1. O never say that I was false of heart,

2. Though absence seem'd my flame to qualify.

3. As easy might I from myself depart,

4. As from my soul, which in thy breast doth lie:

5. That is my home of love, if I have ranged,

6. Like him that travels I return again,

7. Just to the time, not with the time exchanged,

8. So that myself bring water for my stain,

9. Never believe, though in my nature reign'd,

10. All frailties that besiege all kinds of blood,

11. That it could so preposterously be stain'd,

12. To leave for nothing all thy sum of good:

13. For nothing this wide Universe I call,

14. Save thou my Rose, in it thou art my all.

Thou Art My All

Dedication: To Elizabeth

Asking Elizabeth not to question his love despite his absense from her. Telling her that he would as easily depart from himself as his soul from her. Telling her he can't stay away. Telling her that though he had infedilities his love for her is still true. That she is his all.

1^st Quatrain: (1-4)

My soul lives in your breast

2^nd Quatrain: (5-8)

Discussions of his infidelities to Elizabeth during their estrangement

3^rd Quatrain: (9-12)

It is not clear exactly the charges that he is attempting to answer for but he is I believe arguing that he wouldn’t jeopardize what he so wants. In Line 9 “reign’d” is probably important and an indication that he views himself as almost a royal.

couplet (13-14),

Telling Elizabeth that in the whole of creation she (his Tudor rose) is of course everything to him.

Commentary:

Subject has changed to argument over the true sincerity of the poets love for his subject. Oxford again pleading to have his sincerity and purpose for Elizabeth recognized. He expresses his love and possibly passion in line 2 and suggests that the time away from her he feels as if no time has passed. This change in conversation is a natural progression of the underlying relationship problem started what we have seen to be the source of the relationship failure. He can’t help but mention his disbelief that Henry (All thy sum of good) could be associated with scorn and be shunned. In fact clearly the point of the sonnet is that this sum is intimately connected to the remembrance which is the key subtext of these sonnets.

This poem reveals that Elizabeth is his Rose. Which as a Tudor is perfectly fitting and for which the metaphor of flowers in regard to Henry was probably inspired. This sonnet also alludes to the travels that Oxford would have been involved with at this early stage of his life in the 1574-1576 range of time. Again the ranging was likely post Italy, though perhaps a reference to ranging in love, to which his problems with Ann Vavasour and potentially others could have come into play. Again Oxford was in Italy from May 1575 to March 1576.

Vendler resorts to interpreting this sonnet solely based on the information contained in the sonnet itself. Thus by admitting no sin but that of absence, she would have us believe that the speaker has both denied an inference of the motivation for absence being infidelity and as well claims that the only stain is that of absence itself. And that is all removed by the speaker returning. As opposed to a more reasonable interpretation that poets has come back changed as he tries to convince his subject that he has learned much from his absence. That he is not dwelling on the past but is here now.