperse.” Acknowledging that he is being challenged by other poets for the young man’s affections, the poet asks the youth to compare […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 78