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 83Summary and Analysis Sonnet 82
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 82Summary and Analysis Sonnet 81
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 81Summary and Analysis Sonnet 80
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