Sonnet 21
So is it not with me as with that Muse
poetry
truth
beauty
rivalry
So is it not with me as with that Muse
Stirr'd by a painted beauty to his verse,
Who heaven itself for ornament doth use
And every fair with his fair doth rehearse
Making a couplement of proud compare,
With sun and moon, with earth and sea's rich gems,
With April's first-born flowers, and all things rare
That heaven's air in this huge rondure hems.
O' let me, true in love, but truly write,
And then believe me, my love is as fair
As any mother's child, though not so bright
As those gold candles fix'd in heaven's air:
Let them say more than like of hearsay well;
I will not praise that purpose not to sell.
What It Means
Shakespeare distinguishes himself from poets who pile on the compliments, comparing their subjects to the sun, moon, and gems of heaven. He won't do that. His subject deserves better than stock flattery — he'll write what's true. The argument is partly competitive (other poets are liars) and partly a claim about the quality of his own work. The final line is cutting: 'I will not praise that purpose not to sell.' He's not writing commercial poetry.
Context
Part of the Fair Youth sequence. The competitive tone is directed at the conventional Petrarchan love poets of the era who stacked up nature imagery as compliments.
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