#Sonnet 17 skin#
There is probably a hint also of the yellowing of skin with age, as in old men, who figure in the next line. Yellowed with their age - white paper discolours as it ages. So should my papers, yellowed with their age, my papers - the papers on which my sonnets are written the sonnets themselves. Ne'er touched = never belonged to, never were placed on, were never relevant to. Such heavenly touches ne'er touched earthly faces.' touches = descriptions, strokes of a painter's brush (figuratively) The age to come would say 'This poet lies The age to come = people who live in future ages. Verses were sometimes referred to as numbers because of their musical quality, and the fact that one could count the number of stresses to a line etc. And in fresh numbers number all your graces, in fresh numbers number = in fresh verses enumerate the first numbers is a noun meaning verses, the second is a verb meaning to count. If I could write the beauty of your eyes, If I could write = if I could describe 6. parts = qualities, talents, characteristics. Which hides your life, and shows not half your parts. Here it is the negative side of tombs which is emphasised. When all the breathers of this world are dead Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read Īnd tongues to be your being shall rehearse, A hint of the exegi monumentum theme which has already been sounded in the previous two sonnets and reaches fruition in 63, 65 and especially 81: Though yet heaven knows it is but as a tomb but as a tomb = like a tomb. The clash of tenses between will l.1 and were l.2 has worried some commentators, but the meaning is clear enough. He wishes to fill his verse with them, but finds that it is beyond him. The poet modestly implies that the deserts and superb qualitiesof the youth are too large and abundant for his pen to describe adequately. If it were filled with your most high deserts? If it were = even if it were. In time to come, Who will believe = who (among the readers of the future) will believe 2. The turn comes in the next four lines, where the poet says "And they'd be right to scorn my poems as improbable fiction and think me mad", with a sharper final turn in the final couplet "Unless, of course, you had a descendant alive at that time, so they could see for themselves how lovely you were. The first eight lines set up the premise of the poem: If I write a poem describing your beauty, people will think I lied, since nobody could look that fine. (And yes, come and tomb would have been exact rhymes in Shakespeare's time, sounding (then) more like "comb" and "tome".
The poem is, of course, a Shakespearean sonnet, written in iambic pentameter and rhymed ABABCDCDEFEFGG. My favorite lines in this sonnet are "If I could write the beauty of your eyes/And in fresh numbers number all your graces". You should live twice in it and in my rhyme.
So should my papers yellowed with their ageīe scorned like old men of less truth than tongue,Īnd your true rights be termed a poet's rageīut were some child of yours alive that time, Such heavenly touches ne'er touched earthly faces.' The age to come would say 'This poet lies: Which hides your life and shows not half your parts.Īnd in fresh numbers number all your graces, Though yet, heav'n knows, it is but as a tomb If it were filled with your most high deserts? Who will believe my verse in time to come, It's placement where it is in the sequence of sonnets makes sense, as it shows a transition from the "go make a baby" poems to the "you live on in my poetry" poems that follow. This one is a bit of a hybrid - a tribute to the beauty of the youth as well as an encouragement to him to beget an heir. Today, I bring you Sonnet 17, one of the Fair Youth Sonnets aimed at encouraging the youth to reproduce. KellyrfinemanIt's Wednesday, which used to always mean Shakespeare 'round here, a tradition worthy of reviving.