directory
home contact

SONNET 32

If thou survive my well-contented day,
When that churl Death my bones with dust shall cover,
And shalt by fortune once more re-survey
These poor rude lines of thy deceased lover,
Compare them with the bettering of the time,
And though they be outstripp'd by every pen,
Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme,
Exceeded by the height of happier men.
O, then vouchsafe me but this loving thought:
'Had my friend's Muse grown with this growing age,
A dearer birth than this his love had brought,
To march in ranks of better equipage:
   But since he died, and poets better prove,
   Theirs for their style I'll read, his for his love.'

NOTES

XXXII. In accordance with the view of Furnivall and Dowden, this Sonnet is probably the Envoy to the series xxvii-xxxii. As the poet has survived many of his former friends (cf. two preceding Sonnets), so Mr. W. H. may survive the poet. And in time to come there may be a general improvement of poetical style. But this improved style will not express a greater intensity of affection. [Please click here for more].

1. My well-contented day. If this expression implies satisfaction with the world, then there is a marked difference of feeling between this Sonnet and others following, e.g. lxvi. The expression "well-contented" may, however, be understood possibly as implying that the poet would, whenever the summons to depart may come, desire no further prolongation of a life which was not to be coveted. But, in the case of poems like these Sonnets, there need be little difficulty in admitting a variation in the feeling expressed.

2. That churl Death. Cf. Hamlet, Act v. sc. 2, lines 347, 348.
This fell sergeant, Death,
Is strict in his arrest.
3. "And if perchance thou shalt again look over."

4. Lover. An expression not unsuitable between men according to the fashion of the time.



7. Reserve them. Still keep them.

8. Happier men. Poets more successful in thought or expression.

11. A dearer birth. A more valuable poetical product.

12. To march, &c. To keep pace with the time in the outward garb and adornment of literary style.




How to cite this article:
Shakespeare, William. Sonnets. Ed. Thomas Tyler. London: D. Nutt, 1890. Shakespeare Online. 14 Jan. 2014. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/32.html >.
______

Even More...

 Stratford School Days: What Did Shakespeare Read?
 Games in Shakespeare's England [A-L]
 Games in Shakespeare's England [M-Z]
 An Elizabethan Christmas
 Clothing in Elizabethan England

 Queen Elizabeth: Shakespeare's Patron
 King James I of England: Shakespeare's Patron
 The Earl of Southampton: Shakespeare's Patron
 Going to a Play in Elizabethan London

 Ben Jonson and the Decline of the Drama
 Publishing in Elizabethan England
 Shakespeare's Audience
 Religion in Shakespeare's England

 Alchemy and Astrology in Shakespeare's Day
 Entertainment in Elizabethan England
 London's First Public Playhouse
 Shakespeare Hits the Big Time


More to Explore

 Introduction to Shakespeare's Sonnets
 Shakespearean Sonnet Style
 Six Theories About Shakespeare's Sonnets
 How to Analyze a Shakespearean Sonnet
 The Rules of Shakespearean Sonnets

 Shakespeare's Sonnets: Q & A
 Are Shakespeare's Sonnets Autobiographical?
 Petrarch's Influence on Shakespeare
 Themes in Shakespeare's Sonnets





 Shakespeare's Greatest Love Poem
 Shakespeare and the Earl of Southampton
 The Order of the Sonnets
 The Date of the Sonnets

 Who was Mr. W. H.?
 Are all the Sonnets addressed to two Persons?
 Who was The Rival Poet?

_____

Thoughts on the Sonnets... "In literary value Shakespeare's sonnets are notably unequal. Many reach levels of lyric melody and meditative energy that are hardly to be matched elsewhere in poetry. The best examples are charged with the mellowed sweetness of rhythm and metre, the depth of thought and feeling, the vividness of imagery and the stimulating fervour of expression which are the finest proofs of poetic power. On the other hand, many sink almost into inanity beneath the burden of quibbles and conceits. In both their excellences and their defects Shakespeare's sonnets betray near kinship to his early dramatic work, in which passages of the highest poetic temper at times alternate with unimpressive displays of verbal jugglery." (Sir Sidney Lee. A Life of William Shakespeare, p. 87)

_____

 Shakespeare on Jealousy
 Shakespeare on Lawyers
 Shakespeare on Lust
 Shakespeare on Marriage

 Blank Verse and Diction in Shakespeare's Hamlet
 Analysis of the Characters in Hamlet
 Shakespeare on the Seasons
 Shakespeare on Sleep