Summary

The poem begins with the speaker questioning why Shakespeare would need elaborate monuments erected for his tomb. He wonders why "the labor of an age in piled stones" and a "star-ypointing pyramid" would be considered appropriate for Shakespeare's burial (2-4). He then addresses Shakespeare directly, saying, "Dear son of Memory, great heir of fame, / What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name?" (5-6). He disparages these types of monuments as not representing Shakespeare's legacy appropriately.

The speaker contends that, instead, Shakespeare's legacy resides "in our wonder and astonishment" (7). He says that in his readers' minds, Shakespeare has built himself "a live-long monument" (8). He compares Shakespeare to other poets who labor against "slow-endeavouring art," and asserts that Shakespeare, by contrast, produced work of "easy numbers" that flowed right to the hearts of his readers (9-10). Everyone who read him, the speaker argues, was deeply...