Sonnet 76

At its core, “Sonnet 76” is a juxtaposition of the traditional methods of writers like the speaker (and the poet), and experimental, innovative methods of newer writers and artists. In the opening line, “Why is my verse so barren of new pride” (Line 1), one of the often overlooked key words is “new”—the speaker feels caught in the past and wonders why their work does not compare with the proud, fertile compositions of those around them. The first half of the poem centers around this discontent; there is a sense that the speaker has been left behind because of their adherence to tradition.

While there is no major, dramatic turn in this attitude, the line “To new-found methods and to compounds strange” (Line 4) hints at the shifting perspective as the speaker reconsiders their own “pride” (Line 1) in their work. This may even be subconscious rather than overt, which is why it is portrayed through subtle language rather than as a declaration. The descriptions are not complimentary and carry a feeling of wariness bordering on disdain; “compounds strange” (Line 4) suggests a modernist bastardization of a proud tradition rather than an evolution of it. In the following quatrain, the speaker considers the way their writing style has come to be indicative of the speaker themself—an idea that is still very true today as this language is considered to be a Shakespearean style, and this exact poetic form has even become known as a “Shakespearean sonnet.