Sonnet 100

Shakespeare. Sonnet 1

«Where art thou, Muse, that thou forget’st so long
To speak of that which gives thee all thy might?».
 

Sonnet 100 marks a change in the poet’s thinking from previous sonnets, in which the simplicity of his poetry was expected to win favor against rivals, and suggests the poet’s ebbing affection for the youth.

Sonnet 100
Read and listen

Where art thou, Muse, that thou forget’st so long
To speak of that which gives thee all thy might?
Spend’st thou thy fury on some worthless song,
Darkening thy power to lend base subjects light?
Return, forgetful Muse, and straight redeem
In gentle numbers time so idly spent;
Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem
And gives thy pen both skill and argument.
Rise, resty Muse, my love’s sweet face survey,
If Time have any wrinkle graven there;
If any, be a satire to decay,
And make Time’s spoils despised every where.
Give my love fame faster than Time wastes life;
So thou prevent’st his scythe and crooked knife.

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We know that some time has elapsed since he wrote the previous sonnet because the poet rebukes himself for having neglected writing verse about the young man: “Where art thou, Muse, that thou forget’st so long / To speak of that which gives thee all thy might?” In an easy, relaxed tone, the poet exhorts himself to compose compliments about the youth, for now there is no rival poet to curry the youth’s attention: “Return, forgetful Muse, and straight redeem / In gentle numbers time so idly spent.” Note the scythe and “crooked knife” references to death and time’s decay in the concluding couplet; the poet seems unable — or unwilling — to create new images in his verse.

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Credits

English audio from YouTube Channel Socratica

Summary from Cliffsnotes.com

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