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. Sonnet 82 . (original language, but moderately updated) 01. I Grant thou wert not married to my Muse, 02. And therefore mayst without attaint o'erlook 03. The dedicated words which writers use 04. Of their fair subject, blessing every book. 05. Thou art as fair in knowledge as in hue, 06. Finding thy worth a limit past my praise, 07. And therefore art enforc'd to seek anew, 08. Some fresher stamp of the time-bettering days. 09. And do so love, yet when they have devised, 10. What strained touches Rhetoric can lend, 11. Thou truly fair, wert truly sympathized 12. In true plain words, by thy true-telling friend. 13. And their gross painting might be better us'd 14. Where cheeks need blood, in thee it is abus'd. |
. Sonnet 82 . (paraphrased) 01. I admit you were not legally and morally bound to my poetry, or to any poetry, 02. And you therefore may, without penalty, ignore 03. The dedications which writers compose 04. To their fair subject, hoping that every book they write will be "blessed" by subsequent patronage. 05. You are as wise as you are handsome, and 06. Describing your quality is something beyond the limit of my ability to offer praise, 07. And therefore, I understand if you are compelled to look again for 08. Some newer endorsement, from a fresh writer, in these innovative times in which we live. 09. And do so, my beloved friend, yet, after other writers have devised 10. Whatever artificial touches that their rhetoric can offer, 11. (It remains that) You, who are truly fair, were truly reflected 12. In true, plain words, from your truth-telling friend, (me,) 13. And their excessive depictions might be put to better use speaking of someone 14. Whose features lack natural beauty - for you, such "cosmetic" portrayals are an abuse. |
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Sonnet 82 Gloss
L1: Grant = admit. The word was capitalized in the original publication merely as printing style. L1: married = legally and morally bound. L1: Muse = poetry. The Poet's Muse for his Sonnets is Euterpe, the Muse of lyric poetry. L2: attaint = penalty. L2: o'erlook = ignore. L3: dedicated words = dedication. (Note, to the right.) L4: Of = to. L4: blessing - Refers to the writer hoping his book will be "blessed" by the noble patron to whom he dedicated it, so the nobleman will financially reward him. L5: fair in knowledge = intelligent; wise. L5: hue = complexion. (Handsome) appearance. L7: enforc'd = forced; compelled. (Note, to the right.) L7: seek anew = look again (for.) L8: stamp = endorsement. L8: time-bettering = innovative. L9: they = other writers. L10: strained = forced; contrived. Artificial. L10: Rhetoric = artful language. Capitalized in the original because it's a formal field of study. "Rhetoric" is not poetry, so there's reference to a different kind of writing, something other than verse. The Muse of Rhetoric is Polyhymnia. L10: lend = offer. L11: sympathized = reflected. (Note, to the right.) L12: true-telling = truth telling. L13: gross painting = excessive L14: abus'd = badly overdone. |
Sonnet 82 Notes
William Shakespeare might have written Sonnet 82 to the Earl of Southampton, and it might have reference to Thomas Nashe. Conjecturally, the sequence of events would be, Shakespeare dedicated Venus and Adonis (published 1593) to Southampton, who rewarded Shakespeare for it, and Shakespeare then dedicated Lucrece (1594) to Southampton. Nashe dedicated The Unfortunate Traveller (1594) to Southampton, who consequently took an interest in him, and gave some financial support to Nashe, instead of to Shakespeare. It's apparently true that Nashe was the "freshest" thing on the London literary scene, in more ways than one, while he lasted, and speaking of "rhetoric" in connection with Nashe would be right on the mark. (Nashe was no poet, to speak of, rather he was an essayist.) The Sonnet 82 mention of ignoring a dedication, in lines 2 to 4, would refer to Southampton ignoring the Lucrece dedication. If this conjecture, about Southampton and Nashe, has validity, it would place Sonnet 82 in late 1594 or 1595. Elsewhere, you may see Sonnet 82 called a "rival poet" Sonnet. That's wrong. The other writers referenced in this Sonnet are not poets. The word "Rhetoric" tells us that, following from line 1 of the Sonnet. 01. I Grant thou wert not married to my Muse The Poet's Muse for his Sonnets is the Muse of lyric poetry, Euterpe. The Muse of Rhetoric is Polyhymnia. We are therefore told that the addressee, not being "married" to Euterpe, the Muse of Lyric Poetry, has turned to Polyhymnia, the Muse of Rhetoric. The inescapable conclusion is that the other writers the Poet is talking about, in Sonnet 82, are not poets. ------- L3: dedicated words = dedication. In Elizabethan times, writers would dedicate books to a noble person, either in hopes of receiving patronage, or in gratitude for patronage already received. Shakespeare did that in dedicating Venus and Adonis and Lucrece to the Earl of Southampton. There was nothing legally or morally binding about a book dedication, so a nobleman could simply ignore it. L7: enforc'd = forced; compelled. The word "enforst" appears in Thomas Nashe's dedication to the Earl of Southampton in The Unfortunate Traveller. It's one of the things about this Sonnet that hints of Southampton and Nashe. L11: sympathized = reflected. It's the idea of a person's depiction being in sympathy with him, matching him exactly, like a reflection in a mirror. Thomas Nashe, in Christ's Tears over Jerusalem, wrote of "... ending my Italianate coined verbs all in -ize," thus the use of "sympathized" here can be read to carry a slight hint of Nashe's writing. -------- The reasons for supposing Sonnet 82 might have reference to Henry Wriothesley, the 3rd Earl of Southampton, and to Thomas Nashe, are as follows. 1. The reference to book dedications - with the Shakespeare dedications of Venus and Adonis and Lucrece to Southampton being well known, and that of Nashe to Southampton being a known fact, the same year as Lucrece. 2. The statement in the Sonnet that the addressee has turned away from poetry to "rhetorical" writing, and Nashe being a rhetorician, and not a poet. 3. Verbal hints, including "enforst" and "sympathized," as already noted. It is not much to go on, but it's enough that the hypothesis of Southampton and Nashe is worth mentioning. |
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