Summary Resignedly, the poet is prepared to accept whatever fate brings. Because his life depends on the youth’s love, his life will not survive the loss of that love and support: “And life no longer than thy love will stay, / For it depends upon that love of thine.” Because […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 92Summary and Analysis Sonnet 91
Summary The poet examines his love for the young man in a more relaxed, less urgent vein. He first catalogues different activities that people like to immerse themselves in, then he admits that he values the youth’s precarious love more than any other sport or possession he already listed in […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 91Summary and Analysis Sonnet 90
Summary Already distressed by “the spite of fortune,” the poet urges the youth not to postpone his desertion of him if that is what he intends; do it at once, the poet begs: “Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now.” His appeal for a swift and decisive action […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 90Summary and Analysis Sonnet 89
Summary Continuing where the previous sonnet left off, this sonnet reveals an undertone of apprehension in the poet’s references to the young man. Whatever the slanderous accusation the youth will make against him, the poet promises to prove the youth justified. Loving the young man and knowing that the young […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 89Summary and Analysis Sonnet 88
Summary The poet speaks of his relationship with the young man as though it has been repaired after the rival poet’s departure, but his is a vision of how things might be rather than how they are. He proposes to prove that the youth is virtuous — although the youth […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 88Summary and Analysis Sonnet 87
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 87Summary and Analysis Sonnet 86
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 86Summary and Analysis Sonnet 85
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 85Summary and Analysis Sonnet 84
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 84Summary and Analysis Sonnet 83
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