1. O Thou my lovely Boy who in thy power,
2. Dost hold time's fickle glass, his sickle hour:
3. Who hast by waning grown, and therein show'st,
4. Thy lovers withering, as thy sweet self grow'st.
5. If Nature (sovereign mistress over wrack)
6. As thou goest onwards still will pluck thee back,
7. She keeps thee to this purpose, that her skill.
8. May time disgrace, and wretched minute kill.
9. Yet fear her O thou minion of her pleasure,
10. She may detain, but not still keep her treasure!
11. Her Audit (though delayed) answer'd must be,
12. And her Quietus is to render thee.
13. ( )
14. ( )
Him Detained
Dedication: To Henry
Offering Henry an explanation of his power over the ravages that Time is taking on Elizabeth. Explaining to him even as he "wanes" in obscurity that he grows as Oxford and Elizabeth wither. And offers that Elizabeth will yet "pluck thee back" to succeed her. That this is the purpose that she keeps him. That she only "detains" him and he is the final report of her "audit". That her "quietus" (final settlement) is to "render thee".
1st Quatrain: (1-3)
Oxford addresses a young Henry who is probably too young to actually read this poem. However he tells him none the less to be patient. That time is on his side (yes it is). The hour glass of time ticks away for Oxford and Elizabeth.
2nd Quatrain: (4-8)
That natural forces can only continue to eat away and call for your restoration. There is a clever play on Mother Nature in the guise of Elizabeth who is implied.
3rd Quatrain: (8-12)
Finally that Henry must be rendered and take his rightful place, recognition and the throne. Again I believe Henry is still too young to understand as we shall see the reason shortly. This was more Oxford convincing himself probably more than anything. I wouldn't be surprised if again Elizabeth wasn't the actual recipient of this.
Commentary:
An important sonnet as the first actual "fair youth" sonnet. Though the poet has chosen to address him as if he is capable of understanding, there are certainly clues that he is just literally the very young boy he is being referred to as in line 1 with "my lovely Boy". Whose future is viewed to be waning and who is meant to know that he is a "minion of a woman's pleasure" and will be rendered, i.e. ascendant to the throne. Clues to his youth include the "growth" in line 3 which will become an important and intrinsic part of theses sonnets. And further reflected in line 8 of 116 with the phrase “his height be taken” as indication of the monitoring of this young boy’s growth. Line 5's mention of the wrack is likely meant as metaphor in the same sense Shakespeare's uses it in other instances. As a device for not just torture but manipulation. As Bassanio expresses in MoV in act 3 scene 2.
On the whole, I think it is important to keep in mind that the sonnets sequence as presented here will show that Henry starts as a very young boy and likely much closer to an infant who would be incapable of reading the sonnets or of course understanding their message to him. But this will actually be reflected as we will see in sonnets to come.
No other interpreter to my knowledge has ever adequately explained the reason for the empty parentheses, however I would like to offer that these represent the lines of Henry’s life yet to be written after he is recognized and takes his place as the rightful heir to the throne. It should be apparent as well that this poem follows an aabbccddeeff rhyme scheme precisely to allow these last two unfinished lines to still be able to fit within the poem while still allowing the poem to be finished.
While this poem contains no indication that he is too young to understand though there is certainly illustration of his youth and growth. And this sonnet clearly points out his being kept for the purposes discussed here. In addition I feel the strong need to point out this “fair youth” is not at all being asked to marry and procreate. He is being prepared for that time when Elizabeth will “render thee” and speaks of his being “detained” and that his future depends on a female, one both familiar to them and us.
One other note, we have now entered the section of sonnets continuing to the end that the orthodoxy sees as being quite bawdy. This I hope to show is a complete misinterpretation and these sonnets.Which contain nothing overtly sexual or anything sexual implied. The purpose and nature of these sonnets is of the highest importance and none of this frivolity has any place or usage in them. It is only for those who have missed out on the true context that requires they invent sexual innuendo to explain what is clearly not understood.
Line 9 cleverly puns on Henry's servitude to Elizabeth's decision and his procreation having been the subject of her lusty desire as we will again see in 20. While line 5 plays on Elizabeth aptly as Mother Nature a theme also seemingly applied elsewhere such as R&J (II iii), "The earth that's nature's mother is her tomb".
The ending of the poem with double parentheses is a rather clear indication that the story of Henry’s life is yet to be fully written and the ending is still unknown.
Vendler observes, “The last uses of her show agency shifting from Nature to an (unnamed) power”. The unnamed power is Elizabeth of course who actually was Nature as well. Vendler comments on render but shows little understanding for its purpose.
KDJ – six couplet poem marks completion of “fair youth sequence”