First Quatrain: “Those parts of thee that the world’s eye doth view”
In the first quatrain of sonnet 69, the speaker determines that the inner person is not the same as the outer physical appearance. The “heart” can “mend” any deficiency that exists in the beauty and grace of the physical body.
The “voice of souls” uplifts the person who might be rebuked by “foes.” Critics who may be “[u]ttering bare truth” are more important than those who seek to nullify it. The heart represents love, while the “voice of souls” represents wisdom; neither is visible by outward senses, but both contend and accomplish without fanfare.
Second Quatrain: “Thy outward thus with outward praise is crown’d”
When the outward is “with outward praise” “crown’d,” nothing special is gained. Outward beauty degenerates with time, but inner beauty can grow and become even more beautiful over time. All the wagging “tongues” cannot add or detract from inner soul beauty. This speaker has always been more interested and intrigued by the spiritual level of being. He is appalled at the degeneration of the physical level.
The eye is capable of detecting only the outward, mutable appearance, but the heart and soul are more significant than the physical eye, because they are capable of “seeing farther than the eye.” The reader will remember that this speaker believes that the human personality flowers through creativity.
Third Quatrain: “They look into the beauty of thy mind”
The heart and soul are capable of “look[ing] into the beauty of [the] mind.” With such perception, they are able to take “measure of thy deeds.” The unreliable adulation of popular criticism based on outward appearance is unworthy and offers no truth. And churlish critics can even distort what they see outwardly and “[t]o [a] fair flower add the rank smell of weeds.”
The Couplet: “But why thy odour matcheth not thy show”
Those who fail to grasp the spiritual level of the human personality, especially in the artist, do not “matcheth” or understand the level of truth revealed in the creative works of spiritual artists.
Instead of offering true growth, the superficial viewers negate all art to dirt. They engage in a level of blather that inserts a common denominator into the human personality, while keeping the mind bound to the physical level that is filled with the pain of the temporary.
Only at the soul level can consciousness reach infinity. The human personality is capable of reaching that level but remains hide-bound when engaged in too much reliance on the physical senses.
Other Shakespeare articles: Who is Shakespeare?
Sonnet Commentaries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 73, 96, 116, 126, 130, 138, 146
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