Theme: Content over Style
Content: An appeal for the poet to be remembered, after his demise, for the love of his subject that he expresses in his verse, rather than his (allegedly) inferior technical ability compared to other poets.
If thou survive my well-contented day
When that churl death my bones with dust shall
cover,
And shalt by fortune once more resurvey
These poor rude lines of thy deceased lover,
- "If you die before me and review my verse after my demise."
- The author's modesty is expressed yet again in this sonnet.
Compare them with the bett'ring of the time,
And though they be outstripped by every pen,
Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme
Exceeded by the height of happier men.
- "Value my verse for the love they render, rather than the quality of the verse that is less than that written by better and happier poets."
O then vouchsafe me but this loving thought:
"Had my friend's muse grown with this growing
age,
A dearer birth than this his love had brought
To march in ranks of better equipage;
- The author here literally puts words into the subject's mouth.
- Possible pun on the tools of the poets' trade in equipage.
But since he died, and poets better
prove,
Theirs for their style I'll read, his
for his love."
- Final appeal for the poet to be remembered and loved for the love he expressed for his subject rather than the technical prowess of his work. Paradoxically, the poet is the paragon technician of sonneteering yet here he presents one of his least technically sophisticated sonnets.
Critical text © NigelDavies.home@Virgin.net