1 So is it not with me as with that muse,
It's not the same for me as it is for other poets, I'm not like those other poets out there, i'm different from them 'Muse' = poet, as opposed to the literal muse (inspiration).
2 Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse,
Inspired to write verse by artificial, deceptive beauty, who get inspired to write poetry about fake, prettied-up people, inspired by fake beauty 'Painted' = artificially enhanced with cosmetics, or deceptively portrayed.
3 Who heaven it self for ornament doth use,
Who use heaven itself as mere rhetorical decoration, who throw in references to the heavens just as window dressing, calling on the gods and stars for show 'Ornament' = embellishment, rhetorical flourish.
4 And every fair with his fair doth rehearse,
And list off one beautiful thing after another in endless comparison, just piling up pretty comparison after pretty comparison, stacking comparisons endlessly 'Rehearse' = repeat, enumerate; false poets accumulate comparisons.
5 Making a couplement of proud compare
Joining together grandiose comparisons in arrogant pairs, creating these bombastic matched sets of bragging comparisons, arrogantly pairing grand comparisons 'Couplement' = coupling, joining together; 'proud' = arrogant, grandiose.
6 With sun and moon, with earth and sea’s rich gems:
Comparing the beloved to the sun, moon, earth, and ocean's treasures, like you're comparing your person to the sun and moon and all the jewels in the sea, sun, moon, earth, gems—cosmic overkill Cosmic hyperbole: the beloved compared to all major celestial and terrestrial beauty.
7 With April’s first-born flowers and all things rare,
With spring's first blooms and every precious, singular thing, with the first flowers of spring and literally every rare, beautiful thing, spring flowers and everything precious 'First-born flowers' = earliest blooms, symbol of renewal and fleeting beauty.
8 That heaven’s air in this huge rondure hems.
That heaven's atmosphere contains within the round earth's borders, that the sky surrounds with everything we see on this big round world, everything under the sky on earth 'Rondure' = roundness, the round earth; 'hems' = surrounds, borders.
Volta The shift from cataloging the false methods of other poets to the speaker's commitment to truth: 'O let me true in love but truly write.' Truth and love become synonymous.
9 O let me true in love but truly write, The speaker's ethical commitment: truth in love requires truthful writing, not flattery.
But let me remain faithful through honest, truthful writing, What I want is to write about you honestly and be faithful through that truth, let me speak truth 'True in love but truly write' = be faithful through honest speech, not flattery.
10 And then believe me, my love is as fair,
And then believe me when I say my beloved is beautiful, So you can trust me when I tell you that my love is beautiful, trust me when i say you're beautiful
11 As any mother’s child, though not so bright
As beautiful as any human being—though not brilliantly transcendent— like any ordinary person born of a mother is beautiful, even if not dazzling, humanly beautiful, not supernaturally 'Mother's child' = any human being, the humblest common reference.
12 As those gold candles fixed in heaven’s air:
Not as shining as the stars suspended in the sky, not as luminous as those golden stars stuck up in heaven, not as bright as the stars 'Gold candles' = stars; the speaker refuses cosmic comparison deliberately.
13 Let them say more that like of hearsay well,
Let those who prefer rumor and exaggeration speak more than I do, Let them say more, those people who love secondhand gossip and tall tales, let them have their exaggerations 'Like of hearsay' = prefer rumor, secondhand report; those who traffic in exaggeration.
14 I will not praise that purpose not to sell. The refusal of poetry as persuasion: true love doesn't manipulate through praise.
I will not use praise as an instrument of manipulation or false persuasion. I refuse to use flattery to sell you a lie or win you over with exaggeration. i won't use flattery as a sales pitch 'Purpose not to sell' = refuse to use praise as commerce, manipulation.
Wordplay
- 'purpose' = intend, aim
- 'sell' = to persuade falsely, to trade truth for advantage
- the pun is on 'sell': commerce, and selling falsehood as truth