Notes for Shakespeare's Sonnet 16


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Shakespeare's
Sonnet
16

1. But: —This sonnet continues the thought of the previous sonnet, in which the poet promises to write poetry which will preserve the fair youth's beauty.

6. unset: unplanted.

7. your living flowers: —This metaphor for children prepares us for the contrast between the living likeness of children and the "painted counterfeit" of a portrait.

8. liker: i.e., more nearly resembling you.  counterfeit: portrait.

9. lines of life: i.e., living lines of offspring, in contrast to the dead lines drawn by a portrait painter, or written on paper by a poet.  that life repair: which renew life.

10. this time's pencil: i.e., your current reputation. —A "pencil" is a paint brush.  my pupil pen: i.e., my amateurish poetry.

11. fair: beauty.

13. To give away yourself keeps yourself still: i.e., to give away yourself in marriage preserves your true self forever.