Summary

Just as the poet gave a notebook to the youth in Sonnet 77, the youth has given the poet a notebook, which the poet discards. The poet, who knows more about the youth than any book can contain, says that he does not need a reminder of the young man. Rejecting the notebook is a curious gesture, almost uncaring, indicating how casual the relationship has become. Although the last two lines — “To keep an adjunct [aid] to remember thee / Were to import forgetfulness in me” — emphasize that the poet does not fear losing his memory of the youth, the entire sonnet implies that the youth is fast becoming only a dear memory to the poet, if he is not one already.