- TLN 1738historical topical
“bore the canopy, With my extern the outward honouring”
To 'bear the canopy' was to hold one of the poles of the cloth-of-state carried on poles over a sovereign or great dignitary in formal procession — a recognized ceremonial honor in Tudor court and civic pageantry. 'Extern' is used as a noun meaning external bearing or outward show. The speaker dismisses both: even this conspicuous display of proximity to the beloved would mean nothing if it were only outward performance.
“paying too much rent For compound sweet; forgoing simple savour”
'Compound sweet' means an elaborate, blended pleasure — a mixture of many ingredients, like a spiced confection — as opposed to 'simple savour,' the taste of a single unmixed thing. 'Rent' here means payment or price paid. The speaker says those who pursue elaborate, costly pleasures pay too high a price for them and lose the simpler, truer satisfactions. The metaphor sets artificial complexity against natural plainness.
“obsequious in thy heart, And take thou my oblation, poor but free”
'Obsequious' in Early Modern English meant devoutly attentive or dutifully devoted — it had not yet narrowed to the modern sense of cringing flattery. 'Oblation' is a religious term for a formal offering or sacrifice made to God. Together the two words cast the poet's inner devotion as a kind of sincere worship — the true alternative to canopy-bearing and monument-building. His offering is 'poor' (unadorned, without outward splendor) but 'free' (freely given, without hidden price).
historical The sonnet form“not mix'd with seconds, knows no art”
'Seconds' were the lower, coarser grades of flour or other goods mixed into a product to bulk it out cheaply — adulteration by inferior material. To say the offering is 'not mix'd with seconds' means it is pure and unadulterated, with no hidden self-interest blended in. 'Art' here means cunning or calculated contrivance, not skill; the offering contains neither adulterant nor artifice.
“suborned informer! a true soul When most impeach'd, stands least in thy control”
'Suborned' means corruptly hired or bribed to make false accusations; a 'suborned informer' is a paid false witness. 'Impeach'd' means charged or accused. The couplet makes a sudden, combative turn: the speaker dismisses an unnamed accuser — possibly someone working against him with the youth — by declaring that a genuinely honest person, when most heavily accused, is least vulnerable to the charge. The accusation slides off because there is nothing in it to grip.
historical The Fair Youth, the Dark Lady, and the Rival Poet