THE LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S MAN 223
“I remember your saying that you
had notions of a good Genius
presiding over you. I have of late
had the same thought—for things
which I do half at Random are
afterwards confirmed by my
judgment in a dozen features of
Propriety. Is it too daring to fancy
Shakespeare this Presider?”
Wordsworth, who was critical
of certain aspects of the poetry in
Shakespeare’s plays, famously wrote
of the sonnet form that “with this
key / Shakespeare unlocked his
heart.” If so, responded fellow
poet Robert Browning “the less
Shakespeare he.” Commenting
on this exchange, Auden held that
the artist is always both unlocking
his heart and dramatic.
Victorian disapproval
Especially but not only in the
Victorian period, the poems’
reputation has suffered from
homophobic distaste for the
fact that some of them are love
poems from one male person
to another. This has also made
some readers prefer to think that
in them Shakespeare is writing
of imagined situations rather
than from personal experience.
Nevertheless, the most obviously
romantic of them have exerted
strong appeal. They have frequently
appeared in poetic anthologies.Adapting the sonnets
Many attempts, all unsuccessful,
have been made to rearrange the
poems into an order that appears
to be more meaningful than the
original. The density of style
of many of the poems makes
them difficult to set to music,
but there have been successful
settings of a few of them in a
variety of musical styles by
musicians as diverse as the
classical composer Benjamin
Britten, the jazz arranger Johnny
Dankworth, and the singer-
songwriter Rufus Wainwright. ■Religion and merit
The religious references in
Shakespeare’s sonnets reflect
both sides of a central doctrinal
dispute of his time. The
reformist Martin Luther
(above) held that the key to
salvation lay in faith alone.
This contrasted with Catholic
doctrine, which held that good
works, prayers, pilgrimages, or
the purchase of indulgences
could increase an individual’s
chances of salvation. The poet
takes from both traditions
when dealing with the value
of individual merit.
Sonnet 88 opens with the
lines “When thou shalt be
disposed to set me light / And
place my merit in the eye of
scorn.” Here, he appears to
take the reformist line, holding
that his merit is worthless.
However, in No. 108, merit
is raised in a different way:
“What’s new to speak, what
now to register, / That may
express my love or thy dear
merit?” Here, the poet seems to
think merit far from worthless.
Moreover, he follows with
“Nothing, sweet boy; but yet
like prayers divine / I must
each day say o’er the very
same,” alluding to the Catholic
practice of repeating the same
prayers daily.Shakespeare’s love poems still strike a chord
with lovers across the world. Sonnets 116 and 141,
in particular, are often read at marriages and civil
partnership ceremonies.
But my five wits
nor my five senses can /
Dissuade one foolish heart
from serving thee (141)Love is not love /
Which alters when it
alteration finds (116)