First Quatrain: “Those lines that I before have writ do lie”
In the opening quatrain of sonnet 115, the speaker asserts that until now he has not been able to correctly evaluate his love for his art; he even claims that what he wrote heretofore regarding the subject has been prevarication.
The speaker also insists that he did not comprehend “why / My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer.” Earlier in his life, he did not understand that later, after he had garnered much more life experience, he would begin to understand the true nature of his feelings and be able to better express them.
Second Quatrain: “But reckoning Time, whose million’d accidents”
The speaker then catalogues a selection of the events that can change a person’s ways of thinking about things in his life. He calls time, “reckoning Time,” as if time is a calculating person who allows “million[s of] accidents” and also permits even the “decrees of kings” to change.
This “reckoning Time” also allows “sacred beauty” to be altered, while it makes dull even the “sharp’st intents.” Time as a reckoner also has the power to “divert strong minds” as it changes all things. The speaker is implying that he himself has been affected by all of time’s change producing abilities.
Third Quatrain: “Alas! why, fearing of Time’s tyranny”
The speaker then poses two questions instead of offering claims motivated by his observations about “reckoning Time.” He wonders why, even knowing about and “fearing Time’s tyranny,” he is unable to simply say, “Now I love you best.”
He is certain that the statement is true, and he assumes that he should be able to make this remark without having to know all future thoughts and feelings that might assail him. But the statement offers such a bald assertion that it does not seem to capture completely all he truly feels.
The Couplet: “Love is a babe; then might I not say so”
The speaker therefore invents a metaphor, “Love is a babe.” By creating the image of his feeling as still an infant, he gives his feeling room to grow. He believes that his love for poetry cannot be encompassed by the simple statement, “Now I love you best”; such a statement is not only too simple, but it also limits love to a spot in the present.
The speaker insists that his love should remain a growing thing and not be limited to present time. By metaphorically comparing his love for his art to an infant, he asserts that his love will continue to grow.
However, he does not merely frame this idea as a statement; he offers it as a question, “then might I not say so, / To give full growth to that which still doth grow?” By asserting such a bold claim as a question, he adds still further emphasis to his affection.
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