What is your substance? - Sonnet 53 (4.11)

Hello Shakespeareans and welcome back to the Sonnets Podcast.  Today we’re going to read the most famous poem in Section 4 so far.  By my best guess, it probably slots in as around the 50th most anthologized poem in the entire sonnet sequence.  In other words, it’s known, but not really.  However, compared to the last 10 poems we’ve read, this is actually a feat.  

Only 3 poems in Section 4 qualify as top 50 poems.  By top fifty, I mean the top fifty most anthologized sonnets.  Today, we’re reading what is your substance?  In a couple of weeks, we’ll finish with 4.13 and 4.14, the couplet.  They are “Not marble nor the gilded monuments of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme” and “sweet love, renew thy force.”  Those two poems are very well known.

That’s Sonnets 4.11, 4.13, and 4.14.  Notice anything about the grouping?  They all come in at the end of the sequence.  My theory for this coincidence is straightforward.  The last five poems in Section 4 are all a celebration of what was accomplished in the first 9 poems.  I’m overgeneralizing, but I’m also not making this up, textually speaking.  It makes sense that these five poems, given their topic, would stick out more. 

Also, as a quick reminder, the website is www.sonnetspodcast.com.  Don’t forget to add in the www and my email is sonnetspodcast@gmail.com.

What’s great for us today is that, when considering this poem, we have the full context of the 10 poems before it, as well as the last 3 after it.  Not only is there a celebration, but we know why it’s happening.  We are lucky because we see everything, and this is the a key point of the sonnet: this poem is commentary on the poems around it.  However, I don’t think this makes it easy to understand.

Sonnet 4.11 is a quite challenging poem.  I say this mainly because of context.  What is the quote “context” of Sonnet 4.11?  If the poem is thought of as just a one-off poem with no relationship with its neighbors then this poem is just a meditation on the topic: “what is beauty?”  On its own, the question “what is beauty?” has been fodder for songs and poetry for thousands of years and things will stay that way for at least the next few thousands of years.  Coming back to the present, for most of us, I think we are happy to get Shakespeare’s take on this topic.  If someone ever asks you to explain beauty and you quote this poem, you’re likely to make whatever point it is that you’re trying to make because this is the context for most readers.

However, I think we can add more layers to enrich this poem and extract additional meaning.  Sonnet 4.11 is part of the narrative arc of Section 4, and this is basically the climax.  So, instead of just asking “what is beauty?” or ”what is your substance?”, let’s instead ponder why Shakespeare is asking this question at all and also let’s ask how this alters the narrative arc of the section.

At its core, Sonnet 4.11 is a soliloquy that’s delivered as an aside.  Like, the actor is on the far edge of the stage under a single bright light talking to himself.  Some of these other poems, conversely, like Sonnet 4.13 feel like public decorations delivered at a public forum.  This sonnet, what is your substance, is not a public debate. Rather, it’s a private mediation.

Here is my view of the context.  I believe this poem is asking this question: here it is: The narrator is saying - These poems are so good that they’ll always be remembered even if the secret structure is never discovered.  And so, what does that mean?  Having the 11x14 key means you’ll know about twice as much as the average reader.  At the same time, this poet laments the cold reality that the decision to create the metasonnets is itself a gamble.  For an artist, what does it mean if art is only half understood without an explanation?  Obviously, plenty of abstract artists do this, but I don’t believe that quote “abstract” is an appropriate adjective to use to describe the 154 poems.  But that’s not my point.  The idea is that this is Shakespeare and he’s just created a massive treasure, locked it behind a key, and only he knows it.  First, What is your substance is a meditation on the loneliness of creating art that is not fully understood.  Second, What is your substance is an examination of the choices that artists make when they create their masterpieces.  Third, What is your substance is also a declaration of greatness made by the poet.  In the couplet, he believes that the poems themselves could be imitated by many talented writers, but he doesn’t think anyone could accomplish anything like the secret five act structure.

This is the context of Sonnet 4.11.  This is the backstory.  So, I hope you can appreciate the new richness and new depth of this poem.  It’s a really awesome sonnet, but if you don’t understand Section 4, it will slip right past the reader and it’ll all be over their head.

Here’s the No Fear Translation:

What is your true essence, what are you made of, that there should be millions of reflections of you? Every person has only one image, but you, though you’re only one person, lend something to everyone else’s image. If an artist tries to depict Adonis, he’ll wind up creating an inferior imitation of you. If he were to paint Helen as beautifully as possible, he would again wind up with a picture of you, decked out in Greek costume. Praise the spring and the abundant harvest season—but the spring is only a faint shadow of your beauty, and the fall a faint imitation of your abundance. We recognize you in every blessed sight that we see. You are part of every beautiful thing, but you’re not like any of them—you’re incomparable—in the constancy of your heart.

Ok, and while I’m not a great actor, here’s my best efforts to inflect as much meaning into these words as I can.  It’s up to you to decide if you hear these ideas or not.

What is your substance, whereof are you made,

That millions of strange shadows on you tend?

Since everyone hath, every one, one shade,

And you, but one, can every shadow lend.

Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit

Is poorly imitated after you;

On Helen’s cheek all art of beauty set,

And you in Grecian tires are painted new.

Speak of the spring and foison of the year;

The one doth shadow of your beauty show,

The other as your bounty doth appear,

And you in every blessèd shape we know.

In all external grace you have some part,

But you like none, none you, for constant heart.

Now, I’ll give you an extended examination with what I think the narrator is saying.  Whether or not you agree with me will largely come down to whether or not you agree that this sonnet has a backstory.  Basically, I’m going to reread the poem to you quatrain by quatrain and then add my re-imagined translation.  This will help me express my interpretation to you and also you can decide how much of this is a breakthrough and how much of this is bologna.

Lines 1-4

What is your substance, whereof are you made,

That millions of strange shadows on you tend?

Since everyone hath, every one, one shade,

And you, but one, can every shadow lend.

What are you my poems?  What is your substance that you contain so many hidden easter eggs.  Everyone has secrets hidden in the shade, but my poems have one secret and its shadow covers all the easter eggs.

Lines 5-8

Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit

Is poorly imitated after you;

On Helen’s cheek all art of beauty set,

And you in Grecian tires are painted new.

My fair youth, my poems, are my Adonis.  Other poets can try to write poems as good as mine, but they’ll just be cheap imitations.  My mistress, the structure is my Helen.  My 154 sonnets are built around a complex framework.  They are like a rich tapestry depicting many stories, enabling me to reinvent the ancient classics.

Lines 9-12

Speak of the spring and foison of the year;

The one doth shadow of your beauty show,

The other as your bounty doth appear,

And you in every blessèd shape we know.

Speaking of new beginnings and special occasions, the secret key shrouds the work, but once it’s uncovered, all other secrets will be revealed.  And then, the full scope of the metasonnets will be known.

Couplet

In all external grace you have some part,

But you like none, none you, for constant heart.

On the outside, just the poems alone are as good as anything that’s come before, but the secret structure itself is unique and unlike anything ever written.

So, I hope you liked that.  Now let’s make a final pass and I’ll point out words, phrases, and lines that I think deserve further attention.

In quatrain 1, the most important words are quote “shade” and “shadow.”  Both of these words directly invoke Sonnet 4.1.  It may seem like a leap to suggest that shade and shadows are references to the secret structure, but that is their context in 4.1, the first poem in the section.  Look it up, shades and shadows are definitely references to secrets.

Quatrain 2, on a first read through may seem like filler or throwaway lines that don’t’ mean much.  However, I believe this is radically mistaken.  There are three clear references to a masculine beauty, a feminine beauty, and classic poetry.  The insertion of these subjects is not random.  Adonis is the poems and Helen is the metasonnets.  The Grecian tire is all the great poets from antiquity that were popular during the Renaissance, and it’s also an  effective metaphor to describe how poems are 154 pictures depicting a singular story.  Additionally, Shakespeare is suggesting that his words and style are being funneled through the masters of old.  The Bard rarely alludes to the Classics in this work, but we know he knew them well, which  tells us the omission of the classics was intentional.  We should also not overlook this reference here.  

In Quatrain 3, I’m most attracted to the ideas from lines 10 and 11: The one doth shadow of your beauty show, the other as your bounty doth appear.

The way I read this is: if you unlock the 11x14, five act structure, everything else falls into place.  So, one secret covering many.  I realize that this may not be a perfect reading and that others may see this differently.  However, I think there’s enough there to make this suggestion.  

In the couplet, the only part to highlight is that the beauty comes from both what's on the outside, as well as what’s on the inside.  Much like Quatrain 3, you may feel that I’m adding too much, and that’s okay.  However, I think there's enough to make the bold prediction that Shakespeare is saying that no one will ever create something as complex as the sonnets’ secret five act structure, but even without this revelation, the work is the best thing ever written.

So, let’s go back to the topic at the beginning episode and talk about context.  Shakespeare is trying to understand his creation because it has secrets that may never be understood.  However, if those secrets are discovered, his creation will be even better.  Either way, to him, it’s as good as everything written, but if readers get the key, they’ll figure out what only Shakespeare knew for four hundred years. 

So, let’s close with this thought.  I believe this poem “what is your substance?” is an incredibly sad monologue.  It’s super tragic.  I lack the acting chops to pull it off, but imagine a great theater acting do this.  They are in tears, dejected, and alone.  In some ways, this is a poem about failure because the narrator assumes he’ll be long dead before the metasonnets are discovered.  He will die not knowing if his masterpiece will ever truly be understood, and so he’s left pondering: what does this mean?  It's a painful moment, but he resolves that it’s okay because the accomplishment itself is meaningful, or at least this is what he tells himself.  Regardless, zeroing on the genius of Section 4, the Narrator knows that he is telling a story that is in so ways to advanced and far ahead of his time.  In some ways, maybe the world isn’t ready.  And so the narrator is left with the question: what have I actually created and what does this mean?

I love this poem because it has so much more depth than previously imagined.  I think a great actor could make it amazing and add in those elements I described.

Well, I hope you enjoyed today’s episode.  In the next one, we’ll study 4.12, a poem with many similar ideas.  If you enjoyed this poem, you’ll certainly want to learn about its successor.

Thanks for listening.