Many Renaissance sonnets lean heavily on classical mythology, but Drayton’s speaker has little patience for such overblown displays. He lists the whole cast — flames, lightnings, the Fates, the Furies, Elysium, Styx — only to dismiss them one by one. He’s not brave enough to tangle with Erinnys or Ate; he quakes at Hecate’s spells and can’t shake his fear of bugbears even in Apollo’s temple. Even Minerva and Astraea, emblems of wisdom and justice, get the cold shoulder. The tone is wry and self-deprecating, but the rejection clears space for something simpler. In the final line, the bravado falls away, and he turns to the only inspiration he truly needs: his “divine Idea.” His ‘divine Idea’ — the mistress idealized in these sonnets — outshines all that mythological glamour. The poem lands on a quiet, sincere note: real love doesn’t need to shout.
Sonnet XXXIX: Some, When in Rhyme — Summary
Some, when in rhyme they of their loves do tell, With flames and lightnings their exordiums paint; Some call on Heav'n, some invocate on Hell, And Fates and Furies with their woes acquaint. Elysium is too high a seat for me; I will not come in Styx or Phlegethon; The thrice-three Muses but too wanton be; Like they that lust, I care not; I will none. Spiteful Erinnys frights me with her looks; My manhood dares not with foul Ate mell; I quake to look on Hecate's charming books; I still fear bugbears in Apollo's cell. I pass not for Minerva nor Astraea; Only I call on my divine Idea.