Sonnet 84: Who Is It That Says Most, Which Can Say More Poem by William Shakespeare

........ 1. Who is it that says most, which can say more, Lines 1 - 4 are ambiguous, complex, opaque and elusive all at the same time. They could be read as a series of four questions, each beginning with an interrogative pronoun Who? , Which? , In whose? , Which? . The meaning would then be (approximately) - Who amongst your admirers praises you most? Which person can say more than this in praise of you, that you are absolutely and inescapably yourself? In what person is there walled up such a store of wit (as to praise you adequately) ? Which poet could provide a copy such as might equal you in all your perfection? Editors however generally do not give this interpretation, and variously split the lines with question marks after most, you or grew, and take in whose as referring to the youth. Lines 3 and 4 are then taken as placed in apposition to you of line 2, and descriptive of the youth's excellent qualities. The Q punctuation unfortunately is not helpful, for here where a question mark or two might be useful in indicating the sense of the lines, none are given, whereas in some other sonnets, e.g.76, they are spread quite prolifically. Another interpretation is obtained by taking the which of this line to refer back to the poet who says most, and the meaning then becomes 'Whoever that person is who seems to be saying most, cannot in effect say more than this simple statement, that etc' A somewhat awkward interpretation, but the best that can be managed. Some editors follow the suggestion of Malone by placing a question mark after most and you, thereby focusing attention on the preliminary phrase 'Who is that person or poet who is most fulsome in his praise? How can he in fact say more than the truthful praise that you are yourself? ' Then, if we take lines 3-4 as merely being descriptive of you, the sentence pans out as given in the note to 3 below. 2. Than this rich praise, that you alone, are you, See above. you alone are you contains echoes from the Catholic Mass - tu solus sanctus, tu solus altissimus, tu solus dominus - you alone are holy, you alone are the most exalted, you alone are the Lord. It therefore treads a thin line between blasphemy and praise, a feature which has already been noted in earlier sonnets,8,34,52,74, and occurs later in 105 & 108. 3. In whose confine immured is the store If we take the antecedent whose to be you above, then 3-4 can be read as meaning 'within the confining limits of your person is walled in (immured) the reservoir (store) from which an example or copy might be built up as if to equal you in growth and stature'. 4. Which should example where your equal grew? See above. example = provide an example of, exemplify.

... 5. Lean penury within that pen doth dwell Lean penury = poverty, which is thin i.e. lean (through lack of food): that pen = the pen of that writer who etc.; that poet. 6. That to his subject lends not some small glory; to his subject = to his theme or subject matter. But with a suggestion perhaps of a monarch ennobling his subjects by his mere presence. lends = gives, provides. As in 82: What strained touches rhetoric can lend, 7. But he that writes of you, if he can tell tell = narrate, give an account. There seems to be an undercurrent of accounting, financial and legal phraseology - store, penury, lends, writes, tell, copy, writ, add. 8. That you are you, so dignifies his story. so = in that way, simply by doing that. dignifies his story = adds dignity to his poem, description

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