1. How oft when thou my music music play'st,
2. Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds
3. With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway'st,
4. The wiry concord that mine ear confounds,
5. Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap,
6. To kiss the tender inward of thy hand,
7. Whilst my poor lips, which should that harvest reap,
8. At the wood's boldness by thee blushing stand.
9. To be so tickled, they would change their state,
10. And situation with those dancing chips,
11. Or whom their fingers walk with gentle gait,
12. Making dead wood more blest than living lips,
13. Since saucy jacks so happy are in this,
14. Give them their fingers, me thy lips to kiss.
My Poor Lips
Dedication: To Elizabeth
His jealousy as Elizabeth plays the harpsichord or virgninals. As her fingers manipulate the keys, the instrument reacts Finishing with the thought that the instrument can have her fingers, he wants her lips.
1st Quatrain: (1-4)
Referring to Elizabeth as music to him, who herself is playing music on the harpsichord.
2nd Quatrain: (5-8)
Again in line 5 the jacks are the keys.
3rd Quatrain: (9-12)
Continuing on in his jealousy of the keys
couplet (13-14),
Finally finishing with a plea for a kiss. This poem must have been after some kind of reconcilliation and is hard to believe after what has just preceded it. Though Oxford seems to try many ways of reaching Elizabeth and he'll continue on the present vain.
Commentary:
This is a very biographical sonnet in the sense of revealing that the subject played the virginals. It is also worth pointing out that sonnet 8 of The Passionate Pilgrim (in appendix) also reveals that the subject played the lute, which of course also applies to Elizabeth and in fact there is a 1576 portrait by Nicholas Hilliard of Elizabeth with a lute.
While this poem seems to take leave of the argument for Henry, likely the keys changing their state in line 9 was meant to be evocative of Henry’s (as well likely as Oxford’s need) for Elizabeth to let him(/them) do the same.
Another observation is that the poet again seems to alternate between the slander and proclaiming his love and engaging in flattery. Perhaps this is the work of the publishers more than the poet but it is an interesting clue to the need for both from the perspective of the poet. Perhaps the poet did in fact get too carried away with his emotions and is now looking for reconciliation. Possibly to ease his mind of the potential that he has alienated himself so thoroughly from his subject that he won’t ever see his wish resolved. While many couples might engage in a roller coaster of emotions, I do feel the extremity of the emotions expressed in these poems lends itself to this much better explanation. This sonnet after all is within the ‘Dark Lady’ sonnets.
The personal pronoun “their’ in lines 11 and 14 is frequently replaced with thy to express it is the subjects fingers. It goes with out saying that it is the subject’s but this simple change alters the more pronounced way Shakespeare spoke in metaphor, as if the virginals owned the fingers of the subject and thus give greater emphasis that the lips are his.
Vendler sees this sonnet as a synecdoche of sexual jealousy and reveals that the poem alludes to the sharing of the woman with other lovers. While it may be true it does not corroborate a larger sharing context imagined in these sonnets. There is I maintain, no evidence of a sexual triangle amongst the three characters. She further remarks on how tasteful this sonnet is, which is to be regarded as a surprise. This is because of the gross misappropriation of the presumed sexuality which is often imagined in these sonnets. I will maintain that this sonnet actually demonstrates the propriety of sexual expression of this sonnet is very representative of the whole.
KDJ – conceit of erotic empathy, and the poem is centered on erogenous zones.
Note:
As biography this applies clearly to Elizabeth and presumably limits much of Elizabethan society being that it was quite an expensive instrument. The finer versions were imported of either Italian, French or Flemish origin. At least one of Queen Elizabeth's was Venetian in origin. Probably more is known of the music.