SONNETS 82-93
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Sonnet 82
I grant thou wert not married to my Muse,
And therefore mayst without attaint o�er-look
The dedicated words which writers use
Of their fair subject, blessing every book.
Thou art as fair in knowledge as in hew,
Finding thy worth a limit past my praise,
And therefore art enforced to seek anew,
Some fresher stamp of the time bettering days.
And do so love, yet when they have devised,
What strained touches Rhetoric can lend,
Thou truly fair, wert truly sympathised,
In true plain words, by thy true telling friend.
And their gross painting might be better used,
Where cheeks need blood, in thee it is abused.
When Shakespeare worked on his sonnets and plays he was fully conscious
of the logical conditions for writing poetry and drama with enduring mythic
content. His insight, due to the consistency and depth of his philosophy,
enabled him to appreciate where other writers were inconsistent. He
demonstrates his awareness of the dynamic in the plays when he incorporates
plays within plays that mock the pretensions of those who do not have
the skill and learning to do justice to ideas.
The 9 rival poet sonnets (78 to 86) fulfill a similar function in the Sonnets.
They point to deficiencies in the work of the lesser poets. As a friend of
such poets, the youth is susceptible to the same inconsistencies. While his
natural qualities inspire the Poet, his reluctance to appreciate the source of
the Poet�s consistent art makes him vulnerable to the rivals� false praise.
In sonnet 82, the Poet acknowledges the youth was �not married to my
Muse� (82.1). The youth is not mature enough to be �married� to the Poet�s
�Muse�. He has not yet merited the 1 to �marry� his 9 (9+1 = 10 = 1+0 =
1) to have the necessary unity to write like the Poet. The reference to the
Muse recalls sonnet 38. There the Poet argues for youth to become a �tenth
Muse� to add to the 9 �Muses of old� and so become a unity. The �9 Muses�,
who inspire mere rhymers, are associated with the lesser poets. The Poet
questions the youth�s lack of unity in the hope of freeing him from their
influence.
The Poet allows for the youth�s misguided ignorance by facetiously
blessing �the books� of the �writers� who praise the youth with �dedicated
words� (82.3). With further irony the Poet suggests the youth is as �fair in
knowledge� (82.5) as he is in looks. The youth is convinced he is beyond
the Poet�s �praise�. He considers he deserves a �fresher stamp� (82.8), or a more
flattering impression of his better days than the Poet is prepared to give.
With sardonic humour the Poet encourages the youth (�and do so love�)
to accept the praise of the rivals (82.9) only to then dismiss them as writers
who �devise...strained touches of Rhetoric� (82.11). Their rhetoric is no
match for the �true plain words� of the Poet, who is the youth�s sympathetic
�true telling friend� (82.12). The Poet speaks the truth, both good and bad,
about the youth. The couplet suggests the rivals� �gross painting� would be
better used on lesser subjects. It is wasted if it does not acknowledge the
youth�s inherent qualities and natural potential.
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Roger Peters Copyright © 2001
Introduction
1-9
10-21
22-33
34-45
46-57
58-69
70-81
82-93
94-105
106-117
118-129
130-141
142-153
154
Emendations
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