Sonnet 78

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Shakespeare. Sonnet 1

«So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse
And found such fair assistance in my verse». 

The poet’s success in gaining entry into the youth’s good graces inspires imitators: “As every alien pen hath got my use, / And under thee their poesy disperse.”

Sonnet 78
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So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse
And found such fair assistance in my verse
As every alien pen hath got my use
And under thee their poesy disperse.
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.
Yet be most proud of that which I compile,
Whose influence is thine and born of thee:
In others’ works thou dost but mend the style,
And arts with thy sweet graces graced be;
But thou art all my art and dost advance
As high as learning my rude ignorance.

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Acknowledging that he is being challenged by other poets for the young man’s affections, the poet asks the youth to compare these imitators’ verses against his own. Only then can the young man fully appreciate how wholly inspiring he is to the poet: “Yet be most proud of that which I compile, / Whose influence is thine, and born of thee.” For others, the youth merely improves their style — “In others’ works thou dost but mend the style”; for the poet, his young friend is “all my art” — subject, style, the reason for his writing the sonnets.

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Credits

English audio from YouTube Channel Socratica

Summary from Cliffsnotes.com

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