SONNET 80

SONNET 80

O, how I faint when I of you do write,
Knowing a better spirit doth use your name,
And in the praise thereof spends all his might,
To make me tongue-tied, speaking of your fame!

But since your worth, wide as the ocean is,
The humble as the proudest sail doth bear,
My saucy bark inferior far to his
On your broad main doth wilfully appear.
Your shallowest help will hold me up afloat,
Whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride;
Or being wreck'd, I am a worthless boat,
He of tall building and of goodly pride:
   Then if he thrive and I be cast away,
   The worst was this; my love was my decay. 

SONNET 80	PARAPHRASE
O, how I faint when I of you do write,	O, how I feel discouraged when I write about you,
Knowing a better spirit doth use your name,	Knowing a greater poet uses your name
And in the praise thereof spends all his might,	And in praising your name spends all his energies,
To make me tongue-tied, speaking of your fame!	So that I am tongue-tied when speaking of your fame.
But since your worth, wide as the ocean is,	But since your worth is as wide as the ocean,
The humble as the proudest sail doth bear,	That can bear both the humble and proud sail,
My saucy bark inferior far to his	My impudent craft, far inferior to the other poet's,
On your broad main doth wilfully appear.	Recklessly appears in your circle.
Your shallowest help will hold me up afloat,	Your most casual favor keeps me encouraged.
Whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride;	While the other poet rides upon the depths of your favor;
Or being wreck'd, I am a worthless boat,	But if I am wrecked by losing your favor, it must be because my boat is worthless,
He of tall building and of goodly pride:	While his remains mighty and proud.
Then if he thrive and I be cast away,	Then if he thrives in your favor and I am cast away,
The worst was this; my love was my decay.	The worst was this: my love for you was the cause of my decay.

ANALYSIS humble...bear (6): - The poet's friend is humble yet of the highest merit, and he tolerates those around him who are arrogant.

Sonnet 80 is a continuation of 79, and Shakespeare draws us even closer to the rival poet, who now displays more animus, trying deliberately to make the author "tongue-tied." But here we do see the start of a change in the poet's attitude. "He begins to accept the challenge, to see and to grapple with the paradox of inexpressibility, to consider the weight and the relative value of speech and silence, to defend actively the virtue that resides in his dumbness and in the humble plainness of his silence-like words" (Habicht, 195).

Lines 5-12 contain an extended nautical conceit, in which the author's friend is compared to the wide ocean, the author to a 'saucy bark' and a 'worthless boat', and the rival poet to 'the proudest sail.' The sea-and-ship imagery illustrates that the author is not exactly disconcerted despite the opening lamentations. "And this contrast takes on additional force when we remember that it was drawn by a poet in days when saucy English boats were almost every year engaging, and often sinking, tall-built full-sailed galleons upon the Spanish main" (Wilson, 183).
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