The theme of Sonnet 21 is similar to other sonnets that praise portraying a realistic description of the beloved, instead of the exaggerations that amount to untruths.
In Shakespeare’s era as now, many people thought that poetry was something that was ethereal and dainty and that poets were only interested in sugar-coating the ugliness out of daily affairs. But the speaker in this group of sonnets is writing to change that perception, by affirming that true love does not have to be compared only to beautiful flowers and gemstones and the stars. This speaker wants to reveal beauty as it appears, not as something that has been cosmeticized and, therefore, falsified.
First Quatrain
In the first quatrain of Shakespeare’s “So is it not with me as with that Muse,” the speaker says that he will not be like the poet who motivated by false beauty paints artificial beauty upon his beloved. Interestingly, the speaker is not referring to a person, but to his sonnets. He will not paint beauty upon his sonnets by comparing his subjects to heaven, nor will be claim that “every fair with his fair doth rehearse.”
This speaker wants to gain a reputation as a plain speaker, not one who uses imaginary notions of what is true and beautiful to enhance is poetry. He wants his poetry to represent truth, not a facsimile of truth. He strives for the original, not the stock images that had come to dominate poetry.
Second Quatrain
Continuing his list of ways that other poets have painted beauty on the faces of the poems, he asserts that he will not compare his sonnets’ subjects to the “sun and moon” or gemstones or the first rush of beauty of April’s blooms. While other poets pick out many of the most beautiful things on the earth to enhance their poems, he opposes such exaggeration as falsehood. He will not engage in such false speaking.
Third Quatrain
In the third quatrain, the speaker asserts that his heart is interested in truth; he wants to portray only what is real, not what is artificial and exaggerated. He wants his writing to reflect true beauty so his readers can actually believe what he says. Even though his love (his poetry) is not as bright as the stars, it is as wonderful as anything else in creation, “[a]s any mother’s child.”
The Couplet
He allows that others may exaggerate—“[l]et them say more”—those who are not interested in direct or plain speaking, those who are interested only in “hear-say.” He has no intention of praising that which does not deserve praise. And he is not interested in selling his verse widely to an undiscriminating audience.
Other articles on Shakespeare: Who is Shakespeare?
Sonnet Commentaries: Sonnet 1, Sonnet 2, Sonnet 3, Sonnet 4, Sonnet 5, Sonnet 6, Sonnet 7, Sonnet 8, Sonnet 9, Sonnet 10, Sonnet 11, Sonnet 12, Sonnet 13, Sonnet 14, Sonnet 15, Shakespeare Sonnet 16, Sonnet 17, Sonnet 18, Sonnet 19, Sonnet 20, Sonnet 116, Sonnet 126, Sonnet 130, Sonnet 138
