Sonnet 102

1. My love is strengthen'd, though more weak in seeming;

2. I love not less, though less the show appear,

3. That love is merchandized, whose rich esteeming,

4. The owner's tongue doth publish every where.

5. Our love was new, and then but in the spring,

6. When I was wont to greet it with my lays,

7. As Philomel in summer's front doth sing,

8. And stops his pipe in growth of riper days:

9. Not that the summer is less pleasant now

10. Than when her mournful hymns did hush the night,

11. But that wild music burthens every bough,

12. And sweets grown common lose their dear delight.

13. Therefore like her I sometime hold my tongue:

14. Because I would not dull you with my song.

Sweets Grown Common

Dedication: To Elizabeth

Oxford Contrasts the strength of his love for Elizabeth with the apparent weakness of its display. Using a comparison of himself to the classical Greek legend of Philomel whose tongue was cut off.For which Oxford is likely comparing to his own imposed silence for expressing his love for his son. He finishes the notion of his possible belaboring his appeal. Between these thoughts he alludes to Henry in the sweets grown common losing their delight as also a reference to the special nature of their love.

1st Quatrain: (1-4)

Tell Elizabeth that the appearance of the extent of his love is deceiving. In line 3 and 4 compares overly speaking (possibly writing) of love too much as a cheapening of it.

2nd Quatrain: (5-8)

In line 6 he tells how initially he didn't fully celebrate their love in his poetry. In line 7, mentions Philomela (Greek), an Athenian princess in Greek mythology raped and deprived of her tongue by her brother-in-law Tereus and changed into a nightingale while fleeing from him. Thus in line 7 he speaks of ending Philomela's singing because of her advancing age which is meant to reflect Elizabeth's own advancing age. And telling her in line 9, that this is not indicative that their love is diminished now.

3rd Quatrain: (9-12)

In lines 10 and 11, again references Philomel (Latin) in comparison with Elizabeth. In line 12 the sweets "grown common" is a reference to Henry growing up not as an heir though he wasn't strictly growing up common as he must have been being raised by the Wriothesley's .

couplet (13-14),

And finishes with a comparison again to Philomel when he says he sometimes holds his tongue for fear to not bore with his song. I'm sure Oxford often did hold his tongue though it certainly wasn't his reputation.

Commentary:

While the majority of this sonnet relies on the classical them of Philomel and of course both Shakespeare relies heavily on classical references. Oxford of course was well versed in the classics.Perhaps more important though is the poet himself alluding to his belaboring a single theme with the notion of dulling the "subject" with his "song" alludes to the connectedness and constant theme.The notion of a greater love than on display alludes to something representative of their love hidden. But the mention of sweets grown common is an even less thinly veiled reference to Henry.

This is the first sonnet clearly containing an admonition of the dangers of Elizabeth's treatment of Henry. And I would further argue that these admonitions will become ever stronger as we will see and which will demonstrate the chronology claimed. Other items of note include the mention of love been merchandise again brings in the notion of Henry as a monetary concept.

An important theme to Oxford/Shakespeare is sincerity and devotion expressed without excessive display along with a willingness to challenge. This is reflected in King Lear by the actions of the youngest daughter Cordelia. In fact I believe many of Shakespeare's plays were also motivated by conveying messages and moral lessons to Elizabeth as well. And hope to explore this in future work.


Line 7's reference to Philomel was an important one to Shakespeare prominently in Titus Andronicus, but also A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Cymbeline. And perhaps not surprising given that it was a prominent aspect of Ovid. But I might also hope that readers could appreciate that the sorrowful lament of the nightingale reflected further in line 10 for which she became is also most appropriate to this story.


Line 12 foreshadows and is suggestive of the couplet ending to come in 95.


Vendler somehow connects sweets grown common lose their dear delight as representing the voices of other birds (“common flock”). Which completely loses sight of the message of the poem, which is that special delights must be treated with special care and kept fresh, or else they are either not special or worse than everyday mundane items. But this is not to be understood as general proverbial wisdom, but a special appeal to protect and preserve the special identity of the child prince.


Note:

Shakespeare's knowledge of Greek has long been debated (no doubt partly owing to Ben Johnson's famous quote). But it has been noted that his sense of Greek figures, metaphor, and irony is strangely truer to the original Greek than translations he likely would have had to supposedly relied on. For example Plutarch's (Parallel) Lives. I would argue however that Oxford inherited his knowledge of Greek from an early age. It was a prized and notorious aspect of William Cecil having been instructed by John Cheke and he no doubt imparted it to his young ward. And young Edward was known to have read Holiday prayers in Greek.