Sonnet 76

Words are at the heart of “Sonnet 76” and are mentioned directly several times: in “every word doth almost tell my name” (Line 7) and “my best is dressing old words new” (Line 11). The opening line, which is also the poem’s alternate title, “Why is my verse so barren of new pride” (Line 1), immediately alludes to the core conflict of which words are the fundamental building blocks. As a poet, the speaker uses words as their primary artistic medium in the same way that an artist would use paint or a musician would use an instrument. Now, the speaker’s tools are failing them. The poem later refers to the idea of “compounds strange” (Line 4)—explored in more detail below—which may allude to the way words and language are changing with the times. Here words transform from a comforting artistic substance to become something alien and uncertain.

However, there is a sense that the speaker still takes comfort in these tools, even as they become aware of their limitations. The lines “you and love are still my argument. / So all my best is dressing old words new” (Lines 10-11) suggest that even though the speaker keeps turning to the same literary devices and phrases, these words have grown comfortable with time and repeated use.