Sonnet 67

1. Ah wherefore with infection should he live,

2. And with his presence grace impiety,

3. That sin by him advantage should achieve,

4. And lace itself with his society?

5. Why should false painting imitate his cheek,

6. And steal dead seeing of his living hue?

7. Why should poor beauty indirectly seek,

8. Roses of shadow, since his Rose is true?

9. Why should he live, now Nature bankrupt is,

10. Beggar'd of blood to blush through lively veins,

11. For she hath no excheckr now but his,

12. And proud of many, lives upon his gains?

13. O, him she stores, to show what wealth she had,

14. In days long since, before these last so bad.

On Him She Stores

Dedication: To Elizabeth

Asking Elizabeth rhetorically where Henry is supposed to live with the “infection” she has bestowed on him. How he should suffer the lack of respect shown to him. Pointing out that his “sin” is really what should be his greater “advantage” over his peers. Asking her why must he appear to be something he is not. Why must he not exist as he was meant to be, that of her heir.Expressing that Henry is her treasury and that his wealth is only for showing what she once had, because her present course is bankruptcy.

1st Quatrain: (1-4)

Asking Elizabeth rhetorically how Henry is supposed to live debased as he is. Expecting him to suffer this lack of repect with his graces. Telling her his sin is actually what should be elevating him. Asking her why this stain on him should cast him into this common life.

2nd Quatrain: (5-8)

Asking her why he must live this lie. Why must he not exist when he does? Why should he be forced to seek recognition for something less than the recognition that he actually deserves, playing on his Tudor lineage with reference to the rose.

3rd Quatrain: (9-12)

Asking why Henry should even live in a world so wrong. Denied his true (royal) blood in his very real veins. Telling of how Elizabeth has no heir (wealth) beyond Henry.

couplet (13-14),

Finishing with the comment that Elizabeth keeps Henry in storage merely show how once rich she was and alluding to the crisis to come without him.


Commentary:

This sonnet is very much connected to the previous sonnet, except this time the poet is looking for an answer from his subject as to why Henry must live as something other than he is. Oxford again uses many metaphors to speak of Elizabeth’s waste of Henry, the shadow and the Rose and Nature’s bankruptcy.

Line 5 likely reflects Elizabeth’s portraits portraying her as more youthful though it could as well her use of cosmetics as the orthodoxy seems to believe or as is usual with Oxford both of these to demonstrate how much he can convey in a mere fourteen lines. Of course the Rose as associated with Henry and being true are also clever on multiple levels as previously discussed. Line 10 again touches on the blood that Elizabeth metaphorically robs Henry of and line 11 uses the very fitting metaphor of the English treasury to refer to Henry as funds available which is very reminiscent of the audit of 126 line 11.

Contrast with the usual understanding of this poem addressing the beauty of the youth to artificial beauty of the contemporary age. I personally find this to be a silly interpretation born of necessity without a better understanding. However with an understanding of a conversation with Elizabeth about the living metaphorical rose (who “is true”) with talk of stores, bankruptcy and accounts (excheckr), this sonnet should practically come to life. The notion of Henry as a store for future usage is an import metaphor within this section of the sonnets and sonnets to come as we’ll see.

Vendler comments that the “beloved has outlived the Golden Age, his era, he is a museum piece, a living relic, maintained alive by Nature as her exhibit of what beauty and truth once were, when they were conjoined in one person.” I would argue that this is terribly high praise to one who also seems to be the victim of disparaging and critical remarks. Vendler says various metaphors about decay of nature are loosely (and perhaps incoherently) associated in in 67”. She says, “the chief incoherence seems to lie in the abrupt chang from the moral (Q1) and aesthetic (Q2) contexts of the young man’s life to the financial and mythological contexts of the sestet (last 6 lines associated with bankrupt Nature). She goes on to say that it is his bad “coevals” to whom the charge of “false printing” is made.She interprets as well “poor beauty” to be a charge against them as well instead of as a reference to the unfortunate subject.