The Place 2 Be: Shakespeare's Sonnets

Critique of Sonnet 78

SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS

Theme: Rival Poet
Content: Beseeching his subject to value the author's work more than that of his rival(s) as he has travelled further and reached higher.

So oft have I invoked thee for my muse
And found such fair assistance in my verse

"You’ve been the inspiration for my verse on many occasions."

As every alien pen hath got my use,
And under thee their poesy disperse.

Identification of rival(s) in every alien pen who also write of/to his subject, who is probably also his patron in view of them dispersing their poesy under his name.

A sonnet addressed to his subject as his vehicle and inspiration, but the content really about the author, starting out with a lot of assertion of the ego: my muse…my verse…my use.

Thine eyes, that taught the dumb on high to sing
And heavy ignorance aloft to fly,
Have added feathers to the learned's wing
And given grace a double majesty.

"Your qualities have inspired me to develop and enrich my work, and soar even higher".

Considerable self-deprecation by the author in referring to himself as originally dumb and suffering from ignorance.

Line 7 echoes Greene’s "beautified with our feathers" remark about Shakespeare in Groatsworth of Witte, though in this instance in flattering the works of the author's learned rivals.

This quatrain really stands out on its own as an assertion of the transformation the author has undertaken from original dumbness and ignorance to flying high to rival those who are learned. Visually aswell: every other line in the rest of this sonnet ends with e whilst this quatrain disrupts that pattern, both in the original printing of it and especially in the modern spelling. Probably entirely unintentional, but noteworthy.

Yet be most proud of that which I compile,
Whose influence is thine and born of thee,

"Please value my verse above others’ especially as it is inspired by you."

Having introduced his rival(s) in the first quatrain and flexed his own ego in the second, the author now adopts a mildly adversarial tone in appealing for his subject to value his compilations in favour of others’ as his are all influenced by his subject.

In others' works thou dost but mend the style,
And arts with thy sweet graces graced be.

"Others are indeed artistic in their verse but have faults that are fixed and further graced by the references to you."

Nicely sets up the mighty But in the final couplet:

But thou art all my art, and dost advance
As high as learning my rude ignorance

"You are my total inspiration."

Emphasis on art, in different meanings, leading on from line 12.

Explicit statement on his own advancement from rude ignorance to as high as learning to rival those of his learned competitors.