humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare

On Mar 17, 4:04 pm, David Kathman wrote:
> On Mar 17, 11:36 am, "Paul Crowley"
>
>
>
> wrote:
> > "Peter Farey" wrote in message
>
> >news:frljdn$67t$1$8302bc10@news.demon.co.uk...
>
> > > Alan Jones wrote:
> > >> The natural sense of "begetter" would seem to be
> > >> "inspirer". The poet is the "mother" who conceives
> > >> and brings forth the poem, but its seed was planted
> > >> by someone else, Mr W.H. He may be the subject of
> > >> the poem (though that does stretch the "begetter"
> > >> metaphor) or more likely the person who suggested
> > >> an idea or theme.
>
> > > This is of course the standard line, which ignores
> > > the very good points that Foster is making against
> > > such a theory. In fact I have been unable to find any
> > > attempt to refute the point he makes about the poet
> > > himself being the "onlie begetter". G. Blakemore
> > > Evans disagrees but (other than citing the exception
> > > which Foster himself identified and explained) he
> > > gives no reason for rejecting it. I did actually ask
> > > Dave Kathman (who wrote an item on Mr. W.H. for the
> > > Oxford DNB) whether he could think of any attempt to
> > > refute Foster's evidence, but he could recall none
> > > other than the New Cambridge mention either.
>
> > > Even if we ignore his claim that "begetter" in every
> > > other case means the poet,
>
> > It is clear from the grammar that
> > the 'begetter' is not the poet in this
> > instance.
>
> No, it's not, though most people have read it that way because of a
> (usually unexamined) belief that "our ever-living poet" must be the
> author of the sonnets.
>
> > One person is already
> > indicated as 'the onlie begetter' and
> > 'Mr W.H'. Is he also 'our ever-lving
> > poet' ?
>
> No.
>
> > Did he promise himself 'all
> > happinesse and that eternity'?
>
> No. God did, since God, in early seventeenth-century usage, was the
> only one capable of "promising eternity" to somebody.
>
> Dave Kathman
> d...@ix.netcom.com
>
> > TO THE ONLIE BEGETTER OF
> > THESE INSVING SONNETS
> > Mr. W.H. ALL HAPPINESSE
> > AND THAT ETERNITIE
> > PROMISED
> > BY
> > OVR EVER-LIVING
> > POET
> > WISHETH
> > THE WELL-WISHING
> > ADVENTVRER IN
> > SETTING
> > FORTH.
> > T.T.
> > SHAKE-SPEARES,
> > SONNETS.
>
> > Paul.

The Poet means 'immortality' as in my Sonnets
will make you immortal.