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,
3Who heav'n it self for ornament doth use,
4And every fair with his fair doth rehearse,
5Making a couplement of proud compare,
6With sun and moon, with earth and sea's rich gems,
7With April's first-born flowers and all things rare
8That heaven's air in this huge rondure hems.
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,
14    I will not praise that purpose not to sell.

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
Rhyme
ababcdcdefefgg
Form
sonnet