SONNET 66

Sonnet 66 is Shakespeare’s list of social abuses and the paradox of society’s distribution
of awards.

Tired with all these for restful death I cry:

1
As to behold a desert beggar born,
And needy nothing trimmed in jollity,
And purest faith unhappily forsworn,
And gilded honour shamefully misplaced,
5
And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,
And right perfection wrongfully disgraced,
And strength by limping sway disabled,
And art made tongue-tied by authority,
And folly, doctor-like, controlling skill,
10
And simple truth miscalled simplicity,
And captive good attending captain ill:
Tired with all these, from these I would be
gone,
Save that to die I leave my love alone.

GLOSSARY
Line
1: tired: sick of, fed up with
2: as: such as desert: (as in just desert) worthiness, merit. Metonymy
uses the quality to represent types of persons
3: needy nothing: nobodies
4: unhappily: regrettably
5: gilded honor/purest faith: honors are ceremonial signs of respect
misplaced: conferred on unworthy recipients
6: strumpeted: falsely accused of being a strumpet
8: sway: those who have authority and hold sway
9: line refers to censorship
10: doctor-like: professional pomposity
11: simplicity: simplemindedness
12: attending: servant to
13 captain: rank appropriated by con men pretending to be was
veterans
COMPREHENSION
1. Sonnet 66 is a world-weary, desperate list of grievances of the state of the poet's
society. The speaker criticizes three things: general unfairness of life, societal
immorality, and oppressive government.
- which lines illustrate the economic unfairness caused by one's station or
nobility?
- which lines portray disgraced trust and loyalty, unfairly given authority
and female innocence corrupted?
- which lines characterize reversals of what one deserves, and what one
actually receives in life?
2. Sonnet 66 is Shakespeare’s list of social abuses and the paradox of society’s
distribution of awards. Read the poem and identify them.
3. What does the poet state in the concluding couplet?
4. The narrator asserts that what is trivial is held in high esteem and what is of
genuine value is disparaged. We gain the sense that the narrator has particular and
personal injustices in mind, yet he writes only in generalities. However, some
injustices mentioned in the poem seem to have connection to the poet. Which are
they?
ANALYSIS
PAIR WORK
1. Indicate the rhyme scheme by writing the appropriate letters of the alphabet on
the lines on the right.

2. Mark the rhythm on the first line of the sonnet.

GROUP WORK
3. The Shakespearian sonnet contains three quatrains and a couplet. Usually each
quatrain explores a different aspect of the poem’s central idea, contributing to the
general development of the theme. The couplet sums up the poem or comments
on what was said in the quatrains.
a. What is the central idea of the poem?
b. What is the premise stated in the poem?
c. How is the central idea explored in each of the quatrains?
d. Explain the concluding statement in the final couplet.

4. How would you describe the tone of the poem? Does the mood change towards
the end of the poem?
• Melancholic
• Optimistic
• pessimistic