Poetry · Chapter
Sonnet LIX explained
The poet reflects on the cyclical nature of creation, lamenting that all invention is merely a repetition of the past.
What happens
The poet reflects on the cyclical nature of creation, lamenting that all invention is merely a repetition of the past. He wishes he could look back five hundred years to see if the beloved's beauty was ever matched, concluding that past poets praised lesser subjects.
Themes in this chapter
Time and Mortality
The poet contemplates the passage of five hundred years and the enduring nature of beauty and praise.
Art and Immortality
The desire to see the beloved's image preserved in an antique book reflects the power of art to transcend time.
Truth and Deception
The poet questions whether modern praise is more truthful than that of earlier ages, hinting at the deceptive nature of flattery.
Characters to notice
- William Shakespeare
The speaker of the sonnet, musing on originality and the passage of time.
Key passages
“If there be nothing new, but that which is Hath been before, how are our brains beguiled, Which, labouring for invention, bear amiss The second burthen of a former child!”
If nothing is truly original and everything has already existed, then our minds are deceived when they struggle to create something new, only to produce a flawed copy of what came before.
The poet questions the possibility of true originality, suggesting all creative efforts are mere repetitions.
“O, that record could with a backward look, Even of five hundred courses of the sun, Show me your image in some antique book, Since mind at first in character was done!”
I wish that historical records could look back five hundred years and show me your likeness in an ancient book, since writing was first invented.
The poet longs to see if the beloved's beauty was ever matched in the past.
“O, sure I am, the wits of former days To subjects worse have given admiring praise.”
I am certain that the clever writers of earlier times gave admiring praise to subjects far less worthy than you.
The poet concludes that the beloved surpasses any beauty praised in antiquity.