# Sonnet LIX explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by William Shakespeare.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### William Shakespeare

The speaker of the sonnet, musing on originality and the passage of time.

## Key lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lix
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_28_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters