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I grant thou wert not married to my Muse,
And therefore maiest without attaint o'er-looke
The dedicated words which writers use
Of their faire subject, blessing every booke.
Thou are as faire in knowledge as in hew,
Finding thy worth a limmit past my praise,
And therefore art inforc'd to seeke anew,
Some fresher stampe of the time bettering dayes.
And do so love, yet when they have devisde,
What strained touches Rhetoricke can lend,
Thou truly faire, wert truly simpathizde
In true plaine words, by thy true telling friend.
And their grosse painting might be better us'd,
Where cheekes need blood, in thee it is abus'd.
Commentary
Commentary
Address to his beloved concerning rival poets
Address to his beloved concerning rival poets
Changes to the original text: line 2, 'ore-looke' changed to 'o'er-looke'; end of line 13, comma taken out
Another poem about rival poets.
In the first quatrain the poet agrees that, since the young man is not married to his (the poet's) Muse, there is no reason why he should not look at the works of other poets.
The second quatrain asserts that the young man is fair in both knowledge and looks, and that his fairness is beyond the poet's ability to fully praise, and that therefore the young man is justified in looking for works of other poets.
The third quatrain licences the young man to go looking at the work of other poets, but points out that their rhetoric is unnecessary as the young man is already fair, he needs no bombastic logic to prove him so, but simply the honest down to earth truth, which the poet himself supplies. True, true and true again.
The final couplet makes the point that the other poets' verses would be better used on those who are in need of improvement (painting).
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