{lime tree}: Shakespeare's Sonnet 71

The way I read this poem, the central figure is the paradox of false humility: it comes to say the opposite of what it ostensibly says: do not remember me after I am dead; mourn for me only as long as the surly sullen bells are ringing. The idea is that the speaker is so unworthy that the "wise world" (sarcastic alliteration: the world was "vile" only a few lines earlier) will mock the addressee for having loved him. "Remember me not," however, is an impossible command to fulfill (don't think about a white polar bear!). Don't let a little thing like our friendship get in the way of something so important as your social standing! "My poor name" is ambiguous: is he saying "poor me," I will be dead, or "poor me," I am unworthy of your love and friendship due to my low social standing?

What the poem is really saying is: "If you truly love me, you will mourn for me even though others might ridicule you for it. Reading these lines, you will realize that your concern for your worldy position is misguided."