In Shakespeare sonnet 32, the speaker seems more humble than usual about his poems as he addresses a loved one.
First Quatrain: “If thou survive my well-contented day”
The first two quatrains are structured with if/then clauses: the first quatrain presents a hypothetical and the second presents what should follow. The “if” hypothetical is if his beloved should out live him, and the “then” is that she should re-read his poems a certain way.
The speaker begins by referring to the day he dies as “my well-contented day” indicating that he will be accepting of his demise. Still he calls death a churl and colorfully describes his post-death lot as his bones being dust covered. He refers to his poems as “These poor rude lines,” and throughout the sonnet seems to disparage his poetry.
Second Quatrain: “Compare them with the bettering of the time”
If the speaker’s beloved should outlive him and also if she happens to re-read his poem, he wants her to compare them to the poems of others, but if they are not as well crafted as others, she should “Reserve them for [his] love, not for their rime.”
He asks her to remember that they contain his heart and soul, so she should consider that fact above their technical skill. Such skill as his might be bested by “happier men,” but his personal love for her is retained in “These poor rude lines of they deceased lover.”
Third Quatrain: “O! then vouchsafe me but this loving thought”
Then the speaker tells the lover what to think, which takes up the rest of the poem, and instead of referring to her as a “lover,” he employs the term “friend.” But what he tells her is essentially a repetition. He wants her have the opinion that if her poet/friend/lover had lived longer and his Muse had grown, his love poems could have been better and strong enough to compete “in ranks of better equipage.”
The Couplet: “But since he died, and poets better prove”
However, because her poet/friend died, and now there are far better poets, she will read the better poets for their prowess, but she will read her friend’s poems “for his love.”
In truth, the skill of this poem that seems to belittle his poems once again elevates them to a high stature, while the poet covers his bases just in case a better poet does happen along after his demise. It demonstrates not only the poetic skill that he prizes so, but a certain prescience that he has neither to worry about nor confront.
Commentary
As the earlier explication of this group of sonnets has emphasized, most of these poems have been dedicated to a celebration of the poet’s poetic talent, and often the speaker actually addresses the poem itself.
This one still celebrates that poetic talent by addressing a beloved, whose presence serves as a kind of backdrop against which the poet can make his seemingly humble remarks about his “poor rude lines.”
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, Sonnet 16, Sonnet 17, Sonnet 18, Sonnet 19, Sonnet 20, Sonnet 21, Sonnet 22, Sonnet 23, Sonnet 24, Sonnet 25, Sonnet 26, Sonnet 27, Sonnet 28, Sonnet 29, Sonnet 30, Sonnet 31, Sonnet 73, Sonnet 116, Sonnet 126, Sonnet 130, Sonnet 138
