SONNET - 76 SUMMARY

 Sonnet No 76:

Why is my verse so barren of new pride,
So far from variation or quick change?
Why with the time do I not glance aside
To new-found methods, and to compounds strange?
Why write I still all one, ever the same,
And keep invention in a noted weed,
That every word doth almost tell my name,
Showing their birth, and where they did proceed?
O! know sweet love I always write of you,
And you and love are still my argument;
So all my best is dressing old words new,
Spending again what is already spent:
   For as the sun is daily new and old,
   So is my love still telling what is told.

This poem examines the issue of the poet's obsession with the Youth as the repeated and sole theme of his poetry. The poet expresses frustration with his poetry, that it is repetitive and he can't find inspiration. He ponders finding inspiration from other artists. He ends the poem justifying the endless, uninspired, repetition of his love poetry to the endless repetition to the rising and setting sun. Complaining that his verse is sadly limited, the poet acknowledges that his praise of the young man allows no new form of argument. As a traditionalist, the poet rejects innovation for innovation's sake. Failing to keep abreast of modern inventions, he watches other poets experiment with new and exciting subjects and styles of writing: "Why, with the time, do I not glance aside / To new-found methods and to compounds strange?" He answers that, because his writing is all about the youth, and he can add nothing to the youth's beauty, it would do him no good to try newer styles because "all my best is dressing old words new, /Spending again what is already spent." The poet's verse is as recognizable as his name because, ultimately, his arguments are remarkably unvaried: "The sun is old and new every day, my love is always saying what has already been said".