78

So oft have I invok’d thee for my Muse,
And found such fair assistance in my verse
As every alien pen hath got my use
And under thee their poesy disperse.
Thine eyes, that taught the dumb on high to sing
And heavy ignorance aloft to fly,
Have added feathers to the learned's wing
And given grace a double majesty.
Yet be most proud of that which I compile,
Whose influence is thine, and born of thee:
In others' works thou dost but mend the style,
And arts with thy sweet graces graced be;
But thou art all my art, and dost advance
As high as learning, my rude ignorance.

The way I came to the conclusions I did about sonnet 78 is before reading these poems I read alittle about the life and strife of writers in Shakespeares time. I learned that writers of the time would seek out patronage from nobility in order to get paid and make a name for themselves. Considering these facts when I read this sonnet helped me interpritate it as a declaration of superiority over rival poets by Shakespeare because his sonnets were actually inspired by the OOP and an accusation that the rival poets simply claimed their inspiration came from the OOP, “Yet be most proud of that which I compile, Whose influence is thine, and born of thee: In others' works thou dost but mend the style.” Shakespeare seems to hope the reader of this sonnet will realize that the OOP is who makes the poetry good or the poet a poet, but that analysis is based entirely on who I’m assuming the OOP is. The nobleman who is patronizing Shakespeare, “And under thee their poesy disperse.Thine eyes,that taught the dumb on high to sing, And heavy ignorance aloft to fly.”

80

O! how I faint when I of you do write,
Knowing a better spirit doth use your name,
And in the praise thereof spends all his might,
To make me tongue-tied speaking of your fame.
But since your worth, wide as the ocean is,
The humble as the proudest sail doth bear,
My saucy bark, inferior far to his,
On your broad main doth wilfully appear.
Your shallowest help will hold me up afloat,
Whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride;
Or, being wracked, I am a worthless boat,
He of tall building, and of goodly pride:
Then if he thrive and I be cast away,
The worst was this, my love was my decay.

In sonnet 80 Shakespeare uses the metaphor of ships and the sea to describe poetry and inspiration as well as the aspects of rivalry involved. “Your shallowest help will hold me up afloat, whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride; or, being wracked, I am a worthless boat, He of tall building, and of goodly pride.” Sonnet 80 also seems to making reference to the fact that there is always someone better than you at your trade, “O! how I faint when I of you do write, Knowing a better spirit doth use your name” Shakespeare also seems to be telling the OOP (who I still am assuming was a person of nobility giving patronage to our poet and his rival) that his ability to inspire and the poets ability to be inspired is like a boat sailing on the ocean. The rival poet whose poetry “ship” is “of tall building and of goodly pride” seems to be a metaphor for the rival poet’s ability to make his way around a poem safely even though he immerses himself in the “ocean” of inspiration. On the other hand while describing himself, Shakespeare gives the imagery of a boat struggling to stay afloat “My saucy bark, inferior far to his/ Or, being wracked, I am a worthless boat” This seems to be a metaphor for falling in love. Shakespeare seems to be saying that the OOP’s inspirational “ocean” is too great for Shakespeare’s boat (ability to write poems) and that he is sinking in, or in other words becoming part of the ocean, no longer a ship on the surface or a poet from the outside looking in.
“Then if he thrive and I be cast away, The worst was this, my love was my decay.”

81

Or I shall live your epitaph to make,
Or you survive when I in earth am rotten,
From hence your memory death cannot take,
Although in me each part will be forgotten.
Your name from hence immortal life shall have,
Though I, once gone, to all the world must die:
The earth can yield me but a common grave,
When you entombed in men's eyes shall lie.
Your monument shall be my gentle verse,
Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read;
And tongues to be your being shall rehearse,
When all the breathers of this world are dead;
You still shall live, such virtue hath my pen,
Where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men.

As instructed I analyzed this poem with the idea that it had the intention to convince someone of something, when I read this sonnet I realized Shakespeare is trying to convince whoever the poem was written for that his pen had the ability to make a monument to them in the immortal written word. “When you entombed in men's eyes shall lie.
Your monument shall be my gentle verse.” When Shakespeare writes “You still shall live, such virtue hath my pen, where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men.” he seems to be claiming that whoever this poem was written for will be breathing in the breaths it takes to read the poem, keeping them in a way alive as long as the poem is read. Shakespeare seems to be struggling with the uncertainty of death and the suddenness in which it comes by writing this poem, “Or I shall live your epitaph to make, Or you survive when I in earth am rotten, From hence your memory death cannot take, Although in me each part will be forgotten.” To me is Shakespeare saying that death could come at anytime to take you or me but when I write these things down they are as immune to death as I am not.

88

When thou shalt be dispos’d to set me light,
And place my merit in the eye of scorn,
Upon thy side, against myself I'll fight,
And prove thee virtuous, though thou art forsworn.
With mine own weakness being best acquainted,
Upon thy part I can set down a story
Of faults concealed, wherein I am attainted;
That thou in losing me shalt win much glory:
And I by this will be a gainer too;
For bending all my loving thoughts on thee,
The injuries that to myself I do,
Doing thee vantage, double-vantage me.
Such is my love, to thee I so belong,
That for thy right, myself will bear all wrong.

In Sonnet 88 Shakespeare seems to be telling the OOP that he loves them so much if ever they decide to hate him or slander his name he would stand with them. “When thou shalt be dispos’d to set me light, And place my merit in the eye of scorn, Upon thy side, against myself I'll fight.” Shakespeare’s arguing that although he knows the OOP has done wrong in the past the OOP could do no wrong in his eyes. “And prove thee virtuous, though thou art forsworn. With mine own weakness being best acquainted,” Shakespeare even claims he is not above lying for the OOP “Upon thy part I can set down a story.”
“Of faults concealed, wherein I am attainted;” Shakespeare seems to be saying that as his lover the OOP knows of his idiosyncrasies (“Faults concealed”) so therefore the OOP knows who he really is. “That thou in losing me shalt win much glory: And I by this will be a gainer too,” Is essentially saying that in a relationship whatever benefits one lover benefits the other even if it were death.