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What is were’t in “Were’t ought to me I bore the canopy” from Shakespeare's sonnet 125?

Is it the same as weren't?

Were’t aught to me I bore the canopy,
With my extern the outward honouring,
Or laid great bases for eternity,
Which proves more short than waste or ruining;
Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour
Lose all, and more, by paying too much rent,
For compound sweet forgoing simple savour,
Pitiful thrivers, in their gazing spent?
No;—let me be obsequious in thy heart,
And take thou my oblation, poor but free,
Which is not mix’d with seconds, knows no art,
But mutual render, only me for thee.
‎          Hence, thou suborn’d informer! a true soul,
‎          When most impeach’d, stands least in thy control.

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    You've mis-quoted it in the question. It's "aught" not "ought". That's probably confusing you.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Aug 9 at 9:55
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    Thank you for answer. But in my version of book it is "ought". Mistake, I think.
    – Wilfred
    Commented Aug 9 at 10:05
  • @StuartF I completely missed that!
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 9 at 10:16
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    I though aught/ought were alternative spellings of the pronoun meaning something, with the negatives naught/nought meaning nothing. Shakespeare/Shakspeare/Shakspere was not always consistent in his spelling, even of his own name.
    – Henry
    Commented Aug 9 at 20:57

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In my copy there is a space: were 't aught to me.... It's fairly common to encounter 't for it (also seen in 'tis for "it is"), and that is what it means here. As you may know, aught means "anything" or "something." The bare were is also rather archaic, a use of the subjunctive; it could mean "if it were anything to me..." or "would it be anything to me if..."

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    Were it my answer, I would not have called this archaic ;-). British English still uses “were...” like this, especially in academic writing and “broadsheet” journalism.
    – KrisW
    Commented Aug 11 at 12:21
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    Many of us in USA also consider it the "correct" subjunctive.
    – WGroleau
    Commented Aug 11 at 16:39

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