Sonnet 38
How can my Muse want subject to invent,
poetry
inspiration
praise
immortality
How can my Muse want subject to invent,
While thou dost breathe, that pour'st into my verse
Thine own sweet argument, too excellent
For every vulgar paper to rehearse?
O, give thyself the thanks, if aught in me
Worthy perusal stand against thy sight;
For who's so dumb that cannot write to thee,
When thou thyself dost give invention light?
Be thou the tenth Muse, ten times more in worth
Than those old nine which rhymers invocate;
And he that calls on thee, let him bring forth
Eternal numbers to outlive long date.
If my slight Muse do please these curious days,
The pain be mine, but thine shall be the praise.
What It Means
The young man is such a worthy subject that Shakespeare's Muse can never lack material. Other poets who write on lesser subjects are the ones who need a muse; Shakespeare doesn't — his subject is his inspiration. He calls the young man the 'tenth Muse' (the classical nine not being enough). Any poem that praises him adequately will be immortal. But the praise belongs to the young man, not to the poet.
Context
Part of the Fair Youth sequence. The 'tenth Muse' was also a compliment applied by other Elizabethan poets to their patrons.
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