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. Sonnet 80 . (original language, but moderately updated) 01. O How I faint when I of you do write, 02. Knowing a better spirit doth use your name, 03. And in the praise thereof spends all his might, 04. To make me tongue-tied speaking of your fame. 05. But since your worth (wide as the Ocean is) 06. The humble as the proudest sail doth bear, 07. My saucy bark (inferior far to his) 08. On your broad main doth willfully appear. 09. Your shallowest help will hold me up afloat, 10. Whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride, 11. Or (being wracked) I am a worthless boat, 12. He of tall building, and of goodly pride. 13. Then If he thrive and I be cast away, 14. The worst was this, my love was my decay. |
. Sonnet 80 . (paraphrased) 01. Oh, how I quail when I write of you, 02. Knowing a better poet than me worships your name, 03. And in his praise of you he expends all his power, 04. Which thwarts me in speaking of your fame. 05. But since your quality (which is as broad as the ocean) 06. Can support the humblest "vessel of verse" as well as the greatest, 07. My "salty" verse, (far inferior to his,) 08. Appears before you as an expression of my own desire; 09. The least amount of patronage from you would keep me afloat, 10. While he enjoys your unlimited support, 11. Or (if I'm "shipwrecked" by receiving no support from you) then I'm a worthless vessel, 12. While he sails along, with his high superstructure and handsome sails; 13. Then, if he profits from his "ocean-going commerce," and I'm left a castaway, 14. The most unpleasant thing about it will be, I was ruined by love. |
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Sonnet 80 Gloss
L1: faint = flinch; quail. L2: spirit = soul; person. In the context, "poet." L2: use = honor; worship. The religious sense of "use" is implied, as in Sonnet 79. L3: spends = expends. L4: tongue-tied = inarticulate; thwarted. L5: worth = quality. Both high social status, and wealth. L7: saucy = pert; or, 'jaunty.' (Note, to the right.) L7: bark - (Note, to the right.) L8: broad main = great "ocean" of patronage. L8: willfully - As the Poet's desire, not in response to a request by the addressee. In other words, the Poet is being willful in writing this Sonnet to the addressee. The addressee didn't ask for it. L9: shallowest help = least amount of patronage. L10: soundless deep = generous financial support. L11: wracked =shipwrecked. (Note, to the right.) L12: tall building = high (ship) superstructure. L12: goodly pride = handsome amount and appearance of sail. Goes back to "proudest sail" in line 6. L13: thrive = profit (from his "ocean-going" commerce, so to speak.) L14: worst = most unpleasant; most humiliating. L14: decay = ruin. (Note, to the right.) |
Sonnet 80 Notes
Sonnet 80 may be a Vere Sonnet which William Shakespeare inherited, and it may go back as far as the 1580s. If that's the case, the "Ocean" is Queen Elizabeth I, and the rival poet is Sir Walter Raleigh. ------- L7: saucy = pert; or, 'jaunty.' "Saucy" is from a root meaning of "salty," so there is implicit wordplay, or conceptual play, with the ocean being salt water. Any sea-going vessel is "salty." Concerning the phrase "saucy bark" compare Henry VI, Part 1 Act 3 scene 4. ~=~ Basset: Yes, sir; as well as you dare patronage The envious barking of your saucy tongue Against my lord the Duke of Somerset. =~=~= Basset's speech occurs just after the sea has been mentioned in that passage, and his speech includes the word "patronage," a subject relevant to this Sonnet. Basset's use of "barking" and "saucy" are obviously not identical to the uses of "bark" and "saucy" in this Sonnet, but are interesting for comparison. The Poet is openly admitting, in this Sonnet, that the Sonnet is an impudent request for patronage. L7: bark The figure of speech is that a poem, or a poet, is like a ship on the ocean. The addressee's great capability to provide financial support is the "ocean," that the poets, with their verses, try to "sail." One could say that the poet is the "ship," and his verses are his "cargo." So, figuratively, the addressee offers an "ocean" of wealth, social status, and opportunity. The Poet and his competitor are "ships" trying to sail that ocean, with their "cargo" of verses. L11: wracked =shipwrecked. So in the original. "Wracked" is approximately "wrecked," but not exactly. The word "wrack" is archaic, or literary, and it is used to refer to a shipwreck, in particular. (The word "wracked" would not properly apply to, for example, a wagon being wrecked.) "Being wracked" = being shipwrecked. L14: decay = ruin. In line 14, the Poet means it will be that his love for the addressee has misled him, like making a serious navigational error, causing his ship to run onto the rocks, poetically speaking. The Poet honors love very highly, and he doesn't like to think of being misguided by it. |
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