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The Rival Poet Sonnets
Shakespreare seems to be rather paranoid about others stealing his ideas and his muses. Admittedly he did have people stealing his stuff like Thomas Thorpe, who published an unauthorized collection of Shakespeare's sonnets that Thorpe managed to swipe. Beyond that, Shakespeare feared the lose of his patron to other artists. The loss of his patron would lead to starvation and an inability to work with his talents. Christopher Marlowe was his main business rival until Marlowe died in a tavern brawl. Many of Shakespeare's plays and characters can be traced back to Marlowe. This clear direction of influence scared Shakespeare, thinking perhaps patrons would want the original as opposed to the better second generation. Then again, Marlowe might not have been the poet referanced as the "alien pen" in Sonnet 78. He simply is the most likely candidate.
And Now, for the Comic!!
Sonnet 78
So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse
And found such fair assistance in my verse
As every alien pen hath got my use
And under thee their poesy disperse.
Thine eyes that taught the dumb on high to sing
And heavy ignorance aloft to fly
Have added feathers to the learned's wing
And given grace a double majesty.
Yet be most proud of that which I compile,
Whose influence is thine and born of thee:
In others' works thou dost but mend the style,
And arts with thy sweet graces graced be;
But thou art all my art and dost advance
As high as learning my rude ignorance.
Rival Poet Sonnets (A Series?)
Obviously Shakespeare often wrote in series, like the Dark Lady sonnets and the Procreation sonnets. However, the Rival Poet Sonnets aren't a proper series, more like scattered phrases in several sonnets and three sonnets strictly devoted to rival poets and/or artists.
Rival Poets (like Marlowe)
Sonnet 78
Themes
*Flight
*Theft
Statment
Shakespeare wants his muse to only sit for him, and to reject all other artists
When complimenting his muse, Shakespeare uses words that relate to angels like " wing" and "on high." He wants her to realize what he thinks of her and to therefore cease posing for other models.
Whenever Shakespeare refers to the other artists he uses words like "alien" to insult them and portray them as something not like him, not like regular British folk. Given the social climate of the time, anyone foraign, or "alien" was excluded and often feared. Since the purpose of the sonnet is to make his muse stop being anyone else's muse, characterizing the rivals as "alien" would have helped.