.." (line 8). This quatrain as a whole makes it clear that the meaning of the poem applies to the poem itself.
The third quatrain is entirely regular, as is the first line of the closing couplet, but the final line of the poem has an inverted first foot that continues the pattern of breaking up the structure of the poem and the meter at key moments. The final couplet reads: "For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; / Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds" (lines 13-4). Continuing the same interpretation of the poem as self-referential that has heretofore been used, this line suggests that the poem and even the poet's skill could be turned sour by using used for ill purposes (such as more directly accusing the perceived cause of the poet's displeasure), and the inverted first foot of the second line of the couplet again arrests the reader's attention and calls attention to the structure of the poem, making the slef-referential quality quite apparent. It is also interesting to note that the second syllable of the first word is "lies," meaning deceptions. The fact this syllable, which...
It is not even necessarily the most valid interpretation. But it certainly has a solid basis in the structure of the poem, particularly at the points in which the meter was deliberately broken. A poet of Shakespeare's quality would not emphasize things arbitrarily; his break with the strict meter of the sonnet must have served a purpose, and in this poem it clearly influences the meaning of the work.
