Sonnet 89

1. Say that thou didst forsake me for some fault,

2. And I will comment upon that offence,

3. Speak of my lameness, and I straight will halt:

4. Against thy reasons making no defence.

5. Thou canst not (love) disgrace me half so ill,

6. To set a form upon desired change,

7. As I'll myself disgrace, knowing thy will,

8. I will acquaintance strangle and look strange,

9. Be absent from thy walks, and in my tongue,

10. Thy sweet beloved name no more shall dwell,

11. Lest I, too much profane, should do it wrong:

12. And haply of our old acquaintance tell.

13. For thee, against myself I'll vow debate,

14. For I must ne'er love him whom thou dost hate.

I Must Never Love Him

Dedication: To Elizabeth

Explaining to Elizabeth that she may comment on any aspect of his and he will not argue for she can’t disgrace him, but she can disgrace by not by not performing the “desired change” of recognizing Henry. However in a final act of his love and loyalty he finishes with a final comment that he must not love this boy (him) whom she “hates”.

1st Quatrain: (1-4)

Telling Elizabeth that if she wants to justify that her lack of love for him with some fault of his he will answer for it while stating that if she wants to blame it on his physical health and robustness than he will have to concede. I want to point out how this both clearly reflect Oxford because of his known infirmities and "lameness" due to injury and the corroboration of this chronology with the poets life now entering this new period.

2nd Quatrain: (5-8)

Telling her that he will gladly disgrace himself far more than she can if she will "set a form upon" I.e., give shape and order to, a biblical reference (John V.vii.26-27) to the "desired change" (Henry's recognition). Telling her of murderous acts he would commit for this in line 8.

3rd Quatrain: (9-12)

Telling her further that he will stop thinking and refering to her. For fear that he would give away their young love and the joyouse result.

couplet (13-14),

Finally if she is to hate him he will force himself to choose between Elizabeth and Henry and in line 14 tells her that he can't love Henry if she hates him.


Commentary:

This sonnet contains another key autobiographical detail with the lameness mentioned by the poet is both a key tie to Oxford (likely after 1582 duel with Sir Henry Knyvet, Uncle of Oxford’s mistress Anne Vavasor). This injury combined with Oxford’s depression likely resulted in an untimely demise of only 51 years of age. The larger context of this poem is Oxford answering Elizabeth for the things about him that she objects to. Chiefly that he insistently argues on behalf of the son she is unhappy about and is displeased with Oxford’s love for him. But also very importantly expresses his loyalty which has and will continue to become a primary message of these poems as he expresses it in spite of what she has done.

Line 14 of this sonnet harks back to 145 where Elizabeth expressed hate for Henry and now Oxford is expressing that he should not love him because Elizabeth seemingly hates him. Likely both of these instances are used as a ploy because Elizabeth likely does not hate Henry she merely just refuses to make him the prince that Oxford wishes to see him become. And for this Oxford is accusing her of hating her son and playing on the resulting guilt.

A more traditional understanding of this sonnet misinterprets the slander as coming from the fair youth as opposed to the real subject his mother. The fair youth is the one he must never love, not some combination of the poet and the youth. While the poet might reflect in other sonnets that he and the youth are really one this sonnet is not among them. Here there is the very much needed separation of the poet from his son and the whole point of the message.

Vendler makes the assertion that the couplet both speaks to the subject (the young man) and refers to him at the same time. I believe a far more reasonable conclusion is as I have done is to conclude that the poem is to someone else, that someone else being more reasonably again one with whom he had a romantic relationship because the subject is referred to as “love”. In fact the love also appears to be an old acquaintance as well which calls into question that this subject is a young man.