Shakespeare's Sonnets: So is it not with me as with that muse

Shakespeare's Sonnets: So is it not with me as with that muse

Sonnet 21

Original Text
SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS (London: G. Eld for T. T. and sold by William Aspley, 1609): c1r.
1So is it not with me as with that muse,
2Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse,
6With sun and moon, with earth and sea's rich gems,
7With April's first-born flowers and all things rare
9O let me true in love but truly write,
10And then believe me, my love is as fair
11As any mother's child, though not so bright
12As those gold candles fix't in heaven's air:
13    Let them say more that like of hear-say well,

Notes

3] heav'n] heauen Q. Back to Line
4] And compliments his fair beloved by comparing him to every fair thing. Back to Line
5] compare] comparison. Back to Line
8] rondure] roundness (first citation). hems] encircles. Back to Line
14] Shakespeare has no intention of selling his beloved and, for that reason, will not praise him. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1609
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2008
Form