1. What is your substance, whereof are you made,
2. That millions of strange shadows on you tend?
3. Since every one hath, every one, one shade,
4. And you, but one, can every shadow lend.
5. Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit
6. Is poorly imitated after you;
7. On Helen's cheek all art of beauty set,
8. And you in Grecian tires are painted new:
9. Speak of the spring, and foison of the year;
10. The one doth shadow of your beauty show,
11. The other as your bounty doth appear,
12. And you in every blessed shape we know.
13. In all external grace you have some part,
14. But you like none, none you for constant heart.
The Shadow of Your Beauty
Dedication: To Elizabeth
Showing his familiarity with the Italian Renaissance philosophy based on the work of Plato, Oxford reflects on the importance of the greater reality of things removed from their physical manifestation. However the observations are specifically with respect to Elizabeth both as monarch and as his complement to Adonis in his poem of “Venus and Adonis”. A poem which seems largely set up to reflect what would normally largely be a compliment of being singularly of constant heart, except Oxford means that largely as a negative since this reflects Elizabeth’ continuing intransigence toward recognizing Henry.
1st Quatrain: (1-4)
Asking Henry about his substance such that so much beauty shines. While others as mere bodies with but a shadow, he more like the sun giving shadows.
2nd Quatrain: (5-8)
Telling him a portrait of Adonis is but a poor depiction of him. Just as Helen known for her beauty he could rival any Greek beauty.
3rd Quatrain: (9-12)
Telling him of his external beauty as the blossoms of spring but also telling of his other beauty not so apparent but which holds the bounty of his value his royal blood.
couplet (13-14),
He has all the eternal grace and is unique for his resoluteness.
Commentary:
Two immediate thoughts come to mind for me in regard to this sonnet. Line 2 is another reference far more appropriate to Elizabeth as evidently the total population of England in the late 1590’s was approximately 4 million.
What is necessary to understand this sonnet and its place is the connectedness of these sonnets along with the other poems of Shakespeare, particularly as this poem mentions, Venus and Adonis.Here our poet reminds our subject of either his epic poem published in 1593 and thus probably about the time of this sonnet. The poet had cleverly adapted the Greek myth of Venus who struck by Cupid’s arrow falls in love with Adonis who is gored by a wild boar. And whose blood is changed into flowers, wind flowers as they are sometimes called. Oxford’s (i.e. Shakespeare’s) adaptation has Elizabeth as Venus and himself as Adonis and the germination of a single purple (for royalty) flower to represent Henry. As we’ve seen the metaphor of flower is already used to represent Henry in these sonnets.
Again Vendler believes that “the philosophical basis of the sonnet is drawn from the Platonic contrast between ‘substance and appearance’”. She notes that “the speaker hopes, by uttering praise of a putative constant heart, to bring about the very fidelity he praises but which he fears is not to be found …”. There is probably some truth to this, at the least Oxford reminding Elizabeth of the virtue of having a constant heart, might hope to actually awaken it. Vendler makes the interesting comment “that the beloved has an androgynous beauty”.