1. From fairest creatures we desire increase,
2. That thereby beauty's Rose might never die,
3. But as the riper should by time decease,
4. His tender heir might bear his memory:
5. But thou contracted to thine own bright eyes,
6. Feed'st thy light'st flame with self-substantial fuel,
7. Making a famine where abundance lies,
8. Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel:
9. Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament,
10. And only herald to the gaudy spring,
11. Within thine own bud buriest thy content,
12. And tender churl makest waste in niggarding:
13. Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
14. To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.
Dedication: To Elizabeth and more generically all who'll ever read
A final thought on the consequences of Elizabeth dying and taking Henry’s secret to her grave and an appeal to not do so.
1st Quatrain: (1-4)
Finally telling Elizabeth that it is the most superior beings that we look to to bestow greater worth as Henry looks to her in line 1. That by her allowing his succesion, he continues the Tudor dynasty as a play on he the "beauty" and the house of Tudor the "rose" as well as Henry. Telling her that as she (the riper) and of advanced years would be expected to allow his son recognition, to bear his memory in lines 3 and 4. He has after all countlessly asked her to let Henry bear her memory.
2nd Quatrain: (5-8)
However he tells her she is selfishly self-absorbed in line 5. That she feeds her life with her own flame as opposed to passing the torch to Henry in line 6. That she has made a scarcity when Henry provides plenty in line 7. That she is her own enemy and is cruel to herself (by hiding Henry).
3rd Quatrain: (9-12)
Flatteringly telling her that still she is an object for the world to view in line 9. That she contrasts Spring and likely Henry's showy youth and beauty, thus alluding to a more subtle beauty she holds in line 10. However in line 11 telling her she defies her own satisfaction in line 11. But informing her that ultimately she is stingy and miserly in line 12.
couplet (13-14),
Finally telling her she consumes Henry as she goes to her grave and in doing so is doing the world a disservice
Commentary:
This last sonnet is an expression of Oxford who despite over twenty years of arguing for and believe he was advocating on behalf of Elizabeth's best interest of putting her son to use. However the poem contains the notion that Elizabeth seems until the very end resolutely determined to take her son’s identity to the grave with her and thus to the poet’s perspective effectively take her son physically there as well. This last sonnet seems almost written as a summary. Being that it seems not expressly written to Elizabeth but more describes from the poet's perspective the pathetic and horrible inevitable state of things for which the poet can’t understand. But the couplet, I believe reveals that it was a message very much meant for Elizabeth and likely it was written to her before she died.
The increase spoken of is a metaphor for the growth that Henry could have expected in gaining recognition and thus allowing his succession. And of course is consistent with the flower metaphor so often utilized to refer to him. Also this is corroborated by the poem “Phaeton and his friend Florio”, where Oxford uses the persona of Phaeton to represent himself and uses the name of Giovanni (John) Florio to represent Henry. As Florio was very much associated with Henry by virtue of his being an Italian tutor to him. In fact that Henry is Florio should be quite apparent from the first line which speaks of how the name of the friend agrees with this growth. His name being Wriothesley which is very likely sounded like “rosely”.
Phaeton to his Friend Florio
Sweet friend, whose name agrees with thy increase
How fit a rival art thou of the spring!
For when each branch hath left his flourishing,
And green-locked summer’s shady pleasures cease,
She makes the winter’s storms repose in peace
And spends her franchise on each living thing:
The daisies spout, the little birds do sing,
Herbs, gums, and plants do vaunt of their release.
So when that all our English wits lay dead
(Except the laurel that is evergreen)
Thou with thy fruits our barrenness o’erspread
And set thy flowery pleasance to be seen.
Such fruits, such flowerets of morality
Were ne’er befroe brought out of Italy.