121
'Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed,
When not to be receives reproach of being;
And the just pleasure lost, which is so deemed
Not by our feeling, but by others' seeing:
For why should others' false adulterate eyes
Give salutation to my sportive blood?
Or on my frailties why are frailer spies,
Which in their wills count bad what I think good?
No, I am that I am, and they that level
At my abuses reckon up their own:
I may be straight though they themselves be bevel;
By their rank thoughts, my deeds must not be shown;
Unless this general evil they maintain,
All men are bad and in their badness reign.

123
No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change:
Thy pyramids built up with newer might
To me are nothing novel, nothing strange;
They are but dressings of a former sight.
Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire
What thou dost foist upon us that is old;
And rather make them born to our desire
Than think that we before have heard them told.
Thy registers and thee I both defy,
Not wondering at the present nor the past,
For thy records and what we see doth lie,
Made more or less by thy continual haste.
This I do vow and this shall ever be;
I will be true despite thy scythe and thee.

125
Were't aught to me I bore the canopy,
With my extern the outward honouring,
Or laid great bases for eternity,
Which proves more short than waste or ruining?
Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour
Lose all and more by paying too much rent
For compound sweet, forgoing simple savour,
Pitiful thrivers, in their gazing spent?
No; let me be obsequious in thy heart,
And take thou my oblation, poor but free,
Which is not mixed with seconds, knows no art,
But mutual render, only me for thee.
Hence, thou suborned informer! a true soul
When most impeached stands least in thy control.

By making judgments based on what we already assume about the relationship between the youth and Shakespeare we can find examples of the ins and outs of their relationship in the sonnets, (Although, we learned in anthropology that one can prove anything by starting an investigation with the assumption of what one will find instead of examining the bare facts.) For example: because I have already assumed that Shakespeare and the youth’s feelings for each other were not only emotional but also in a socially choked sexual sense as well; I see the opening line of sonnet 121, “'Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed, When not to be receives reproach of being;
And the just pleasure lost, which is so deemed Not by our feeling, but by others' seeing” as Shakespeare saying “They all think we are doing it already so why not do so and at least enjoy ourselves instead of being persecuted for something we want to do but aren’t?” In sonnet 123 Shakespeare once again touches on the mortality of his flesh, the immortality of his love and finally his reoccurring arch nemesis, Death itself. When Shakespeare wrote this poem I assume he was feeling pretty damn good about himself, “No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change: Thy pyramids built up with newer might To me are nothing novel, nothing strange” is a line that seems especially confident, because I recognize it as Shakespeare taunting time and death with his love being sure it will outlast the pyramids. “Thy registers and thee I both defy, Not wondering at the present nor the past” is a perfect example of Shakespeare’s attempt to overcome death within his poetry, another good example in sonnet 123 is “For thy records and what we see doth lie, Made more or less by thy continual haste.
This I do vow and this shall ever be; I will be true despite thy scythe and thee.” In which Shakespeare seems to discount history, saying “For thy records and what we see doth lie.” Shakespeare wraps up his thoughts on written history by saying, “Made more or less by thy continual haste.” In other words, he is speaking to death saying, “History seems to be written when your work really starts to pick up.”
In the beginning of sonnet 125 Shakespeare seems to be telling the youth that lavish and external beauty lasts only so long, “With my extern the outward honouring,
Or laid great bases for eternity, Which proves more short than waste or ruining?” Here Shakespeare likens a monument to external beauty claiming that as a monument can fall victim to the elements of nature, time and mankind’s folly (war) as can a human body. The lesson? Looks are a fragile thing to rely on. I think that sonnet 125 is not just a reminder to the youth of the importance of internal beauty but a testament to the youth’s natural beauty. For instance:
“Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour Lose all and more by paying too much rent For compound sweet, forgoing simple savour,”
Seems to be making reference to superficial attitudes, among other things, “Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour Lose all and more by paying too much rent For compound sweet, forgoing simple savour” may be making reference to the make-up of the time because apparently the definition of simples in Shakespeare’s time related to medicine. “Lose all and more by paying too much rent” very well could mean paying a price to high for their beauty. More assumptions we can make about the relationship between Shakespeare and the youth is that the youth is calling the shots, “let me be obsequious in thy heart” essentially means let me be your hearts silent servant, which makes me think the youth is less interested in Shakespeare than vice versa because Shakespeare seems to be doing all he can to get the youths attention. Another reason I think this way is the use of the word `oblation’ in the explanation of line 9:
“And take thou my oblation, poor but free,
Which is not mixed with seconds, knows no art,
But mutual render, only me for thee.
Hence, thou suborned informer! a true soul
When most impeached stands least in thy control.”
Oblation is the gift of worship, as one of the final poems Shakespeare writes to the youth he must lay his feelings out and his use of the word oblation is the perfect of example of his doing so.