anything can be that he was one who had elected his own self-effacement, and that disrepute was
one, if not the principle, motive" (174).
What do orthodox scholars say in response to this?
For the most part --
nothing. In fact, one gains the distinct impression that orthodox
Shakespeareans prefer not to read these poems. Orthodox commentary on the series of Sonnets in
which the author makes these explicit statements (71-76, 81 and 112) is remarkably elliptical and
utterly fails to even acknowledge their evidently paradoxical character when read in an orthodox
light. From Rollins (1944) we learn next-to-nothing. John Dover Wilson (1966) can bring
himself to write less than forty words on Sonnet 72 --
fewer than any other in his edition --
although he does wonder whether "that which I bring forth" refers to Sonnets or to plays.
Stephen Booth (1977 259), repeating a point picked up by Rollins from Abbott, assures us that
the phrase "my name be buried where my body is!" is a hortatory subjunctive meaning "let my
name be buried…” But all these writers are silent about the implications of such an exhortation.
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