Great Regulars: The speaker/teacher then explains that

he wants his students "to waterski/across the surface of a poem/waving at the author's name on the shore." He wants them to continue playing with the poem, giving perhaps a bit of recognition to the poet, but not allowing the poet to dictate how the poem will click inside the student's head.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Billy Collins' 'Introduction to Poetry'

~~~~~~~~~~~

The second quatrain continues the speaker's list of complaints: honor is misplaced; virtue is prostituted; perfection falls short; strength is "disabled" by "limping sway."

The speaker is offering generalities that hold true for any generation. There is always a current example of honor being "shamefully misplac'd." In the 20th and 21st centuries, the honor of the Nobel Peace Prize has suffered tremendously as partisan committees have degraded that prize by awarding it to terrorists and political hacks.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Shakespeare Sonnet 66

~~~~~~~~~~~