Sonnet 101

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< Sonnet 101 >

O truant Muse what shall be thy amends
For thy neglect of truth in beauty dyed?
Both truth and beauty on my love depends;
So dost thou too, and therein dignified.
Make answer Muse: wilt thou not haply say,
'Truth needs no colour, with his colour fixed;
Beauty no pencil, beauty's truth to lay;
But best is best, if never intermixed'?
Because he needs no praise, wilt thou be dumb?
Excuse not silence so, for't lies in thee
To make him much outlive a gilded tomb
And to be praised of ages yet to be.
Then do thy office, Muse; I teach thee how
To make him seem, long hence, as he shows now.
–William Shakespeare

Sonnet 101 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It's a member of the Fair Youth sequence, in which the poet expresses his love towards a young man.

[edit] Synopsis

The muse is chided for her absence and neglect of praise for the youth, but is imagined to anser by saying that truth and beauty need no additions or explanations. The muse is implored by the poet to praise the youth. The poet will teach her how to immortalise the youth's beauty.

[edit] See also

Shakespeare's sonnets