| directory |
| home | contact |
|
|||||||||||||||
| search | |||||||||||||||
SONNET 59If there be nothing new, but that which isHath been before, how are our brains beguil'd, Which, labouring for invention, bear amiss The second burden of a former child. O, that record could with a backward look, Even of five hundred courses of the sun, Show me your image in some antique book, Since mind at first in character was done! That I might see what the old world could say To this composed wonder of your frame; Whether we are mended, or whe'er better they, Or whether revolution be the same. O! sure I am, the wits of former days To subjects worse have given admiring praise. PARAPHRASEIf there is nothing new under the sun, but that whichHas been before, how are our brains cheated, Which, toiling to create something new, mistakenly Brings forth something that already exists O, that history could go back Even five hundred years To show me your picture in some old book, At any time since thought was first put down in writing! That I might see what an earlier time would say To this wonderful beauty of your frame (mind, body, and soul); Whether we are improved or they were better, Or whether the cycle of years has yielded no better results. O, I am sure of this, the wits [talented men] of former times Have given praise to much worse subjects than this. Explanatory Notes for Sonnet 59 How to cite this article: _____ Even More...  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 How to Analyze a Shakespearean Sonnet The Rules of Shakespearean Sonnets
The Contents of the Sonnets in Brief Shakespeare's Sonnets: Q & A Theories Regarding the Sonnets Are Shakespeare's Sonnets Autobiographical? Petrarch's Influence on Shakespeare Theme Organization in the 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? Shakespeare's Greatest Metaphors Shakespeare's Metaphors and Similes_____
_____ Shakespeare's Treatment of Love in the Plays Shakespeare's Dramatic Use of Songs Shakespeare Quotations on Love Shakespeare Wedding Readings Analysis of the Characters in Hamlet Shakespeare in Old English?
Shakespeare's Influence on Other Writers An Elizabethan Christmas Clothing in Elizabethan England |
In 1609 Thomas Thorpe published Shakespeare's sonnets, no doubt without the author's permission, in quarto format, along with Shakespeare's long poem, The Passionate Pilgrim. The sonnets were dedicated to a W. H., whose identity remains a mystery, although William Herbert, the Earl of Pembroke, is frequently suggested because Shakespeare's First Folio (1623) was also dedicated to him. ©1999-2021 Shakespeare Online. All Rights Reserved.