Ah! wherefore with infection should he live,
And with his presence grace impiety,
That sin by him advantage should achieve,
And lace itself with his society?
Why should false painting imitate his cheek,
And steal dead seeming of his living hue?
Why should poor beauty indirectly seek
Roses of shadow, since his rose is true?
Why should he live, now Nature bankrupt is,
Beggared of blood to blush through lively veins?
For she hath no exchequer now but his,
And proud of many, lives upon his gains.
O! him she stores, to show what wealth she had
In days long since, before these last so bad.
The poet protests that his beloved should not be allowed to sanction the evils of the age simply because he is alive and, by the presence of his beauty, helps to prop up a corrupt society. Others imitate his beauty vainly by using cosmetics. But there is little left in the world that is worthwhile, for Nature has given all that is glorious to the beloved boy, and is now bankrupt of stock, save what she can borrow back again.
But why should he live to endure all this. The only justification seems to be that Nature keeps him as an exemplar, desirous of showing the present age and those to come, all the wealth which was at her command in days long past, before this present age which has degenerated so much into perfidy and mockery.
This sonnet is odd in that it presents the youth as the distant ‘he’, rather than ‘dear my love’ or ‘my sweet love’ and other such expressions of endearment. It comes almost as a shock, as if one were suddenly to start addressing one’s partner of many years as ‘her indoors’. In fact the sonnet does not appear to lose any of its content if we change the he for you and his for your throughout. One of the rhymes is lost, but other than that no great harm is done. The only difference is in the change of tone.
Ah! wherefore with infection should you live,
And with your presence grace impiety,
That sin by you advantage should achieve
And lace itself with your society?
Why should false painting imitate your cheek
And steal dead seeing of your living hue?
Why should poor beauty indirectly seek
Roses of shadow, since your rose is true?
Why should you live, now Nature bankrupt is,
Beggar’d of blood to blush through lively veins?
For she hath no exchequer now but your’s,
And, proud of many, lives upon your gains.
O,you she stores, to show what wealth she had
In days long since, before these last so bad.
It is quite a problem to decide why Shakespeare has introduced the change at this juncture, especially as sonnets 66-70 form a fairly compact interrelated group, in which the corruption and hypocrisy of the world is discussed together with the beloved’s links to that corruption. It seems as if a third party has been introduced, a fictitious disinterested observer who wishes to make comments and analyse the situation. Having heard the poet’s laments in 66, he breaks in with his own interjections. Why indeed should the lovely youth continue to live in the midst of all this filth and corruption, being tainted by it and perhaps, (God forbid!) adding to it some infection of his own making. The third party continues in this vein for two sonnets, 67 and 68, discussing the youth in his presence perhaps, and finding philosophic reasons for his special relationship with Nature the creator and preserver. Then the poet returns with his own contribution, referring back to the other commentator’s thoughts in such lines as But those same tongues that give thee so thine own.
By using this device the poet puts upon another’s shoulders the main part of the burden of criticising the youth, and the times, which are characterised as almost ridiculously degenerate. The castigation of cosmetics and use of wigs, a castigation which could be targeted against the ageing queen, who had many headpieces made from other’s hair, he thus avoids, leaving someone else to do the dirty work. He himself is free to go on loving, or, if he wishes, to add his own voice to the criticisms by way of elucidating and excusing them, rather than endorsing them. This he does in 69 and 70, in which the familiar form of address is once again used and the his/him approach is dropped.
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