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Duncan Jones
Duncan Jones
T H I R D S E R I E S
General Editors: Richard Proudfoot, A n n T h o m p s o n
and David Scott Kastan
SHAKESPEARE'S
SONNETS
T H E A R D E N S H A K E S P E A R E
CYMBELINE edited by J. M . N o s w o r t h y
* T h i r d series
T H E A R D E N S H A K E S P E A R E
SHAKESPEARE'S
SONNETS
Edited by
KATHERINE D U N C A N - J O N E S
For my mother and my daughters
T y p e s e t in Ehrhardt by M u l t i p l e x T e c h n i q u e s L t d
Printed in Italy
I S B N 0 - 1 7 - 4 4 3 4 7 4 - X (hbk)
I S B N 0 - 1 7 - 4 4 3 4 7 3 - 1 (pbk)
NPN 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
CONTENTS
Preface xii
Introduction 1
Date 1
Publishing history 29
Context and allusion 45
Reception and criticism 69
Shakespeare's Sonnets 85
This edition 103
v
The Editor
VI
ILLUSTRATIONS
vu
Illustrations
Vlll
GENERAL EDITORS'
PREFACE
IX
General Editors ' Preface
THE TEXT
O n each page of the work itself, readers will find a passage of text
supported by commentary and textual notes. In the text itself,
unfamiliar typographic conventions have been avoided in order to
minimize obstacles to the reader. Elided forms in the early texts
are spelt out in full wherever they indicate a usual late-twentieth-
century pronunciation that requires no special indication. Marks
of elision are retained where they are necessary guides to the
scansion and pronunciation of the line. Final -ed in past tense and
participial forms of verbs is always printed as -ed, without accent,
never as -'d, but wherever the required pronunciation diverges
from m o d e r n usage a note in the commentary draws attention to
the fact. W h e r e the final -ed should be given syllabic value
contrary to m o d e r n usage, e.g.
10 bewailed bewailed
x
General Editors' Preface
xi
PREFACE
1 Murray, passim.
Xll
Preface
Xlll
Preface
xiv
Preface
Katherine Duncan-Jones
Oxford
xv
INTRODUCTION
DATE
External evidence
T h e public story of Shakespeare's Sonnets began late in 1598, with
Francis Meres's mouthwatering account in Palladis Tamia (which
had been entered in the Stationers' Register on 7th September):
1 Francis Meres, Palladis Tamia. Wits Treasury. Being the Second Part of Wits
v r
Commonwealth (1598), fols 281 -2 .
1
Introduction
2
Introduction
As H.E. Rollins records, Sir Sidney Lee did not believe that this
'W.S.' could possibly be Shakespeare. Lee argued, with characteristic
3
Introduction
1 Rollins, 2.55
2 Millar MacLure in Marlowe, Poems, xxxi-xxxii; Robert Krueger in Davies, 379.
r
3 Krueger in Davies, xxxviii; BL MS Lansdowne 88, fol. 4 .
4
Introduction
5
Introduction
1 Hieatt,'When?', 91.
6
Introduction
20 M a y
T h o . T h o r p e . Entred for his copie under the handes of
master Wilson and master Lownes Wardenes a booke
1
called Shakespeares sonnettes vjd.
7
Introduction
8
Introduction
9
Introduction
10
Introduction
For some reason the authorities still permitted bear- and bull-
baiting: as Dekker went on to say, ' T h e company of Beares hold
together still, they play their Tragi-Comedies as lively as ever they
did'. So Edward Alleyn, as Master of the Bear Garden, was still in
business, and would theoretically have been in a position to buy a
copy of Shakespeare's Sonnets from one of its two L o n d o n book
sellers, had he so wished. N o t many others of his class and
economic status remained in L o n d o n that summer. By the end of
May 1609, when Q^was entered in the Stationers' Register, plague
deaths had reached an alarmingly high level. In some weeks of
April and May deaths from plague in the City of L o n d o n
approached a hundred a week, and it was feared that the total
might rise even further, though in fact this was to be its peak. As
soon as the Easter Law T e r m ended the City was swiftly deserted
by the professional classes, gentry and courtiers, whose business
2
for the time being was done. 'Shakespeares sonnettes' was entered
in the Register a few days before Ascension Day, which marked the
3
end of the Easter Law T e r m . Perhaps something of a last-minute
rush attended Shakespeare's sale of the copy manuscript to
Thorpe. H e may well have been anxious to complete the transac
tion as quickly as possible before retreating from plague-ridden
London for the summer, presumably to Stratford, where there was
other business to be dealt with. T h e hasty departure of the author,
r
1 Thomas Dekker, Worke for Armorours (1609), sig. Bl .
2 Wilson, 120-1; Barroll, 180-1. John Bell, Londons Rembrancer (1665), gives weekly
figures for plague deaths in the City from 1606-10.
3 Cf. Cheney, 68-9; and Table 16, showing years, including 1609, when Easter Day
was on 16 April.
11
Introduction
12
Introduction
1 Taylor, 'Some MSS'; Kerrigan, 44Iff. For a discussion of this claim, see Appendix,
pp. 453-7.
13
Introduction
not take long to copy out a single sonnet, and in copying it out,
whether for a 'private friend' or for other purposes, a poet of a
self-critical bent, or one who is sensitive to criticism or changing
circumstances, is extremely likely to introduce changes, whether
of single words or of whole lines or quatrains. A sonnet sequence,
still more, is almost bound to be the product of several second
thoughts and rearrangements. It is remarkably easy to reorder
sonnets, either, as Robert Sidney did in his poetical manuscript,
by inscribing different numbers or directions, such as ' T h i s
1
should be first', beside them; or, if individual sonnets or small
groups are written on loose sheets of paper, by reshuffling them
like a pack of cards. T h o s e sixteenth-century sonneteers who p u b -
lished sonnet sequences, and became involved in later printings,
seem almost always to have revised. W h e r e manuscript evidence
survives, that, too, generally points to revision. T h e pre-eminent
sonneteer of Renaissance France, for instance, Pierre de Ronsard,
transformed his 1578 Sonnets pour Hélène into what was in effect
'a new sonnet cycle' in the augmented and revised edition of
2
1584. Likewise, the earliest English 'sonneteer', T h o m a s Watson,
produced one version of Hekatompathia in manuscript for per-
sonal presentation to his patron, the Earl of Oxford, and another,
3
longer, annotated one for print publication a year or so later.
Fulke Greville revised his sequence Caelica several times, over a
period of years, at one time shortening it, and at another reinstat-
ing previously rejected sonnets, as the Warwick Castle manuscript
4
shows.
T h e most extreme example of repeated revision of a sonnet
sequence is offered by Shakespeare's Warwickshire neighbour
Michael D r a y t o n . O u t of the early Ideas Mirrour, 1594, Drayton
eventually generated the final version of Idea, 1619, through the
process of at least five revisions. Only twenty of the original
14
Introduction
1 Davies, 163-7.
2 Drayton, 2.310.
3 Drayton, 5.139. For a detailed analysis of Drayton's revisions, see Drayton,
5.137-44; note also the useful 'Finding-List' on pp. 326-8.
15
Introduction
16
Introduction
17
Introduction
1
literally to plagiarize himself.' O n e of Shakespeare's few other
exact quotations, again a single aphoristic verse line, ' W h o ever
loved, that loved not at first sight?' (AYL 3.5.82), was included
as an acknowledged tribute to its author, the 'dead shepherd'
Marlowe, who had been m u r d e r e d six or seven years before As
You Like It was written. O n this analogy, it cannot be safely
assumed that close verbal reminiscence necessarily implies prox
imity in time to the work recalled, whether a work by
Shakespeare himself or another writer.
Looking to the other end of the chronological spectrum,
K e n t Hieatt has suggested cogently that A Lover's Complaint is
strongly linked with one of the 'last plays', Cymbeline, with ref
erence to the occurrence of fifteen 'very rare words' in both
2
works. H e also points out that the first quatrain of sonnet 73,
' T h a t time of year thou mayst in m e behold', with its
'bough-leaves—shake-bear complex', is closely analogous both to
a passage in another m a t u r e play, Timon of Athens (4.3.265-8),
and, even more, to a speech by Belarius in Cymbeline (3.3.60-4):
18
Introduction
1 Rollins 2.63-5.
2 Baldwin, 340-4.
3 Schaar, 183-94.
19
Introduction
1 Slater, passim.
2 Hieatt, 'When?', 98.
20
Introduction
1 Rollins, 1.225-6.
21
Introduction
1 Hotson, 1-36.
2 Summarized in Rollins, 1.263-70.
3 Sidney Lee, DNB entry on Southampton.
22
Introduction
John Kerrigan has shown how closely the diction and imagery of
107 are connected with the rhetoric of works celebrating James's
accession, such as Joseph Hall's The Kings Prophecie. OR, Weeping
Ioy (1603), as well as with works, such as a 1617 sermon by
1
Donne, which look back to this time. However, he fails to point
out that James's ceremonial entry into L o n d o n was postponed to
the early spring of 1604, because of the severe plague outbreak.
T h o u g h the coronation took place quietly on 25th July 1603, it
was not until a year after Elizabeth's death that the 'balmy time'
of James's reign was publicly celebrated. Sonnet 107 belongs most
probably to the summer of 1604.
An even closer analogy to 107 is to be found in sonnet 51 of
the 1605 edition of D r a y t o n ' s Idea, which exactly m i r r o r s its
account of public events t u r n i n g out, contrary to expectation,
peaceful and harmonious, yet even in their peacefulness d e m o n
strating an instability which contrasts with the single-minded
love of the speaker:
1 Kerrigan, 313-18.
23
introduction
1 Drayton, 2.336.
2 Ibid., 5.141.
3 Henry Chettle, Englands Mourning Carmenl (1603), sig. D3'.
24
Introduction
.- "- .
----
2 Triumphal arch with pyramids, 'The new Arabia felix', erected above the
Cheapside conduit, March 1603/4. From Stephen Harrison, The Arch's 11/.
Triumph (1604), sig. F (Bodleian Gough London 145)
25
Introduction
1 Jonson, 7.106.
26
Introduction
1 Stephen Harrison, The Arch's of Triumph (1604), sig. K l . Cf. also Gilbert Dugdale,
The Time Triumphant (1604).
2 Strictly speaking, what Essex lost was the renewal of this grant, which had expired
in 1598; cf. Lacey, 241-3, 257-67. For Rowland Whyte's account of Essex's arrival
in the Queen's bedchamber, see HMC De L'Isle and Dudley, 2.395-6.
27
Introduction
28
Introduction
PUBLISHING HISTORY
1 John Davies of Herford, Wittes Pilgrimage, through a world of amorous sonnets (no
date, but entered in the Stationers' Register on 27 September 1605).The sonnet
sequence is followed by an extensive collection of miscellaneous lyrics, many of
them associated with the Herbert family.
29
Introduction
V
1 Alexander Craig, The Amorose Songes, Sonets and Elegies (1606), sig. I8 .
2 Alexander Craig, Poeticall Essayes (1603), sig. FT.
30
Introduction
1 Ibid., sig. E 2 \
2 John Owen, Epigrammatum libri 1res (1606); Henry Peacham, The More the Merrier,
containing three-score and odde head-lesse epigrams (1608); Richard West, Wits a.b.c., or
A Century of Epigrams (1608); Samuel Rowlands, Looke To It: for He Stabbe Ye
(1604), HelVs Broke Loose (1605), Humors Looking Classe (1608). Cf. also William
Percy's 'one singuler Booke of Epigrammes', dated 1610, in Huntington MS HM4,
fols 195-217.
31
Introduction
2
1 Cf. J. Dover Wilson, Cam , xlii.
2 First published in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (July 1889).
3 H.Montgomery Hyde, The Trials of Oscar Wilde (NY 1962) 245 (Third Trial); cf.
also First Trial, 115.
4 Sidney Lee's friend and Balliol contemporary H.C. Beeching, whose career was as a
churchman, continued to maintain that the sonnets were personal documents; cf.
H.C.Beeching, ed., The Sonnets of Shakespeare (1904), viiff, in which he explicitly
rebuts Lee's purely literary reading, asking, for instance, 'Did any Elizabethan client
. . . speak of his love for his patron as keeping him awake at night?' It may be sig-
nificant that Beeching's DNB biography includes no mention of this edition.
32
Introduction
33
Introduction
1 This scenario is vigorously explored by Schmidgall; cf. also Bloom, 3, where Bloom
states that Sonnets belongs to '1592 to 1596 or so'.
2 As in 18, 19, 32, 55, 60, 63, 65, 100 and 101.
3 For a contextualization of the theme of poetic immortality, see Leishman, 69-91.
34
Introduction
35
Introduction
1 For a full list of Thorpe's publications, see Katharine F. Pantzer, STC, 3.168; for a
detailed account of his publishing career, see Duncan-Jones, 'Sonnets unautho
rized?'.
2 Lee, 94.
36
Introduction
1 Barton, 94.
2 Jonson, 4.330.
3 The suggestion recorded by Kerrigan (427) 'that Thorpe diverted copies to avoid
the suppression of his volume by Shakespeare' is absurd. Aspley had worked for
Thorpe on many other publications; John Wright may have been chosen as the sec
ondary bookseller precisely because his shop was in a conspicuous position.
4 STC, 3.6, 190.
37
Introduction
1 Rollins 2.6-11.
38
Introduction
1 For strong evidence that Eld's printers at this period were normally faithful to the
accidentals they found in their copy, see Murray.
2 Partridge, Orthography, 70.
39
Introduction
1 Rollins, 2.7.
2 Cf. McKerrow, 251.
3 Lee, 294.
4 Kerrigan, 431.
40
Introduction
1 Jonson, 8.392
2 Partridge, Orthography, 79.
3 Partridge, Grammar, 111.
4 Poems: Written by Wil. Shakespeare. Gent . . ., to be sold by John Benson, dwelling
in St. Dunstans Church-yard (1640).
41
Introduction
in your perusall you shall finde them Seren, cleere and eli-
gantly plaine, such gentle straines as shall recreate and
not perplexe your braine, no intricate or cloudy stuffe to
puzzell intellect, but perfect eloquence.
H e must have been well aware that his own rearrangement and
42
Introduction
1 A Collection of Poems, in Two Volumes: Being all the Miscellanies of Mr. William
Shakespeare, which were Publish \l by himself m the year 1609, and now correctly printed
from those Editions, Printed for Bernard Lintott (?1711).
43
Introduction
44
Introduction
1 Ard\xl.
45
Introduction
1 AS, 15.7.
46
Introduction
1 Richard Barnfield, Cynthia. With Certaine Sonnets, and the Legend of Cassandra (1595).
47
Introduction
1 AS, 1.3.
48
Introduction
49
Introduction
1 Harris, 231.
50
Introduction
51
Introduction
1
young peer who would not have m i n d e d . T h i s is indisputable.'
Despite such attempts to foreground 'the L a d y ' , 'Mr. W.H.'
(Dedication 3) has of course also been the subject of m u c h spec
ulation, as has the 'rival poet' apparently alluded to in 78-86.
Rollins offers a very full account of biographical interpretation
u p to 1944, and S c h o e n b a u m continues the story brilliantly u p
to 1991 in his revised Shakespeare's Lives, concluding that 'this
author fearlessly predicts that, whether or not there will be an
2
end of h u m a n foolery, we have not heard the last of W . H . '
S c h o e n b a u m ' s remark was p r o m p t e d in part by a more recent
a t t e m p t to p u t a woman at the centre of Shakespeare's Sonnets,
Barbara Everett's 1986 article on ' M r s . Shakespeare'. She sug
gested that A n n e Hathaway, 'a powerful, even attractively
masculine woman', identified herself as the master-mistress of
the poet's passion, and that the valuable text was appropriated
and sold to T h o r p e by her presumed brother William Hathaway.
In its bold creativity and defiance of documentary evidence this
article merits comparison with Rowse at his most imaginative.
N o d o u b t S c h o e n b a u m ' s general proposition is correct, and
the present edition is no m o r e likely to p u t an end to biographi
3
cal speculation than previous studies have d o n e . Nevertheless,
the contextualization suggested here for Shakespeare's Sonnets,
as a sequence in part written after 1600, and p u t into its final
shape close in time to its authorized publication in 1609, carries
with it some further implications for the identification of
' M r . W. H . ' T h e case for S o u t h a m p t o n , one of the two strongest
candidates, effectively collapses if this dating is accepted. N o t
only are H e n r y Wriothesley's initials the wrong way round; he
was over 35 in 1609, and recollections of the time when he was
a 'lovely boy' were rather distant. Also, as C h a m b e r s pointed
out, if S o u t h a m p t o n were the poet's 'fair friend', 'one would
1 Rowse, xxv.
2 Schoenbaum, Lives, 566.
3 For another attempt to put an end to further speculation, see Foster, who claims that
'W.H.' is a misprint for 'W.SH.'
52
Introduction
53
Introduction
54
Introduction
1 Wiles, passim.
2 HMC De Lisle and Dudley, 2.478; Brennan, 101.
55
Introduction
2
1 Cam , c.
56
Introduction
1 OA, 3.
2 See Duncan-Jones, Sidney, 168ff.
57
Introduction
2
1 Quoted in Cam , cxxi.
2 Bodleian Benefactors' Register.
3 BL MS Lansdowne 91, fols 45, 143.
4 CSPDom. 1603-10, 515.
5 Brennan, 149.
58
Introduction
59
Introduction
1 Duncan-Jones, 'Nashe'.
60
Introduction
V N I V E R S I T I E S ' by ' B E N . I O N S O N / T H E G R A T E F V L L
A C K N O W L E D G E R ' (see Fig. 5) - a phrase mimicked in
T h o r p e ' s description of himself as ' T H E . W E L L - W I S H I N G .
/ A D V E N T U R E R . ' For the Latinate device of placing a point
after each capitalized word, but with an English text, the model
was perhaps the consuls' proclamation in Act 5 of Sejanus his
Fall, not centred, but capitalized and pointed. Since Jonson's
learned tragedy Sejanus appears to have been written partly in
response to Shakespeare's less learned Julius Caesar,
Shakespeare may in t u r n have looked closely at it, echoing and
appropriating some of its most portentously learned-seeming
accoutrements. And Jonson, in t u r n , may have responded to the
dedication of Shakespeare's Sonnets. As D o w d e n and others have
observed, Jonson's 1616 dedication of his Epigrammes to the Earl
of Pembroke opens rather oddly. After a centred and capitalized
dedication ' T O . . . W I L L I A M / E A R L E O F P E M B R O K E , /
L. C H A M B E R L A Y N E , & c . \ his epistle begins:
1 Jonson, 8.25.
61
Introduction
ro~ THE.ONLIE.BEGETTER.OF.
THESE .IN SVING. SONNE,lS.
Mr. W. H; ALL.HAPPINESS,E. ,
AND.THAT.ETERNITIB.
PROMISBD.
' BY. ;
OVR.EVEJt.LIVING.POB T.
WISHBTH.
THE. WEi.L.WIS
. ..iING~ ,
ADVENTVRER . IN.
·5B TTIN G. .. .
I
'/
' . ' FORTH. - -
T.17.
4 Dedication leaf of the 1609 Quarto (Bodleian Malone 34, title-page verso)
62
Introduction
If
TO THE MOST NOBLE~
AND MOST £~ALL
SgTE.~S
8r. 10.j.~tf
63
Introduction
r
1 Francis Davison, A Poetical Rapsodie (1608), sig. A2 . Cf. also John Davies of
r v
Hereford, Wittes Pilgrimage (?1605), sig. Q2 .
64
Introduction
1 Rollins, 1.284.
2 He died in his house in Stepney about 21 December 1608.
r v
3 John Davies of Hereford, Wittes Pilgrimage, sig. Q2 .
65
Introduction
1 Brennan 224.
2 J.H., trans., St. Augustine of the City of God (entered in the Stationers' Register in
1608), printed by George Eld (1610), sig. A3; cf. also the second edition of John
Healey's Epictetus his Manuell (1616), floridly dedicated to Pembroke by Thorpe.
66
Introduction
& even now all the company are at the play, which I being
tender harted could not endure to see so soone after the
3
loss of my old acquaintance Burbadg.
1 CSP Venetian 1603-7, 11. The original reads: 'Et fra questi il Conte di Pemruch,
giovane gratioso et che sta sempre col Rè e su i scherzi, basciô anco la faccia a Sua
Maesta, che si pose a rider a gli diede un schiaffetto.'
2 John Florio, Queen Anna's New World of Words (1611).
3 BL MS Egerton 2592, fols. 81-2.
67
Introduction
1 Bentley, 7.31.
68
Introduction
r
1 Huntington MS HM 198, fol. 138 .
69
Introduction
1 Herbert, 206.
70
Introduction
1 Morgan, 118.
71
Introduction
1 Ibid., 119-20.
72
Introduction
73
Introduction
1 Ibid., 231.
2 Bentley, 5.1207-9.
3 Joshua Poole, Englands Parnassus (1657); Edward Phillips, The Mysteries of Love and
Eloquence (1658); for a fuller account, see Rollins, 2.329ff.
4 Phillips, op. cit., 138-9.
74
Introduction
75
Introduction
\
~'J
tv.!",.
76
Introduction
1 Coleridge, 2.355-6.
77
Introduction
1 Emma Thompson, Sense and Sensibility: The Screenplay (1995), 61-2, 82.
2 Quoted in Rollins, 2.359.
78
Introduction
79
Introduction
1 Rollins, 2.182-3.
2 Knight, passim.
80
Introduction
81
Introduction
Criticism
T h o u g h not all twentieth-century critics may have been fully con
scious of this, a fear that a personal interpretation of the 'young
m a n ' sonnets might link Shakespeare, or even the love of
Shakespeare - as in the case of Wilde - with criminalized activity
seems to have operated as a powerful disincentive. Most serious
critics and scholars have studiously resisted, or side-stepped, the
temptation to connect Sonnets with Shakespeare's own life and
personality. All three of the most distinguished post-war editors
have dodged the issue. Ingram and Redpath were the most daring,
in their brief comment on
1 IR, xi.
2 Booth, 548.
3 Kerrigan, 55, 74.
82
Introduction
83
Introduction
84
Introduction
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
The title
T h e title of Shakespeare's sonnets is Shakespeare's Sonnets. O n
this point, the Stationers' Register entry and Q^are quite consis
tent; and the appearance of ' S H A K E - S P E A R E S / S O N N E T S '
as a running title in every single opening of Q_also ensures that,
however far a reader proceeds into the sequence, the labelling of
the poems being read both as sonnets and as Shakespeare's can
never get forgotten. (See Fig. 12, p. 104.) T h i s 'genitive' title is the
first of many features that wholly distinguish Shakespeare's
2
Sonnets from other sonnet collections of the period. T h e only
other sequence to include the author's name in the possessive as
part of the title is Syr. PS. his Astrophel and Stella (1591), a
posthumous publication, whose title, probably devised by the
piratical publisher T h o m a s N e w m a n , no doubt emphasizes
Sidney's authorship for the purpose of publicity. However, since
Astrophil and Stella was one of Shakespeare's most important
models, and probably the sequence he most wished to 'overgo',
this wording may have had some influence on the title of Sonnets,
especially if its dedicatee was Sidney's nephew and male heir,
William Herbert. T h e r e were plenty of other models for 'genitive'
titles - there are well over fifty such titles for printed books in the
85
Introduction
1 For a more detailed discussion of 'genitive' titles and their implications, see
Duncan-Jones, 'Sonnets called?'
86
Introduction
87
Introduction
1 According to Roche, 343, this form 'undoubtedly' derives from the publication of
Petrarch's Canzoniere with Trionfi. However, given Daniel's particular devotion to
the more recent poets of the French Pléiade movement, it seems possible that he
found models there.
88
Introduction
89
;:;
;!l·O C<>>ttt&lN'r
oa~ Totutry prace .. 0 . . . and no where Ii..,
~
-::l
I<~
~'""
2.
.r
1\ Louers complaint. lbemiDd and fight di!lr1tlcdly commxir,
Het halrc norloore not ti'd in {orman plar,
Prodaimd In heracarcl.lI'. band ofpridel
~~ WU.tl,A'II. SH.&KI ... IPI& .... Pot (omeyn..,k'd derccnd,d her Ot..' d hot,
Hanging her pale IlId pined check< bcftdc,
t-. FRomoff.hlITwhof••onau.wombe,.....rded, Some inher thr<ed", 611" /!ill did bide,
'"<! ArlslntfuU Aor,. front a r.aru.g val. And tn:w to bondat:. would not breake (tom ,hence,
".....
.... My rpun" t'a",od tlri. dobl. VOf" I«Ct"dtd.
Anddown.llaid .. lilith, (ad run'd tal.,
Though fluldy braldcd in loor. n'glig,n...
E<c long e{pi.~ • field. maid /i,/I pol. A thouc.od {••oun froma maund Ihe dr.....
Q Tcaringofpap<.. bn:akin~ ring•• twaIn., Ofamber .hrill.n and ofbedded I .. ,
~ SmmJing b.. wotld with oaowcs,wlDd Illdnialt. Wbicb one byonc lhein I riUtf tbrc-w,
Vpon wh.(,w.cpingmargenr lb. wu rcc,
~ Vpon her h•• d a p1attld hiue omra ..,
~. Which{ortlli.d her 'lag. Ifom the Swme,
Whereon the thoughe might thlnloc fomctimcit ra....
~k~:Zb~l~~,~h::r.:~t bo.nty{oIl,
\0 S· Tbcc:otb.ofa bniJ<Y{l"'ntand donn.,
Whcrcwant erieJ{om<;butwhcn: n<dJ'. beSS all.
0
;-
.., T.". bad not 6thed all rbat footh begun, Offold,d r,hedull. had Ot.many, OM,
'"-
Nor youth ,II quit,but Jj>igh'ofb ....Dt fell "'ge, Which lhepccufd,fighd"or< and gau, the 8ud.
Som. beaurypccpc,chrougblcttle. oflCac'd Ig •• Crackt maar I ring ofP06ed gold and bone,
0 BiddingthcmfiDdthclr~Wchcnin"'ud.
'-C Oft did /he h.... her Napkin to hereyn., Found y.. mo Ituttl (acIIy pend in blood,
Which on jt had conceited ch2rederJI With atided (Uke,r.... ana affi:tkdly
Pc.,..., !.aundrillg the filkcn fig""" in th.brio.,
lb., (woned woe had p<IIctcd in ''''''',
En(w,th'd and (eald to curiou, (",eey,
And on.. n:adingwh.. contcntJi, bcart..
5' M of.. n n..iIci':fi rndiJlin,;:ilht wo,
Tbcreoftcnb.th'd Ot, inhcrAuxiueti..,.
And often klft.andofitp gaue to tHlt',
03
0
lDdamo.... o{ (aeboth ·grundlow. Cried 0 fal(e blood thou regHI... olli...
Q.. Whot .napp,nued wimca doofi thou bcuc!
;:;- Sorne-mm. her Jeudd eyes theircmiage ride,. lDb_u1d h"". (cern'd ""'n: block. and dat".edhear(1
M ther did batay .. th.lj>hercs l",end. This (aid in top ofng. th.lina/he rcntr,
Ol' Somellme diUCTtftilhrir poore baUs are tide,
::l
To th'orhcd canh;fon,etim<s they do ar..cI.
Big diKonta>i,{o brCalring their COD'......
.,s:: Thcirmw ri,o.ton"""'D!hclt gi!eol..,cI.
0-
..,::l
·.t.
ARUCftIIII_1hat p'oIlUs <m<lI BY,
It. ~
-~- ..
w
.~
Introduction
1 Thomas Thorpe was aged about 25 at this time. Another florid poem by ' T T '
commends John Trussell's Raptus I. Helenae (1595).
91
Introduction
92
Introduction
93
Introduction
Also, the woman, who seems initially little more than an animated
version of one of those 'many maiden gardens' which would
delight in procreation with the fair youth in sonnets 1-17, turns
out as the poem proceeds to have m u c h in c o m m o n with the poet-
speaker of the sonnets. N o t only is she, like him, in the grip of an
obsessive devotion to a fair youth; like him, she is betrayed by the
very words she uses. T h e Sonnets-speaker finds himself ultimately
trapped in a web of his own poetic fabrication. In setting himself,
in defiance of tradition, the paradoxical task of celebrating a dark-
complexioned and unfaithful mistress, he has committed both
artistic and moral treachery, as he acknowledges in 152.13-14:
94
Introduction
95
Introduction
96
Introduction
97
Introduction
98
Introduction
1 Fowler, 175-6.
99
Introduction
100
Introduction
101
Introduction
102
Introduction
THIS EDITION
103
N
.,'"ti
(Jq
SO.MMITS.
Or la,d grcat bar« £01 «atilt"
'"0 To trulllholC uules that rC:CClue thee ~f
ro kec:pe a'llidiun:kttorC:rnm:'bcrthcc. Which proues ",ore thon: then wan orruiolnS"
"0 H:auc I not fcenc dwdlttJ on fOl1'bC and flUOr
V/tte to L'fIPOn: forgetfulnetTe IDo m«.
'5'"
;:l
, "I
Lofe alI,1nd mort by paying, too m1J(h ftCt
(Jq N O!ThyTim<. thou !holt not boB d".1 doeeh.., ••
PY"""yd. boylt "P "","or '!"Sh.
with '
For compouncl{WM,I'oigoiog limpt. (......
PittifuU thriucn itt their gazjag {pent.
Noe,lct Dlt be ob(~uiow: in tliy Min,
::;> To me arc nothin« DOu.eU,nothlng ftnnge,
0 Thcyare bue drefT"'Klg. of a fOf'l"ACt tightt J,ncIuk••thou "'1 oblacioo,poor. bw fr..,
3 Our dues are brecfe,and tbtttfor \'9C admire, Which is- DOt mixt with (c('oocbJcnowJ no ~
But mutual) rcndcr.cndymc:{01 thte.
:;-
(!)
Whu.hou<k>llfoyll.,.... nthui>ould.
And rather mtlc:e them borne to ourdaitc. Hmc•••houf.bbomdJ.fot-r•• _foul<
l'bo> dU"". thlt"'. bd'on: haut Mud thctluouich Whtomofiimpe>chr,fbndskofliD"'T<OI!UouIe..
~ Thyt<giller..nd .hee I both d,fi" ..6
0
-.0 Notwondrinno attheprtftnt,nOC'me.-~ . O Thou my louely BoJw!>oiD "'Tpower.
Doca hciuId limn Iickl. g1oife,hi.lickk,t-m
Forth,tecot3....,d wh.. w,ft< doth l,e,
Whoh>ll by w'l'Dinggrown<,tOd.heuiDlbou'il. '
Pc.,..., Made more or ks by thy cootinualJ Mil:
.. "'Thlt 1 doc 'tOw.ind thi,(ballcucr be. . Thy Joum "Ai tbtring,as thr (we« fdfe gro'fllm•
lfNuut.(foomJncmilkruooetwnd)
I willI>< """ d;fpightthy fyethmdm ...
& thou Sotft oft"fl'ltds AiUwiJl plucke thee bach...
0 :5 u'"
~
OS
0
YIePrtrJde2reloue I
but the
WtfC:
forfonu.n.e, baficrd be
mi~c.
chiJdeo(Gue-.. .
Yn&.t~cd.
Shek«pd thee to chir pUfPOK,thu her skill
M,y time difS'>C•••nd Wftlchcd "'f'Wit kill
Yetfean: hei 0 thou minnionol'hctpfn(utC',
c.. A. {ubirtl to timcsloLte,or to rimes hate,
W..d.URODCweeJ ...dloW<n ..tthRo..... g..hmt SlIe ...y dtl.ine.b.r notllillk*hu ~
"
0;'
;:l
No;. w .. buyldtd farfiomtccid<nt,
h fuff'm not in fmilinge ~,nor raDs
H" A••I',,(.hou~bdcl.,.d)ao{wtt·d....nb<.
And hu12!!fr1_lS to s:c.Ddcr thee.
.,$:
Vndtrthc blow o(ch"Ued dircontent,
Wncm:o tfl inuiting time' our (.lbion calh: r 117
3
0-
;:l
It fn.cts not policy that HtrilKkt,
Wiuc.h workes 011 lwcs oflhon numbed bow"",
But .11 >lone fbnds hugclypolUtick. ,
I Nthe ..ld.g.blochw.. _COttOmlliitt.
Oriflt weare itborc ftOtbC1utiaNlDlift
'w"
..... That ic not groW C':I wim MIt,nor ~wntl with GlOWf".
To ,hi,twitnClC1U thefoles offline,
RII' now is bJackc ~auticl rucctfliUt hcitt,
And Be.utic!landmlwkh.bafbrd Ibamio,
'For (inct each hand hath PUt on Natum:~",'C1',
en Which die forgoodnC's,who hauC' liu'dfotai.rnC'.. Fdring thcfou le wUb AnJf.luUC bon'Ow ~f"acc..
aq' "t S Wttt beauty hath llO name no hol,~.
or.
VVE,'toughllomt I bote th<c.noer. ' But isprophin·d.ifnotliulS in dilgrue,
:r: With mycxtern tJlc!oufWard honOrln"
0, HI ~
~
I
:r:
~
Introduction
105
SHAKE..SPEARES '
. .. $r't:o~ D b'N
: ~y q~,BIJ'(or 7: 'T. and arc
lObe ~ldc by Wi""t.4ItJ~
. :J'o,. Q. + .
, • 'f __ •
,•
"
.1
107
Shakespeare 's Sonnets
108
T O . T H E . ONLY. B E G E T T E R . OF.
THESE. ENSUING. SONNETS.
Mr. W.H. A L L . H A P P I N E S S .
AND. THAT. ETERNITY.
PROMISED.
BY.
OUR. EVER-LIVING. POET.
WISHETH.
THE. WELL-WISHING.
A D V E N T U R E R . IN.
SETTING.
FORTH.
T.T.
109
SHAKESPEARE'S
SONNETS
1 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
1 The sonnet sets out a eugenic propo child; and (ii) his wife (mulier) may
sition: the most excellent examples of give birth to (bear) the child which
natural beings are under an obligation replicates him. The internal rhyme
to reproduce themselves. But the heir . . . bear reinforces the notion of
addressee, to whom this rule applies, replication.
is narcissistically dedicated to self- 5 contracted He is pledged to himself,
love, allowing his beauty to go to waste as in a contract of marriage; but he is
by hoarding it up. also diminished (contracted) to the
1 creatures created things, whether self-reflexive scope of his own bright
animal or vegetable eyes.
2 beauty's rose The rose was often 6 Like a candle, the young man sustains
associated with female beauty and, his beauty (flame) with fuel made from
more specifically, female genitalia; cf. his own body (substance): cf. 3H6
The Romance of the Rose, or Chaucer's 2.6.1, where Clifford, mortally woun
Wife of Bath's Prologue, 447-8. But ded, says 'Here burns my candle out'.
the capitalization and italicization of 8 suggests the polarization of the young
the word in Q^may signal a wider field man's being, one half a cruel foe to the
of reference, encompassing both gen other, which is sweet: the insertion of
ders and, possibly, a metaphysical sweet before the second selfhmts at the
ideal of beauty. Since the Tudor speaker's affection.
emblem was a rose, there may also be 10 only . . . spring There may be a sug
a reminiscence of the widespread gestion that the young man shows
desire, in the first half of her reign, great promise as a courtier: cf. R2
that Elizabeth I should marry and 5.2.46-7, in which the Duchess of
reproduce. The memory of the dead York asks her son Aumerle 'who are
queen and dead dynasty was fresh at the violets now / That strew the green
the time of Q^s publication. lap of the new-come spring?' - that is,
3 riper suggests fruit rather than flow who promise to be favourites with the
ers, indicating the speedy process of new King? The word only carries a
growth. Cf. also the proverb 'Soon positive sense of 'supreme', 'out
ripe, soon rotten' (Tilley, R133), standing', as in Robert Greene's
echoed in /?2 2.1.153. description of Shakespeare as 'the
4 His tender heir The possessive pro onely Shake-scene in a countrey'
noun is the first indication that the (Groat's-worth of wit [1592], printed
addressee is male. A tender heir is, pri in Schoenbaum, Life, 115-16); or, on
marily, a young heir (cf. Lat. tener); the previous leaf of (^(Dedication, 11.
but there is probably also an allusion 1-3), Thomas Thorpe's description of
to a false etymology of mulier (Lat. 'Mr. W.H.' as 'only begetter' of Son.
woman, wife) from mollis aer (Lat. soft In his beauty, the young man is a her
air), which was attributed to Cicero, ald, or precursor, to a spring full of
and occurs in one of the earliest 'gauds', or rich ornaments: gaudy does
English printed books, William not necessarily carry connotations of
Caxton, trans., Jacobus de Cessolis: The vulgarity or excess; cf. LLL 5.2.812.
Game of Chess (c. 1483) Scolar Press, 11 bud a common image for a promising
1976, sig. G8: 'the women ben young man: cf. Henry Gifford's poem
lykened unto softe waxe or softe ayer, For Soldiers (c. 1580), 1, 'Ye buds of
and therefore she is callyd Mulier Brutus' land' (Jones, 324).
whiche is as moche to saye in latyn as content happiness, but also 'con
mollis aer'. Shakespeare used this pun tents', that which is contained: the
as a crucial narrative element in Cym innermost wealth of his beauty and
5.5.448-9. For those who pick up this manhood is 'buried', instead of being
allusion, 1. 4 suggests both (i) his unfolded, as the bud image suggests it
memory may be sustained by his should.
112
J
Shakespeare s Sonnets 1
113
2 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
2 When the young man has lost his it an allusion to the parable of the tal
beauty, he can guard against reproach ents (Matthew, 25.14—30), in which a
by pointing to offspring in whom it is lord, figuring God, after some years'
renewed. This is a traditional argu absence asks his servants to account
ment for procreation, though one for the talents (coins) he had left in
more commonly used in poems in their keeping
which a male speaker attempts to 7 deep-sunken eyes contrasted with
seduce a female addressee. (Perhaps it bright eyes in 1.5
was because of the ease with which it 8 all-eating s h a m e recalls the image
could be accommodated to the hetero of gluttony at the end of the previous
sexual convention that this poem sonnet. Traditionally, it is time that
acquired great popularity in the 1620s devours all (tempus edax rerum: cf. 19.1
and 1630s, from when a dozen M S and n.); the attribution of this process
texts survive, eleven of which repre to shame makes ageing seem disgrace
sent a different, probably inauthentic, ful.
version (see Appendix, p. 453).) thriftless unprofitable; praise that is
1 forty winters The number is formu no praise
laic for 'many', as in the 'forty years' 9 deserved would merit
during which the Israelites fed on 11 s u m . . . excuse enumerate my assets,
manna in the wilderness (Exodus, and make reparation (excuse) for my
16.35). The citation of winters, rather own (old) age. Alternatively, my old
than summers, stresses the withering, excuse could refer to the arguments
blighting aspect of time. used previously, in sonnet 1, by the
2-3 thy . . . T h y If stress is placed on poet: i.e. 'justify yourself on the basis
thy, it is implied that the speaker's established earlier by me'.
brow is already wrinkled. 12 Proving demonstrating, or discover
3 proud livery splendid clothes, imag ing, or both
ing the young man's physical attrac by succession beauty inherited legally,
tions, but also suggesting that they are by inherited right (OED succession 4b)
impermanent 14 And . . . cold The (no longer) young
4 tattered weed torn garment man will perceive the renewal of his
6 treasure continues the image in blood-line and beauty when his own
1.11-12, in which the youth is miser body has undergone the wintry
ly in hoarding up his beauty, adding to process of ageing.
114
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 2
115
3 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
3 The sight of his own face reflected in The Steele Glas (1576); and The
a mirror should warn the youth of the Mirrour for Magistrates (1559
need to father children, so that his onwards). Suggests 'you see your
beauty may be renewed in offspring, mother's youth imaged in you', and
even as his mother's has been renewed 'your mother sees herself imaged in
in himself. More explicitly than the you', and 'others, seeing you, receive
two preceding sonnets, this one indi an image of your mother when she
cates that the addressee is male. The was young'. The selection of mother,
poet begins by reinforcing the young rather than father, to exemplify the
man's narcissism, but finds within it continuation of family traits may sug
an argument for procreation. gest a reference to a well-known
1-2 Look . . . N o w The stress on these mother; for instance, for those who
opening words lends emphasis to the identify the youth with William
command. Herbert, the 'subject of all verse',
3 fresh repair the youthful condition Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke.
of your face, which is currently in It is consistent with this sonnet's pre
'good repair' occupation with engaging the youth's
4 beguile the world trick, betray the interest in the feminine; it hints also
world; the stress on the youth's oblig that the youth is still so young as to
ation to the world recalls 1.14. have a freshness of complexion which
unbless s o m e m o t h e r deny some is as much feminine as masculine, as
(potential) mother her happiness in 20.1.
(bliss, or blessing); the verb is appar 10 lovely April her bloom of youth; cf.
ently Shakespeare's coinage. AYL 4.1.147.
5 uneared unsown, as with ears of 11 windows o f thine age The implicit
corn; i.e. a virgin womb suggestion is that the glass gazed on in
6 Human procreation was often youth will become a translucent 'win
described in terms of agriculture; cf. dow' in maturity, recalling St Paul's
Agrippa's account of Julius Caesar's famous account of the prospect of
affair with Cleopatra: 'He plough'd spiritual vision in maturity: 'For now
her, and she cropped' (AC 2.2.228; cf. we see through a glass darkly; but then
also MM 1.4.44). There is a further face to face' (1 Corinthians, 13.12).
play on the association of husbandry 12 In spite of his own wrinkles, he will,
with marriage - being a husband - as in his child, view his own earliest
well as practising husbandry, i.e. farm youth. Within the cycle of man's life,
ing, with additional connotations of youth is the Golden Age; cf. 'the gold
'husbanding' precious resources . en prime of this sweet prince', R3
7 fond foolish, silly; but also fond = lov 1.2.252; or Andrew MarvelPs 'The
ing Picture of little T.C. in a Prospect of
7-8 the . . . self-love a stronger reminis Flowers', 1-2: 'See with what simplic
cence than in 1.14 of VA 757-60 ity / This Nimph begins her golden
9 T h o u . . . glass The literal glass of daies!' (Marvell, 1.40-1).
1.1 here becomes metaphorical. A 13 r e m e m b e r e d not to be without a
'glass' or 'mirror' often stood for an desire to be remembered; or with a
exemplary image, rather than an exact desire not to be remembered
simulacrum; cf. George Gascoigne,
116
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 3
5 uneared] vn-eard 8 self-love] selfe loue 13 live] love Capell 14 image] Image
117
4 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
118
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 4
119
5 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
5 The process which has brought the II. 3, 'to arrest, stop or retard'.
young man to his present physical 8 Beauty o'er-snowed suggests both a
perfection will in the same manner once verdant landscape now covered
bring him to decay. However, deploy with snow, and white hair on a human
ing a metaphor which readers of head
Sidney's New Arcadia will recognize 9 s u m m e r ' s distillation rose-water,
as symbolizing marriage, the speaker much used in Elizabethan cookery
tells him that he can preserve the and medicine; cf. Fettiplace, 147-8.
essence of his beauty, even as The central issue is still the preserva
Elizabethan housewives preserve tion of beauty's rose (1.2). The source
roses by distilling rose-water. of the image is a passage in Sidney's
1 hours pronounced as two syllables, Arcadia in which 'crystalline mar
and spelt 'howers' in Q riage' is compared to 'a pure rose-
frame create water kept in a crystal glass' (NA,
4 unfair 'to deprive of fairness or beau 333).
ty' (OED, with this example); sug left in retrospect, gives leaves in 1. 7
gests also 'treat unfairly', the second some of the character of a verb
sense being appropriate to the activity 12 Some such word as 'survive' is
of tyrants implied: the omission of a main verb
6 hideous in its original sense, 'causing enacts the incompleteness that is
dread or horror' (OED 1) evoked.
7 Vital 'humours' in the human body 14 Leese archaic form of 'lose', perhaps
were seen as equivalent to sap in adopted here to assonate with meet
nature, maturity producing a chilling and sweet.
and drying comparable with the effect still always, for ever; perhaps with a
of autumn on vegetation; cf. Burrow, pun on the still in which flowers are
12. Checked is used in OED's sense transmuted into a liquid essence
120
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 5
121
6 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
6 This follows on immediately from the increase is not the kind of usury (Q]s
preceding sonnet: the youth must dis spelling suggests also 'usage') which is
til his beauty's rose - that is, marry. In forbidden. To 'use' could denote sex
so doing he will make some woman ual fruition; cf. Oth 5.2.70. Usury, i.e.
happy and will multiply images of lending out money or goods on inter
himself, thus defying death. est, was officially regarded as sinful
1 ragged a transferred epithet: winter's and contrary to Scripture, though in
hand tears nature's beauty, causing it practice widespread.
to be ragged; and an allegorical figure 6 happies makes happy
of winter might wear a ragged cos those . . . loan those who, by having
tume. children, lend their wealth freely to
deface despoil; and, more specifically, the world
obliterate the young man's facial fea 8 ten for one i.e. if he increases himself
tures tenfold by begetting ten children
3 vial a flask or container, symbolizing a 10 refigured replicated your 'figure', or
womb face or appearance; but also added
3—4 treasure . . . treasure The young numbers to the figure one by produc
man is to enrich a woman by bestow ing a hundred grandchildren, each of
ing his beauty on her; his treasure is ten children generating ten more
also the due of a female 'beauty'. That 13 self-willed echoes self-killed in 1.4;
treasure could refer to semen is indi suggests, as well as 'wilful, selfish',
cated by Oth 4.3.89; place could also 'making a will of his possessions only
have sexual undertones (Oth 4.1.261 to himself; and directing his sexual
and passim). desire ('will') only towards himself
5 That way of causing treasures to fair beautiful; but also well-judging
122
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 6
1 ragged] wragged Qj rugged Capell 4 beauty's] Malone; beautits Qj beauties Benson 5 usury]
usery
123
7 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
124
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 7
125
8 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
126
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 8
127
9 Shakespeare s Sonnets
9 This sonnet redeploys the 'public those of their dead father; but also
good' argument invoked in 1 and 4. If through the vision of the children
the youth remains unmarried for fear themselves, who remember their
of dying suddenly and leaving a deso father and look forward to renewing
late widow, he should remember that him in their own progeny
the whole world will be his widow if he 9 Look what whatever, that which (cf.
dies without issue, and he will have OED look 4b). However, there is a also
allowed his own beauty to be a continuation of the image of 'look
destroyed. The weakness of the son ing' from the previous line - 'Look
net lies in its opening proposition: if out for what a prodigal spends'.
fear of leaving a widow is not the 10 Though the prodigal (unthrift) has
motive for not marrying, none of what parted with his treasure, it is still
follows applies. around somewhere in the world.
2 c o n s u m ' s t suggests eating (auto- 11 beauty's waste the waste, or con
cannibalism); burning (as in a self- sumption, of physical beauty; with
consuming candle); and economic some suggestion also of its 'wasting',
consumption or natural decay through ageing
3 hap chance, happen 12 Beauty which is so preserved (kept
4 makeless mateless ('make' = mate, unused) is destroyed in the process; cf.
peer); but with a secondary layer of consum 's/in 1. 2. There may be anoth
OED's sense 1, 'Without an equal; er subsidiary reference to masturba
matchless; peerless', implying that tion (cf. Son 4, 7.13), in which the
only the youth would be an adequate youth 'uses', or sexually enjoys, his
match for The world own beauty, and in the process erodes
5 world . . . widow . . . weep The allit it, especially since each sexual emis
eration has a somewhat theatrical sion was believed to shorten life.
effect of emphasis. 14 h i m s e l f The subject is either bosom,
7 private widow widow in the normal, as a metonym for the young man; or
human sense - individual whose hus the young man himself,
band has died murd'rous s h a m e shameful act
8 By children's eyes by looking at the which is murderous in its effect
beauty of her children's eyes, recalling
128
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 9
1 Is it] It is Benson
129
10 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
10 This is the earliest sonnet in the House: For this noble and ancient
sequence in which the poet indicates Barrony was decaied' (Fynes Moryson,
his own devotion to the young man, An Itinerary (1617; Glasgow, 1907),
and uses it as a bargaining counter. 2.260-1).
The youth's self-hatred is indicated 9 thought intention, outlook
by his refusal to sustain his own fami m y m i n d my opinion of you
ly line; if the other, more public, argu 10 fairer lodged contained in a more
ments fail, he should at least procreate beautiful exterior
for the sake of his friend the poet. 11 presence visible demeanour, appear
1 s h a m e picks up the penultimate word ance; what is perceived when one is in
of the preceding sonnet: its use here is your presence, a word with royal and
both exclamatory - 'For shame!' - and aristocratic connotations (OED 2b)
argumentative: 'Your sense of shame gracious full of grace, or bounty;
should impel you . . .'. another word suggesting the aristo
bear'st Shakespeare often associates cratic status of the addressee
the 'bearing' of love with shame or 12 kind-hearted amiable in intention;
sin; cf. Oth 5.2.240, 'Think on thy but also with some suggestion of kind
sins. - They are loves I bear to you'. = natural, according to 'kind', sup
3 beloved o f m a n y Cf. 31.1. porting the idea of the youth's present
5 m u r d ' r o u s hate develops the behaviour as unnaturally unfeeling
murd'rous shame of 9.14 13 for . . . m e a new and at this point
6 stick'st not do not hesitate to [OED unforeseen argument: it is not merely
stick 15) for the sake of the world that the youth
7 that beauteous roof the house, or should replicate himself, but as a ges
aristocratic family, to which the youth ture of affection to the speaker.
belongs. It may be for the sake of asso 14 in . . . thee in your children or in
nance with ruinate and repair that roof yourself. We might expect the final
is used as a synecdoche for the whole emphasis to fall on thine, rather than
house. on the youth's own continuance, and
8 A contemporary application of the it would have been easy for
image of continuing the family line as Shakespeare to have written 'love of
house-building is offered by Charles mine . . . thee or thine'. That he did
Blount (1563-1606); he 'chose to be not do so may prepare for a movement
drawne with a Trowell in his hand, away from the theme of procreation
and this Mot: Ad reaedificandam anti- towards that of loving friendship.
quam domum, to rebuild the ancient
130
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 10
10
131
11 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
132
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 11
11
133
y
12 Shakespeare s Sonnets
134
9
Shakespeare s Sonnets 12
12
reversed emphasis: that stressed the which will counteract the destructive
speedy growth of a child, this the force of time's scythe.
speedy decay of everyone and every t i m e ' s scythe a conventional image
thing. of death-as-reaper which recalls the
13 And nothing Unusually, the cata harvest-as-death metaphors of lines
logue of loss extends to the penulti 7-8
mate line, making the remedy seem 14 breed . . . h i m children, to defy the
frail. However, sexual innuendo fur unstoppable advance of time: the loss
nishes a more positive reading. The of what was brave in 1. 2 is here coun
nothing which lies between women's tered by the defiant or splendid con
legs (cf. Ham 3.2.115-17) can save, or frontation of loss.
preserve, the breed, or offspring,
4 all silvered] Malone; or siluer'd Qj o'er-silver'd IR; ensilvered Oxf o'er] Malone; ore Qj all IR
1 summer's] Sommers 8 bier] beare 11 themselves] them-selues 13 time's scythe] Times sieth
135
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13 Shakespeare s Sonnets
13 This poem develops the theme of per possess only on a temporary basis;
sonal affection between poet and there may also be a pun on 'leese',
youth, introduced in sonnet 10. archaic form of 'lose'; cf. 5.14.
Adopting an intimate mode of 6 determination end, with connota
address, the poet warns him that his tions of the end of a legal agreement;
present identity will be lost if he does cf. OED lb, 'The cessation of an
not renew it in children. estate or interest of any kind',
1 *Yourself! B u t Q places only a were subjunctive: would be
comma between 'selfe' and 'but', leav 9 so . . . house such a beautiful exterior
ing the phrase 'but loue you are' sus as the young man's body; and such an
ceptible of being read as 'you are love aristocratic lineage, as in beauteous
incarnate'; but dear my love in 1. 13 roof 10.7
suggests that here, too, love is voca 10 husbandry frugal management; and
tive. The first sentence could be para being a husband, as in marriage
phrased as 'O that your identity were m i g h t has the power to
absolute and permanent.' 11-12 the . . . cold continues the season
2 yours sustaining your own identity: al imagery of the preceding sonnet,
for a comparable (though different) with the ageing process seen as the
analysis of the instability of identity, assault of a single winter's day, leading
cf. AC 4.14.1-14. to the empty anguish of death's eternal
here live live here, in the world; with cold. Barren rage suggests posthumous
possible play on 'heir' frustration: after death the youth may
3 Against in anticipation of; in defence remember, too late, that he has left no
against issue.
this c o m i n g end the end of your life 13 unthrifts foolish prodigals; cf. 9.9.
4 sweet s e m b l a n c e beautiful appear dear . . . know refers both forward
ance; but the word semblance, with its and back: 'only unthrifts would
connotations of 'seeming', suggests neglect their inheritance, as I have
something fragile and provisional already told you'; and 'as you well
about this beauty know, you had a father'. There is a
s o m e other a child; with subsidiary further suggestion that 'you know my
sense of a wife, to whom the young love to be dear (valuable)', thus distin
man's beauty would be 'given' in a dif guishing the poet and youth, in their
ferent sense dear, or valuable, friendship, from
5 hold in lease hold by leasehold, i.e. unthrifts.
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Shakespeare 's Sonnets 13
13
2
7 Yourself] You selfe Q; Your self Benson, Cam 14 father] Father son] Son
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14 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
14 The poet claims that he has knowl and easy, rather than discerning.
edge of the stars, but not of supersti Charles Gildon's suggestion of aught
tious astrology, being directed by his predict - 'anything that I find predict
friend's eyes, which tell him that in ed' (Rollins, 1.39) makes good sense.
him alone lies responsibility for the A compositor could easily hear or
future survival of truth and beauty. misread 'ought' as 'oft', and in some
The identification of the beloved's speech it is possible that 'ought' had a
eyes with stars is Petrarchan, but vocalized 'f'; cf. Dobson, 2.946-7.
Shakespeare may have been specifical 10 c o n s t a n t . . . art Your eyes are stead
ly responding to Sidney's AS, 26, in fast guides {constant stars), in which I
which the speaker defends his own discern such skill in divination, or
brand of 'astrology', governed by matter for divination.
'those two stars in Stella's face'. 11 As demonstrative: as; that
1 pluck pull out, extract, with a slight 12 continues the previous sonnet's focus
ly comic tone; cf. R3 1.1.55. on the youth's self, or individual char
2 I have astronomy I have knowledge acteristics, which, if transformed
of astronomy. (converted) to store - to increase, mul
5 fortune . . . tell predict the future tiplicity (cf. 11.9 and n.) - will ensure
with reference to precise (and fleeting) the flourishing continuance of truth
moments and beauty. For the art . . . convert
6 forecasting weather by assigning par rhyme, cf. 11.4n.
ticular conditions to precise (and 14 When you are dead, truth and beauty
fleeting) moments will also come to an end. For date, cf.
7 with. . . well whether it will go well OED 5, 'The limit, term or end of a
with princes: phrases inverted, per period of time'. Cf. Ralegh's reply to
haps for the sake of rhyme, or perhaps Marlowe's 'Passionate Shepherd':
to suggest the ponderousness of a 'Had joyes no date, nor age no need'
conventional astrologer (see Ralegh, 15-17, for both poems).
8 *aught predict Though Q]s 'oft pre Shakespeare used the conceit of all
dict' has been defended by previous beauty being encompassed in the love
editors, as suggesting 'frequent pre object frequently in VA, as at 11-12,
dictions', as Booth points out, 'oft is or 1019-20; cf. also PT 62^: 'Truth
almost never used as an adjective, and may seem, but cannot be; / Beauty
this is the only recorded use of predict brag, but 'tis not she; / Truth and
as a noun'. In addition, 'frequent pre beauty buried be.'
dictions' suggests something facile
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Shakespeare 's Sonnets 14
14
5 minutes] mynuits 7 princes] Princes 8 aught] this edn; oft j£) \3] not indented in Q 14 truth's]
Truthes beauty's] Malone; Beauties j£)
139
15 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
15 Viewing the instability of all mortal time that lays things waste, and is
things (as in sonnet 12), the poet sees itself wasted - and decay are two
that youth, too, is subject to age and aspects of the same process, and there
decay. He attempts to renew his is no real doubt that the youth will be
friend's beauty by means of verbal wit. subjected to their operation: so per
I consider everything consider that haps they 'debate' only in the sense of
everything engaging in discussion; or time and
3 this . . . shows The idea of the whole decay contend or compete, as in all in
world as a theatre was commonplace war in 1. 13. Alternatively, with decay
in the Renaissance, and was given may be attached to To change, — 'time
local definition for Shakespeare by the deliberates how to change you by
opening of the Globe Theatre in making you decay'.
1599. Cf. AYL 2.7.137-65. The impli 12 sullied night implies not only that
cation is that human activities are no age (night) will succeed youth (day),
more than (empty) shows, superficial but that the young man will become
and delusory. morally corrupted
4 the . . . c o m m e n t reverting to the 13 all in war The subject is presumably
idea of astronomy in the preceding the I of the following line, who has
sonnet; suggests that the stars, as declared all-out war on time for the
audience to the theatre of the world, sake of his friend.
comment on and guide human life, 14 Another image of the simultaneous
but in ways that are undiscernible to processes of decay and growth; cf.
us (secret) 11.1 and 12.12. This time the stress is
6 C h e e r e d cheered; = encouraged, on regeneration. The primary image,
heartened building on men as plants in 1. 5, is
checked Cf. 'sap checked with frost', from horticulture, in which, by means
5.7 and n. of 'grafting', a cutting from one plant
7 Vaunt exult, rejoice is made to grow on another: this is
8 wear . . . m e m o r y disappear until analogous to what the poet does in
their glory is no longer remembered; making the youth's 'parts' live afresh
cf. KL 4.6.13, 'This great world / in his sonnets, as well as in persuading
Shall so wear out to naught'. Brave him to join himself to a wife. But
state - splendid condition; cf. 12.2 there is also an ingenious pun, not
and n. noticed before. The poet engages in a
9 the . . . stay the perception of this continuous process of writing, or
unstable condition of the world engraving, so that the repeated 'you'
10 you . . . youth another play on the sounds (you ... youth . .. youth ... you
friend's self or quintessence: you . . . . . . you . . . you) in 11. 10-14 are con
youth makes youth, a temporary verted, by the addition of an 'n', into
attribute, seem integral to the the sound new. The effect is of a
addressee - part of his 'you-ness'. word-game, in which time's removal
II Where in his mind's eye (sight), where of -th from youth, leaving a bare you,
the youth himself is subject of a is outsmarted by the poet's conversion
'show', or miniature drama of the word into new.
wasteful . . . decay Wasteful time -
140
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 15
15
3 stage] state Malone 4 stars] Stars 8 wear] Ma/one; were Q, Benson 13 time] Time 14 engraft]
Malone; ingraft £
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16 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
16 Continuing from the end of the pre Priapus was the tutelary deity of gar
ceding sonnet, the poet suggests that dens.
procreation will renew the young 8 Your children will resemble you more
man's image more accurately and closely than an artificial image,
powerfully than verbal artistry. whether a painted portrait or a verbal
Discussed in great detail by Booth, (flattering?) description; also 'with
xi-xvii. greater liking'.
1 a m i g h t i e r way more powerfully 9 lines o f life the outlines or features
than through the poet's 'grafting', of your living children; lines of
15.14 descent: for a perhaps over-elaborate
3 fortify strengthen glossing of the phrase, see Empson,
4 m e a n s . . . r h y m e Marriage is a more 54-5.
blessed form of renewal than writing that life repair restore; renew; repli
partly because it offers 'bliss', or hap cate you to the life
piness, in addition to the 'blessing' of 10 this appears to be defined by the
children. The poet's verse is barren phrases in the rest of the line, placed
not necessarily because it is uninven- in parentheses in Q; but also, as in
tive (though cf. 26.5. and 76.1), so 18.14, 'this sonnet which you are
much as because it can generate only reading now'
verbal images of the youth, not living time's . . . pen A 'pencil' was a bunch
children. of hairs used as a paintbrush; figura
5 At present you are at the peak of your tively, it could be 'transferred to
capacity for giving and receiving plea word-painting or descriptive skill'
sure; yet hours have already been (OED la and b). Time has painted the
shown to be treacherous: cf. 5.1. youth in bringing him to his present
6-7 m a n y . . . flowers continues the state of perfection; the poet, in writ
image of men as plants from the pre ing, can hope to copy this creation
ceding sonnet: many virtuous young only partially, and in this sense is his
women, as yet unmarried and child pupil. It is disconcerting, after the
less (to 'set' = to sow and germinate declaration of war on time in 11. 1-2,
seeds), would gladly bear your chil to find the poet acknowledging sub
dren. Gardening was a conventional servience to this bloody tyrant, espe
image for fathering children, even in cially since time's pencil will deface the
aristocratic circles: cf., e.g., a 1596 let beauty it has created.
ter from the Spanish agent Antonio 11 fair fairness, beauty
Perez to Penelope Rich, then preg 12 Cf. 13.1. Neither time nor the poet
nant, with greetings to her pregnant can transmit the true living essence of
sister and sister-in-law: 'she gave yow the young man to (future) men.
not those delicate shapes to kepe them 13 If he 'gives' himself in marriage to a
ydle, but rather that you shoulde woman, he will sustain his identity in
pushe fourthe unto us here many bud- a stable condition. Still suggests both
des of those dyvine bewties. To those 'yet' and 'motionless' - the fluidity of
Gardners [the three husbands] I his identity will be counteracted.
wysshe all happines for so good tyllage 14 drawn . . . skill (if you are) delineat
of their grounds' (Ungerer, 1.90-2). ed by your own ability; he will make
It should also be remembered that war on time by making love.
142
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Shakespeare s Sonnets 16
16
143
17 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
17 The last of the sonnets explicitly rec touches of my daughter's favour'; and
ommending procreation: living strained touches, 82.10. 'Touches' can
descendants of the addressee will also denote sexual contact.
demonstrate to future ages the truth 9 m y papers metonym for the poet's
of the claims made for him by the verses, identified with specific pieces
poet. of paper on which he has written
2 If has here some of the force of them. No accommodation is made for
'though': it is implied that the youth's fresh transcriptions or printings. We
merits transcend what can be shown should remember Meres's phrase
in art; yet even if they were fully about Shakespeare's 'sugred Sonnets
shown, they would not be credited, among his private friends' (see
filled Q]s 'fild' has been modernized Introduction, p. 1). Whatever the date
as Jilted, but the possibility of a play of the sequence in its 1609 Q^form,
on 'filed', = polished, rhetorically Shakespeare must have been aware of
refined, cannot be excluded; cf. working copies of some of his sonnets
Introduction, p.97. that were already over ten years old.
3 i t . . . t o m b There has been an inter 10 old . . . tongue The loquaciousness of
esting shift from the suggestion of old men was a commonplace; cf.
4.13 that the young man is self- Aristotle, Rhetoric, 2.13; or Sidney's
tombed to the notion that the poet is elderly Kalander: 'nature loves to
constructing a tomb for him. exercise that part most which is least
Collections of verse were often decayed - and that is our tongue' (NA,
described as 'monuments', following 23). The suggestion is both that the
Horace; cf. Spenser's description of verses' 'yellowed papers' have aged
his Epithalamion (1595) as 'for short and lost authority, and that they
time an endlesse moniment' (Epithal are the work of an old and/or old-
amion, 433: Shorter Poems, 679). fashioned poet.
4 your life your living essence 11 true rights what is truly your due;
parts 'abilities, capacities, talents' with a possible pun on 'rites', or
(OED 12). The poet's verse not only appropriate ceremonies
gives an incomplete image of the a poet's rage furor poeticus, the prod
youth, it fails to do justice to his true uct of a (suspect) state of poetic inspi
merits, even as a funeral monument ration
would offer only a partial image of the 12 stretched . . . song. The strained, or
deceased. false, measures of an out-of-date
5 write express in written words; but poem; cf. OED stretched 4a, with this
also write the words 'the beauty of example. Antique suggests both 'old'
your eyes' and, as in 'antic', 'grotesque or eccen
6 in . . . n u m b e r enumerate in new tric'; cf. Hamlet's 'antic disposition',
verses: numbers = metrical feet or, by Ham 1.5.172.
extension, verses; cf. LLL 4.3.57, stretched stretched
'These numbers will I tear, and write 14 *twice . . . rhyme Q]s punctuation,
in prose'. Fresh numbers also suggests with no break after twice, but a comma
'in currently fashionable verse forms, after it, suggests that the young man
such as the sonnet'; and the sonnets may live a second life in his child, and
we are reading are themselves 'num a second (or third) life in the poet's
bered'. numbers. Though Booth defends this
8 heavenly touches celestial brush reading, it seems to the present editor
strokes or artistically rendered fea confusing rather than convincing.
tures: cf. AYL 5.4.27, 'Some lively
144
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 17
17
2 filled] fild 7 poet] Poet 11 poet's] Poets 12 metre] miter antique] Antique 14 twice:] twise
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18 Shakespeare s Sonnets
18 Despite the claim in the preceding women; see note on the next line. For
sonnet that the poetic affirmation of the second fair, = fairness, beauty, cf.
the youth's beauty and virtue will not 16.11. The word declines suggests the
be believed in future ages without the sun's declension, or setting.
confirming evidence of progeny, the 8 encompasses both accidental and
poet now proceeds to affirm these cyclical decay, untrimmed suggesting
excellences in terms which refer more both 'stripped of ornaments, or trim
explicitly to poetry than to progeny. mings' and 'set off balance'; for the
2 temperate well tempered or moder second, cf. OED trim 13a, 'to distrib
ated, steering a middle course ute the load of (a ship or boat) so that
between extremes she floats on an even keel'. There may
3 darling . . . May The image of often- also be an allusion to menstruation, or
spoiled spring blossom hints at early 'monthly courses' (OED 27), in
death or young love blighted: cf. TGV nature's changing course, implying that
1.1.42-5; or Imogen's lines in Gym the youth transcends the physiological
1.4.35-7: 'comes in my father, / And variability of female love-objects.
like the tyrannous breathing of the 10 fair fairness, as in from fair at 1. 7
north, / Shakes all our buds from ow'st own, possess; but with a sub
growing'. sidiary implication of owe = are oblig
4 s u m m e r ' s . . . date Summer has ed to pay, as in the concept of death as
only a temporary and too brief tenan a debt to nature
cy (leasehold) on nature. 11 his shade the darkness of death, as in
5 the . . . heaven the sun 'the valley of the shadow of death',
6 his may represent either 'its' or 'his'; Psalm 23.4
but, given the comparison with the 12 in . . . grow'st The primary sugges
fair youth, a conception of the sun as tion is of lines of verse which, pace
also a beautiful male (Phoebus Apollo) 17.1-12, will endure until the end of
seems apt. time. The word growest may seem
7 every . . . declines Everything and inapplicable to poetry, suggesting,
everyone that is beautiful eventually rather, 'lines of descent', with 'grow
becomes less so, or ceases to be beau ing' children; yet the final couplet
tiful at all: sometime suggests either does not support this. Lines has also
occasional deviation - a beautiful per been associated with the threads of
son who has an 'off day' - or a life spun by the Fates (Booth et al.).
moment after which a process of irre 14 this this sonnet; or, more broadly, this
versible deterioration sets in. The first work of art, Shakespeare's Sonnets
fair may allude particularly to fair
146
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 18
18
147
19 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
148
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 19
19
1 lion's] Lyons 3 tiger's jaws] Tygers yawes 9 hours] howers 13 despite] dispight
149
20 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
20 You look more beautiful than a woman, of women, who are all false. It would
but you are superior to a woman both be pleasanter to take this as applying
in constancy and in allure; Nature fell only to 'those women who are false',
in love with you, giving you male geni not women in general; but the context
tals which equip you to give pleasure to will hardly allow it.
women, but your primary devotion 5 less . . . rolling Though the primary
must still be to me. A famously puz suggestion is that the youth's eyes do
zling sonnet, which has often been not roll at all, are not untrustworthy,
taken to exonerate Shakespeare from there could also be an implication that
any imputation of homoerotic passion. even his eyes are to some extent false
However, it can be read as suggesting in rolling, only not so much so as if he
the exact opposite, both because its were a woman. For an example of
naivety is too simple to be believed male eyes rolling in a suspect manner,
('because we are both men we can have cf. Oth 5.2.38, 'you are fatal then /
no physical congress'), and because its When your eyes roll so'.
language is slippery and self-subvert 6 G i l d i n g Making everything seem
ing; cf. note on 1. 12. The placement of gold, the eye being imagined as emit
this anatomical sonnet at 20 may allude ting light, like the sun. Like painted in
to a traditional association of this fig 1. 1, Gilding introduces some associa
ure with the human body, equipped tions with false or deceptive appear
with twenty digits; see Introduction, ance; cf. Mac 2.2.56: 'If he do bleed, /
p. 101. I'll gild the faces of the grooms with
1 with . . . hand created by nature her al / That it may seem their guilt.'
self; but the word painted bears con 7 At this time 'hue' denoted either
notations of false or superficial beau 'form, aspect', or 'external appearance
ty, as in 21.2 or 83.1-4, which are not of the face' (OED la and 2). Given the
completely purged by the succeeding opening image of A woman's face, the
lines. The handiwork of nature, who second seems most applicable; the ses
uses her own hand, is implicitly con tet then opens with a correctio of 11.
trasted with that of time, who uses 1-2: 'A man in facial appearance, who
such implements as a scythe (12.13), a has all the varieties of appearance
pencil (16.10) or an antique pen (19.10). under his control'. Controlling may
2 m a s t e r mistress suggests both dou have some of the connotations of
ble gender and double allegiance, as in 'controller', OED 1 and 2, a steward
feudal loyalty and/or courtly love; cf. or household officer; cf. the distinc
'Lord of my love', 26.1. The young tion made in 94.7-8 between those
man may also 'master mistresses', i.e. who are 'Lords and owners of their
inspire devotion superior to that faces' and those who are merely 'stew
bestowed on women. ards' of them. He 'controls' all hues
3-4 n o t . . . change refers to the misogy both by exemplifying them and -
nist commonplace that all women are anticipating the following line - by
fickle: cf. 'Women are as wavering as causing the hues of those who see him
the wind' (Tilley, W698). There is also to be transformed by love and amaze
a pun concealed in not acquainted, = ment. There may be a pun on 'hews'/
'not equipped with a "quaint" (cunt)' 'whose'; and possibly some further
(the word was used in this form by pun is signalled by Q]s italicization of
Florio as late as 1598); and a possible 'Hews', though the suggestion of
one in shifting change, for to shift, OED Oscar Wilde and others that it alludes
9, means to change clothes, especially to an actor or other person called
underclothes, and women, because of William Hughes (Rollins, 2.183-4)
menstruation, have a special familiari lacks supporting evidence.
ty with 'changing shifts', 8 Which refers either to the man or to
false w o m e n ' s fashion the manner his hue or both
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Shakespeare 's Sonnets 20
20
10 nature . . . a-doting The conceit has erotic reading: 'the one thing that
an Ovidian flavour, recalling such sto nature added is, for my purposes,
ries as that of Pygmalion falling in equivalent to a woman's sexual parts'.
love with an image of his own making 13 she . . . out she chose you (cf. 2H4
{Met., 10.260-92), but also Shakes 3.2.11 Off., in which Falstaff selects his
peare's own narrative of VA. military recruits by 'pricking' their
11 by . . . defeated deprived me of you names on a list); and 'she equipped
by adding male genitals you with a prick (penis)'
12 one . . . nothing The primary sug 14 Put your love for me first, but let
gestion is that the added feature is of women enjoy sexual relations with
no value to the loving poet. But since you (and bear you children). For the
nothing also referred to female geni sexual connotations of use, cf.
talia (cf. 12.13 and n.) the line could 4.13-14; for treasure, 6. 3 ^ .
yield a paradox that supports a homo
2
2 master mistress] Cam ; Master Mistris Q, Benson; master-mistress Malone 6 whereupon] where-
vpon 7 hue] hew hues] Hews 10 a-doting] a dotinge 13 pricked] prickt
151
21 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
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Shakespeare s Sonnets 21
21
153
22 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
22 This sonnet celebrates the loving his friend's beauty as his own seemly
dependence of the speaker on his raiment.
friend and his appropriation of his 9 wary cautious, careful, with perhaps a
friend's youthful beauty. shade of OED 4, 'Careful in expendi
2 youth and thou Since the speaker ture, thrifty, prudent'
has vacillated between addressing his 9-10 be . . . will Be as careful of yourself
friend as you and thou, there may be a as I shall be, or as I desire (will) to be
pun here on youth = 'you-ness'; cf. on your own behalf, not on my own.
15.12 and n. 11 chary charily, carefully: chary and
o f one date of the same age wary are here almost indistinguishable
3 behold shall behold in sense, though the first is adjectival,
4 look 11 anticipate the second adverbial.
expiate extinguish, bring to a close 12 He will keep his friend's heart as ten
(OED 7) derly from harm as a nurse does her
5-7 Despite the disclaimers in 21, baby. The epithet tender, though
Shakespeare here uses a familiar poet directly applied to the nurse, seems
ic conceit, that of the exchange of partly reflected from the heart as a
hearts; cf. Sidney's lyric 'My true love 'tender babe', and partly also suggests
hath my heart and I have his', which that the poet 'tenders', or treats, his
was already very popular in the late friend's heart lovingly.
1580s (OA, 45: Sidney, Poems, 75-6 13 P r e s u m e not on do not expect to get
and 406-7). Because the poet's heart back (your heart)
is lodged inside his friend, he adopts
154
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 22
22
155
23 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
23 The poet cannot adequately express love I feel; the strength of my beloved
his love in speech, because of the 9 m y books my writings, alluding
intensity of his passion; he therefore either to Son, or more widely to other
implores his friend to read and papers and writings; 'book' was also
respond to his written expressions of the normal term for the prompt-book
love. from which a play was acted
1 an unperfect actor an actor who is 10 d u m b presagers silent indicators: to
not 'word perfect', does not know his 'presage' normally carries connota
lines correctly tions of foretelling the future, but in
2 is . . . part forgets his lines, loses his VA (457) Shakespeare applied it to
mastery of his role: 'part' was the Adonis' silent blush, an 'ill presage' of
technical term for the lines and cues the words he is about to speak,
to be learned by an actor. 11 look for recompense look for an
3^4 s o m e . . . heart some savage beast or equal return of love
a fiercely passionate human being, 12 The subject is still my books, which
whose excess of passion collapses on look eagerly for a fuller return of love
itself than might be yielded to a ready
5 for . . . trust not able to trust myself; speaker who has spoken more fully
or nervous of the responsibility (posi and eloquently.
tion of trust) I am in 13 silent love Cf. Sidney, AS, 54.13-14:
6 picks up unperfect from 1. 1: 'the cere 'Dumb swans, not chattering pies, do
mony to which love is entitled' or 'the lovers prove; / They love indeed, who
correct words that are required for the quake to say they love.'
fulfilment of love's ritual', Q]s right 14 To . . . eyes negates the commonplace
suggesting both 'right' and 'rite' assertion that iove is blind' (Tilley,
8 O'ercharged w i t h weighed down L506): instead, love is claimed to read
with; and crushed with the 'charge' or or to discern with sharpened insight
responsibility {fine wit)
m i n e . . . m i g h t the strength of the
156
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Shakespeare s Sonnets 23
23
157
24 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
158
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 24
24
1 steeled] steeld Qj stell'd Capell 3 'tis] ti's 4 painter's] Painters 5 painter] Painter 6 image]
Image pictured] pictur'd 9 good turns] good-turns 11 wherethrough] where-through sun]
Sun
159
25 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
160
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 25
25
161
26 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
162
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 26
26
163
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27 Shakespeare s Sonnets
164
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 27
27
5 from far] far from Malone 7 eyelids] eye-lids 10 thy] Capell; their £ 11 hung . . . night]
(hunge . . . night)
165
28 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
28 Continuing the theme of the preced speaker tries to master his situation by
ing sonnet, the speaker describes day means of absurd and blatant denial.
and night, natural opposites, compet He praises the sun for his brightness
ing to prolong his anguish. The and compliment to his friend (him)
repeated rhymes on night in 11. 1, 3, 9 even when the sun is concealed by
and 11 suggest the victim's claustro clouds, and tells the night that she
phobia, though not so insistently as gilds the evening at a time when no
Sidney's AS, 89, which has 'night' and stars twinkle (twire). It may appear
'day' as its only end-words. initially that to please him refers to
1 happy plight cheerful condition thee, the poet's friend; but the suc
5-6 each . . . m e Day and night are ceeding So flatter . . . indicates that at
viewed as a pair of rival tyrants who this point it is the sun that the speak
nevertheless make a league (shake er seeks to gratify.
hands; cf. H5 5.2.133) to seal a bargain 11 swart-complexioned black-faced
to torment the speaker. Shakespeare 13 draw draw out, extend
may have known Spenser's translation 14 grief's length CapelPs emendation
of J. van der Noot's Theatre for of Q]s length to 'strength' undermines
Worldlings (1569), which opens with a the subtlety of the distinction
woodcut showing black and white between day and night: night makes
dogs, representing day and night, the speaker's grief, already experi
attacking a white hind, symbolizing enced as long-drawn-out, even more
Petrarch's Laura. intense; it also eliminates the chiastic
7-8 to . . . toil Night tortures him by pattern sorrows longer . . . length . . .
causing him to lament his growing stronger. The feminine rhymes of lines
distance from his friend. 13-14 reinforce the sense of pro
9-12 Like Katherina in TS 4.5.7, the longation.
166
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 28
28
9 day] Day 11 swart-complexioned] swart complexiond 12 gild'st the even] Malone; guil'st th'
eauen j£) 14 length] strength Capell
167
y
29 Shakespeare s Sonnets
29 Lonely and outcast, the speaker envies that of 'the lark at break of day' sug
the prosperity and talent of others, gests relief and illumination discov
until he remembers his friend, whose ered at dawn. Cf. Cym 3.20.
love compensates him for everything. 12 sullen earth dark, shadowy earth,
1 in disgrace lacking grace or favour with some connotations of melan
2 b e w e e p lament, weep for; cf. KJ choly (OED sullen 4a): this image, too,
1.4.324. suggests that the meditation belongs
outcast state condition of being out to the hours of night.
cast, rejected sings . . . gate Instead of importun
3 bootless hopeless, without remedy ing heaven, as in 1. 3, the speaker, or
4 look upon m y s e l f engage in self- his state, now praises God.
contemplation 13 thy . . . r e m e m b e r e d the recollec
5 one . . . hope someone with better tion of your sweet love for me; or the
prospects, including prospects of recollection of your sweet self, whom
wealth I love. However, there is a touch of
6 Featured like h i m with features (by undermining uncertainty in the word
implication, beautiful) like his remembered, as if the speaker remem
7 art skill of any kind, not necessarily bers his friend as loving him, but may
relating to creative art not be in a position to know whether
scope freedom, opportunity this love continues in the present.
8 least satisfied with the things of which 14 change exchange
I have most: what it is that the speak kings plural; or plural possessive,
er 'most enjoys' is not indicated; per 'kings"; or singular possessive,
haps his own skill with language. 'king's', = that of a king, e.g. James I,
10 Haply perhaps; with a suggestion also who may have enjoyed the company of
of 'happily' the poet's friend at times when the
10-11 m y . . . arising Though this son poet did not; Q]s capitalization rein
net is not explicitly associated with forces the suggestion of allusion to a
night-time, as are 27 and 28, the com particular monarch.
parison of his re-animated state to
168
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 29
29
169
30 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
170
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 30
30
1 sessions] Sessions 5 unused] vn-vs'd 7 afresh] a fresh cancelled] canceld foregone] fore-gon
13 thee, dear friend,] thee (deare friend)
171
31 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
31 The young man is universally loved, clumsy, and does not lead on so neatly
and in the congress of those who love as thee to the Thou of the sestet.
him the lonely poet imaginatively 9 T h o u . . . grave Contrast 1.11-14, in
recovers his own lost (dead?) friends. which the youth was his own grave,
1 b o s o m heart, seat of intimate emo and was reproached rather than
tions; used as a synecdoche for the praised for so being: the young man's
youth as a whole. For its associations bosom is now viewed as a spacious
with close male friendship, cf. MV memorial chapel or mausoleum.
1.3.16-18: 'this Antonio / Being a 10 the . . . gone Trophies suggests sym
bosom lover of my lord, / Must needs bolic relics of past victories, such as
be like my lord'. helmets or battle honours. Here they
1-4 endeared . . . supposed . . . buried probably correspond with 'their parts
The 'e' is sounded in the last syllable of me' in the following line, the sug
of all three words, making an emphat gestion being that the speaker's past
ic assonance with dead in 11. 2 and 7. triumphs in love are now transferred
2 N o longer enjoying the popularity to the young man. Lovers need not
that the youth does, the speaker has carry any erotic charge, and may sim
believed his friends to be dead, and/or ply denote 'those who once loved me',
the capacity for love to be extinct. as in Psalms, 38.11, 'My lovers and
3 a l l . . . parts all the aspects and capac my friends stand aloof from my sore:
ities of love and my kinsmen stand afar off.
5 holy . . . tear a tear of devotion shed 11 their . . . m e the parts of me that
as part of an 'obsequy', or funeral: cf. belonged to them: presumably, his
Tit 1.1.160, 'My tributary tears / I love, as in love's loving parts in 1. 3
render for my brother's obsequies'. 12 due o f m a n y what was both owed by,
6 religious Cf. OED 4a, 'Scrupulous, and paid to, many: cf. the world's due,
exact, strict, conscientious'. 1.14. If this connection is made, an
stol'n Tears are paid or exacted, like implication may be discovered that
coins; for another application of this the young man is selfish or greedy in
metaphor, cf. Donne, 'A Valediction: gathering such diverse expressions of
Of Weeping', 1-9 (Donne, 89). love into himself.
7 interest continues the image of tears 13 Their . . . loved the images of those
as coins; they are the return or reward whom I loved: images may denote a
owed to dead friends. picture or copy, or, conceivably, a
which The subject is all those friends. ghost (OED 4a and b; 5); and cf. Ham
8 But things removed but as things 1.1.8, 'our last king / Whose image
which have moved; 'remove' was com even but now appeared to us'.
monly used intransitively. 14 thou . . . m e You, who encompass or
*thee Charles Gildon's emendation encapsulate all those who love you,
of Q]s 'there' (Rollins, 1.90-1) carries also possess everyone whom I have
conviction: 'there' may be a composi- ever loved or been loved by: you also
torial misreading comparable with the possess my inmost essence - all the
many 'their'/'thy' errors; cf. 26.12n. all. Booth (176-8) raises, but eventu
Though 'there' makes perfectly good ally discards, the possibility that all
sense - 'in thy bosom' - it sounds has a sexual sense.
172
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 31
31
1 endeared] indeared 3 love] Loue love's] Loues 6 stol'n] stolne 8 removed] remou'd thee]
Malone; there Benson 13 loved] lou'd 14 thou, all they,] thou (all they)
173
32 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
32 If the young man outlives the poet, he sophisticated and up-to-date style, his
may come to view his verse as old- love would have generated poems of
fashioned, but is implored to cherish more value (dearer). Whereas in son
it for the devotion it conveys. net 17 the poet anticipates the young
I well-contented day the day when he man dying without progeny, their
pays his debt to nature in full: for positions here are reversed, with the
'content' in this sense (OED 4a) cf. youth (supposedly) imagining the
Oth 3.1.1, 'Masters, play here, I will poet dying without worthy poetic off
content your pains'. It is also a day spring.
with which he will be well-contented, 12 The primary image is military: the
i.e. satisfied, uncomplaining. For better poems that may be produced in
'content' (adj.) in both senses, cf. a later age could have kept better com
Shylock's last line, M V 4.1.390. pany, with superior weaponry or
3 by fortune by luck; by (good) fortune equipment. There may also be a sug
4 deceased deceased gestion of more sophisticated poetic
lover the man who once loved you: structures, with ranks, or successive
not necessarily with erotic connota lines of verse, organized in subtler or
tions; cf. 31.10n. more complicated fashion, as, per
5 the bett'ring . . . t i m e the improve haps, in Donne's Songs and Sonnets.
ment made in subsequent time; by Shakespeare may also have been
implication, poems which reflect this thinking of Sidney's criticism of the
improvement shapeless work of English poets, who
6 every pen Cf. every alien pen, 78.3. write anything they think of, 'never
7 Reserve preserve; keep in a separate marshalling it into any assured rank,
or private place that almost the readers cannot tell
7-8 their . . . m e n Rhyme, though a where to find themselves' (Prose, 112).
rhyme-word, acts as a synecdoche for 13 better prove turn out to be better
'literary style': the poor rude lines of 14 style I'll The internal rhyme, under
the poet will be transcended by the lined by Q]s spelling, seems to mock
high style of more fortunate (happier) the supposedly greater finesse of sub
writers. sequent poets.
II If the poet had lived to develop a more
174
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 32
32
175
33 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
176
Shakespeare '5 Sonnets 33
33
4 gilding] Guilding alchemy] alcumy 7 forlorn] for-lorne 9 sun] Sunne 10 all triumphant] all-
1
triumphant Ard 12 masked] mask'd
177
34 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
34 This sonnet continues the theme and in part physical; cf. Falstaff's question
imagery of 33, with the speaker whether honour can 'take away the
betrayed by his young friend, grief of a wound', 1H4 5.1.132.
addressed as the sun. 12 *loss Capell's emendation to 'cross'
1-2 Cf. Tilley, S968: 'Although the sun has been accepted by virtually all sub
shines, leave not your cloak at home.' sequent editors; however, it trans
2 travail as in Q. Both travail — labour, forms the speaker into a Christ-figure,
perhaps painfully, and travel — make a a metaphor not used elsewhere in Son,
journey, are implied, the spellings and a Christ-figure who will not, con
being indistinguishable in Elizabethan trary to Gospel accounts, forgive
orthography. those who have crucified him. 42.12
3 base clouds suggests unworthy com uses the word in the same position,
panions, like the 'base contagious but in a context that suggests an iden
clouds' surrounding Prince Hal in tification with Simon of Cyrene,
Eastcheap, 1H4 1.2.193 rather than with Christ himself.
4 brav'ry splendour, courage, ostenta Though some of the religious conno
tious beauty tations of repentance and forgiveness
rotten s m o k e Clouds were thought are invoked in 13-14, it is not clear
of as vapours carrying infections, that these are to be made fully explic
such as plague. it in the preceding line; Shakespeare
8 heals . . . disgrace Cf. Tilley, W929: may have been guilty of a non-rhyme.
'Though the wound be healed yet the Booth (189) acknowledges that 'the
scar remains', alluded to also in Luc repetition might be purposeful', illus
731. The use of disgrace in an identi trating the persistence of loss.
cal position in 33 and 34 draws atten 13 pearl adjectival, = made of pearl:
tion to the close linking of the two. suggestive of Christ's comparison of
Here, as in 33, the word implies both the kingdom of heaven to a pearl of
'shame' and 'disfigurement, loss of great price, Matthew, 13.46
grace (beauty)' - a visible scar. sheds Q's 'sheeds' made at least an
9 grief pain which may be perceived as eye-rhyme.
178
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 34
34
2 travail] trauaile Qj travel Malone 12 loss] losse Qj cross Capell 13 sheds] sheeds
179
35 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
35 The young man has wronged his hypothesis that what the compositor
friend; in making excuses for him the saw was 'theis', which he misread as
poet colludes with him and shares his 'their' (RP).
fault. From proverbial citations in the 9 to . . . sense In order to defend your
octave the poet moves to legal termi fault, committed through the bodily
nology in the sestet. senses, I invoke (common) sense, or
1 grieved Cf. grief in 34.9. reason: cf. OED bring in 18f, 'To
2 Roses have thorns proverbial: 'No introduce (into consideration, discus
rose without a thorn' (Tilley, R182). sion)'.
silver fountains Moving water was 10 Your (legal) opponent is also your
often described as 'silver'; cf. R2 (legal) defender.
5.3.59; 2.1.339. 11 'gainst . . . c o m m e n c e submit a
3 s t a i n hide or darken; dishonour: legal (and just) complaint against
clouds were thought of as carrying myself
pollution and disease, and eclipses as 12 civil war internal war, war within the
portending disaster. 'state of man' (JfC 2.1.67); also a war
4 l o a t h s o m e . . . bud proverbial: 'The conducted with civility, or courtesy,
canker soonest eats the fairest rose' respect (OED civil 12)
(Tilley, C56); and cf. 70.7. Canker = a in both within my love and within my
caterpillar or canker-worm (OED 4); hate, and between the two of them
'bud' has already been established in 13 accessory Shakespeare's normal pro
1.11 as a metonym for the young man. nunciation was accessory (cf. R3
5 All . . . faults yet another proverb: 1.2.192 and Luc 922 and 1658); here
'Every man has his faults' (Tilley, used in a partly-legal sense to suggest
M l 16). the poet's complicity in his friend's
6 Authorizing The second and fourth offence.
syllables are stressed. The word is 14 to his still-loved friend, who has cru
used in a legal sense for 'sanctioning, elly, hurtfully (sourly) injured him.
justifying', with a further play on The phrase sweet thief recurs in a
'author' as 'composer or writer' (OED more favourable sense in 99.2. What it
3a): he justifies the fault by writing a is that has been taken away from the
poem about it. poet may be his reputation (cf. dis
with c o m p a r e by means of the sen grace, 33.8 and 34.8), or the enjoy
tentious comparisons in 11. 1-5. ment of his friend's company (36.8),
7 In healing or forgiving the youth's or both. Though the ostensible theme
offence, the poet morally compromis of 33 and 34 is forgiveness, the sus
es himself: cf. salve in 34.7. tained analysis of the process of for
8 *Excusing . . . are Either, offering giveness renews and keeps alive the
more excuse for your sins than they young man's fault. Yet another
deserve; or, offering more than they, proverb is suggested: 'Forgive and
as small sins, require. The common forget' (Tilley, F593), cited four times
emendation of Q]s 'their . . . their' to in Shakespeare's plays; but unlike the
'thy . . . thy' has been rejected in proverbs in 11. 1-5 it is negated.
favour of 'these . . . these' on the
180
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 35
35
3 moon] Moone sun] Sunne 7 corrupting, salving] corrupting saluing Qj corrupt in salving
Capell 8 these . . . these] this edn.; their . . . their X? 10 advocate] Aduocate
181
36 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
36 Continues the theme of the speaker's 'mutual respect' in which the friends
participation in the youth's guilt, this hold each other.
time with emphasis on outward repu 6 separable spite a mortifying situa
tation rather than moral responsibili tion (cf. Ham 1.5.188, 'O cursed
ty. The poet appears to act as a scape spite') which causes separation
goat or whipping boy, taking his 7 love's sole effect the tendency of
friend's blots on himself and rejoicing, love to make the two of us one, as in
at a distance, in the young man's 1. 1; and/or the unique condition or
splendid reputation. mode of fulfilment of our love
1 confess acknowledge, declare 8 steal sweet hours An unexplained
we . . . twain We must remain two separable spite keeps us apart, dimin
separate beings, not united into 'one ishing the time spent together; it also
flesh', as husband and wife; also, we detracts from the pleasures that are
must remain at odds, in dispute. Cf. 'ours'.
R3 3.5.241, 'Go, counsellor! Thou 9 I am not permitted to greet you open
and my bosom henceforth shall be ly at any future time (cf. Glossary, s.v.
twain'; and OED twain 3a. 'evermore').
2 our undivided loves They are unit 10 bewailed guilt the shame that the
ed in affection, but physically sepa poet has lamented and grieved for
rate. bewailed bewailed
3 those blots those disgraces, presum 13-14 Do not jeopardize your reputation
ably corresponding with the faults of by making a public display of favour
35.5 towards me; I love you to such an
4 (If they continue to be severed from extent that your good reputation is
each other,) the speaker can carry the also mine: i.e. I do not want to see you
full burden of the young man's shame, shamed, even if I myself would be the
or, possibly, their mutual shame. beneficiary. The couplet is repeated in
5 respect consideration, motive: cf. identical form at the end of 96, anoth
Ham 3.1.68-9, 'there's the respect / er sonnet on the public reception of
That makes calamity of so long life'; the young man's 'faults'.
there may also be a reference to the
182
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 36
36
183
37 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
37 Extending the notion that he partakes have been celebrated in 17.4 and 31.3.
vicariously of the young man's good do crowned sit The gifts of fortune
parts, the poet finds consolation, per and nature enumerated in 1. 5 (may)
haps delusory, for his own unlucky reach their greatest glory when locat
and inferior status in his young ed in you.
friend's talents and good fortune. crowned crowned
1 As . . . father The poet adopts 8 I fasten my love closely to this abun
metaphorically the role he projected dance of blessings; cf. store in 11.9 and
on to his friend in 2.13-14. 14.12. There may be an implication
3 m a d e l a m e Neither the poet's both that the speaker is almost para-
decrepitude nor his lameness should sitically attaching himself to the
be taken literally; cf. KL (First youth's plentiful good fortune, and
Quarto) 4.6.225, where Edgar that, in loving him so devotedly, he is
describes himself as 'A most poore adding one further blessing.
man, made lame by Fortune's blows'. 9 despised Cf. 29.9.
The burdens of age were traditionally 10 this . . . give a reversal of the usual
seen in terms of damage to the feet, as relationship between 'substance' and
in the proverb 'The black ox has trod 'shadow': the speaker's imaginative,
on his feet' (OED ox; Tilley, O103). delusory enjoyment of his friend's
dearest spite injury to the dearest, good fortune provides him with solid
most intimate, part of him: the phrase satisfaction.
picks up separable spite from 36.6. 11 sufficed fully satisfied or nourished:
4 o f from cf. AYL 2.7.131.
worth and truth Since 33-6 have 12 all thy glory all your splendour, with
dealt with the young man's betrayal of a recollection of the image of 'crown
his friend, his sensual fault (35.9) and ing' in 1. 7, as in Fr. gloire = halo or
blots (36.3), the celebration here of his crown of light
worth and truth must entail an appro 13 Look what whatever
priation of the young man's weak 14 either a conditional: 'If I have this
nesses so effective that he can now be wish, it will give me tenfold happi
regarded as faultless. ness', with happy operating as a verb
5-6 beauty . . . m o r e Alliteration and = make happy, as in 6.6; or an absolute
quick-fire enumeration of categories statement: 'This wish is fulfilled; con
produce a near-comic effect, as if the sequently I enjoy tenfold happiness'.
addressee is being mocked for his Either way, the reader cannot escape a
(supposed) superabundance of gifts, suspicion that what the speaker enjoys
rather than praised for them. is 'the happiness of being well
7 Entitled in having a rightful claim to deceived'. The childish phrase happy
(OED 4); or named after me also suggests that, whether or not
*thy parts thy emended from Q^s physically lame, he is at this point
'their'; cf. 26.12 and n. The young assuming the role of a 'lame' poet.
man's parts, or beauties and talents,
184
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 37
37
3 fortune's] Fortunes 7 Entitled] Intitled thy] Capell; their Q, Benson 8 engrafted] ingrafted
9 despised] dispis'd 11 sufficed] suffic'd
185
38 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
38 Using a well-worn conceit, the speak Greek, Latin and early Renaissance
er attributes his poetic skill - if any - poets.
to the inspiring nature of his subject- invocate This more elaborate form of
matter: cf. Sidney, AS, 3. the word 'invoke' suggests the redun
1 want . . . invent lack material for dant activity of the rhymers.
poetic invention 11 he . . . thee whoever invokes you: pre
2 While . . . breathe while you live; sumably above all, the present speaker
with some echo of the divine 'breath' 12 Eternal n u m b e r s everlasting verses,
that created man (Genesis, 2.7) with a suggestion also of the genera
3 T h i n e . . . a r g u m e n t the delightful tion of huge figures by the youth's
subject-matter which is yourself (cf. application of the power of ten to pre
OED argument 7 fig.) vious sources of inspiration; for
4 rehearse narrate, describe Eternal, cf. 18.12, and for numbers,
5 aught anything; or nothing, as in an 17.6.
'ought', the figure 0, preparing for the to . . . date to live beyond even a very
multiplication-game of 11. 9-10 distant limit in time
6 stand . . . sight meets your eye; but 13 slight slender, insignificant: the word
also 'rises up in competition with the picks up sight and light in 11. 6 and 8.
sight of you', since a poetic image of Muse the products of my pen: Muse
the youth may, as in 18, transmit his here has a different application both
beauty from 1. 7, where it denotes 'the source
7 to thee about you; addressing you of my poetic creativity', and 1. 9,
8 d o s t . . . light bring the light of inspi where it refers to the young man.
ration to poetic creativity There is some awkwardness in the
9 the t e n t h M u s e Since the nine transition from the swaggering claim
Muses of classical mythology were all made for the superabundant worth of
female, the conceit may, like 20.1 and the Muse of 1. 9 to the humbly dimin
41.5-6, point to something quasi- ished Muse of 1. 13.
feminine about the (male) addressee. these curious days these days of
10 r h y m e r s suggests inferior poets, exacting or fastidious readers of poetry
mere versifiers (OED; and cf. 'scald 14 Let the labour (of writing) be mine,
rhymers', AC 5.2.214); yet the while the credit for the achievement is
'rhymers' who have called upon the yours.
nine Muses include the majority of
186
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 38
38
187
39 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
39 Resuming, from sonnets 35-7, the which . . . alone You alone deserve it;
idea of his loving amalgamation with and you deserve to receive it indepen
his young friend, the poet proposes a dently, not with your identity merged
separation which will enable him to in mine.
praise his friend better while contem 11 entertain the t i m e while away the
plating his merits in absence. time; cf. 'The weary time she cannot
1 'How can I celebrate your merits in a entertain', Luc 1361.
becoming fashion?': for manners = 12 The addressee is still absence: 'you,
'good manners, custom' (OED 4d), cf. absence, who give such pleasurable
1H4 3.1.184, 'Defect of manners, distractions to solitary time and med
want of government'. itation'. The popular emendation of
2 the . . . m e Sidney used the expres dost to 'doth', though adopted by
sion 'my better half in the context of Booth, seems unnecessary, and breaks
devoted marriage (NA, 378), and the the consistency of the address to
phrase quickly gained currency absence throughout the sestet. To
(Tilley, H49). 'deceive the time' was a regular
3 If our two selves are amalgamated, expression, analogous to 'entertain the
praising you achieves nothing, for it is time'. There is a repetitive feeling to
merely self-praise. the sestet which suggests restless
4 m i n e own my own praise, praise of loneliness.
myself 14 by praising my friend in the place
5 Even for this for this precise reason where I am (and in this poem), though
8 T h a t . . . thee that recompense which he continues to be somewhere else
is given to you
188
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 39
39
189
40 Shakespeare *s Sonnets
190
}
Shakespeare s Sonnets 40
40
a l l . . . shows all vices, when commit- 14 'Even if you kill me with injuries (cf.
ted by you, come over as virtues. Glossary, spite), let us not become
Booth explores the complex implica- enemies.'
tions of a pun on 'weH'/'wilP/'Wiir.
2, 12 than] then 7 blamed] blam'd thyself] Malone; this selfe Q, Benson, Oxf
191
41 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
41 The speaker claims that his young this still-popular poem, reprinted
friend's amorous proclivity is excus seven times by 1602.
able because of his youth and attrac 8 sourly ungraciously, ill-naturedly
tiveness to women, but remonstrates prevailed For the sexual application
with him for the double betrayal of of 'prevail', cf. 2H6 5.4.78.
engaging in sexual relations with his 9 seat the area designated for my sexu
own mistress. al activity; cf. Oth 2.1.290-1, 'I do sus
1 pretty childish, charming pect the lustful Moor / Hath leap'd
that liberty c o m m i t s that you com into my seat'.
mit while at large: liberty has associa forbear spare, refrain from
tions with sexual licence, as in MM 10. chide scold; banish
1.2.129. 11 riot debauchery, wantonness: Shakes
2 s o m e t i m e at some time; for some peare often associates the youthful
while Prince Hal with riot (1H4 1.1.85; 2H4
3 befits The singular verb following a A AM, 5.5.66; H5 1.1.56); and cf. the
plural subject (wrongs) is not uncom proverb 'Youth riotously led breeds a
mon in Elizabethan usage. loathsome old age' (Tilley, Y47).
5 combines the praise in 20 of the youth 12 truth converges in meaning with
as possessing 'A woman's gentle heart' 'troth', a binding promise of fidelity;
with the proverbial claim that 'All cf. BCP, Solemnization of Matri
women may be won' (Tilley, W681), mony, 'I plight thee my troth'.
which Shakespeare invoked in 1H6 10-14 The threefold repetition of thy
5.3.78-9: 'She's beautiful, and there beauty, especially in 1. 13, where we
fore to be wooed; / She is a woman, might expect some allusion to the
therefore to be won'; cf. also Tit woman's beauty, gives the reprimand
2.1.82; R3 1.2.228. in the sestet an effect of exoneration
6 assailed vigorously wooed ; cf. AW and compliment. The young man is
1.1.126; TN 1.3.60; Cym 1.4.136. not really responsible for his sexual
7—8 Though this sounds like an obvious transgressions, for it is a case of 'Why
truism, Shakespeare's first published was he born so beautiful?'
work, VA, described a 'woman's son', 13 Hers her truth or 'troth', or pledge of
Adonis, who refuses the advances of constancy to the poet.
the goddess of love: Shakespeare may 14 T h i n e the youth's bond of friendship
have expected readers to remember with the poet
192
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Shakespeare s Sonnets 41
41
193
42 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
42 The poet grieves more for the loss of 9-11 lose . . . losing . . . lose Q^s 'loose .
his young friend than for that of his . . loosing . . . loose' permits addition
mistress, but tries to persuade himself al senses: 'set you loose . . . setting her
that the common ground between the loose (as a "loose" w o m a n ) . . . set you
young lovers is himself, and that, in two free'; in Elizabethan orthography
loving the youth, the woman is mani 'lose' and 'loose' were not distin
festing her love for the poet with guished. However, images of 'gain'
whom the youth, too, is united in love. and 'loss' suggest that the primary
An exercise in self-consolation, 42 image is of 'losing' rather than 'loos
explores what may be said (cf. 1. 2) in ing', and the spelling has been adjust
the manner of Sidney's Astrophil's ed accordingly. For a further possibly
attempts 'to make myself believe that relevant application of 'loose', as
all is well' (AS, 2.13). 'experience sexual release', cf. Sidnev,
1-3 h a s t . . . hath with some of the con AS, 18.14.
notations of 'have' as 'to possess car 12 lay . . . cross subject me to this trial or
nally' (Partridge, 126) vexation (cf. OED cross 10a and b),
1 grief sorrow; wound or injury: cf. with inescapable recollections of
34.9 and n. Simon of Cyrene being made to carry
2 dearly fondly; but also with a sense of Christ's cross. If Capell's emendation
this affection as costly is accepted at 34.12, the word occurs
3 is . . . chief is the loss I most lament; there in the same position and the
is the primary reason why I mourn or same relationship with 'loss'.
'wail' 13 m y . . . one In previous sonnets (e.g.
4 touches . . . nearly provokes emotion 36-7) it is claimed that the speaker
of a more intimate kind; has a more and his friend are, in the manner of
immediate bearing on me husband and wife, 'one flesh'; but a
5-8 Note the feminine rhymes excuse ye reader who recalls Hamlet's mocking
. . . love her . . . abuse me . . , approve application of similar chop-logic
her, which may draw attention to the (Ham 4.3.52-6) may be unpersuaded
unmanageable complexity of the situ by its elaboration here.
ation; cf. 40.5-8. 14 Sweet flattery gratifying expression
5 L o v i n g offenders Although he of affection, or consoling delusion
appears to address both lovers at this she . . . alone The claim that the
point, subsequent lines make it clear woman, in loving the youth, actually
that the youth alone is the poet's true loves only the poet, is both logically
concern, the woman being referred to and emotionally weak. First, the argu
in the third person in 11. 6, 7, 8 and 10. ment that love for one person is really
excuse ye find an excuse for you love for another is inherently implau
7 even so in the same manner sible (cf. Sidney's use of it in AS,
abuse ill-treat, deceive, with some 91.12-14); and secondly, the poet has
connotations of 'make a cuckold o f made it quite clear in preceding lines
(Partridge, Bawdy, 63) of the sonnet that what he cares about
8 approve pronounce to be good, to is the young man's defection, not the
commend (OED 6); to test or experi woman's.
ence sexually
194
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 42
42
195
43 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
196
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 43
43
197
44 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
44 This sonnet continues the theme of where the young man may be.
absence: the speaker wishes that his 9 thought kills . . . thought a self-
body could move with the same agili infolded paradox: 'the thought that I
ty as his thoughts, instead of being am not thought (but lodged in heavy
confined to the elements of earth and flesh) destroys me'.
water. 11 'except that, since I am so exclusively
1 dull slow, inert, inactive (Glossary, 3); fashioned of the (dull) elements of
and cf. 51.2, where it is applied to a earth and water'
dilatory horse 12 I . . . leisure Ingram and Redpath
2 Injurious malicious in wrongdoing: connect this with 'a petitioner waiting
Shakespeare applied the epithet to the on a great man, Time'; there is prob
operation of time, rather than space, ably also a sense of waiting for the
in Luc 930 and Son 63.2. young man's leisure time, as in 57.1-6.
stop m y way impede my progress 13 naughts Q]s 'naughts' has hitherto
3 space the distance or space that sepa been emended to 'naught', on the
rates him from his friend ground that 'naughts' = 'A thing of no
4 l i m i t s territories or regions defined worth or value' (OED 3a) is rare, and
by boundaries (OED 3a); and cf. 1H4 not used by Shakespeare elsewhere.
3.1.75, 'The Archdeacon hath divided Partly on the difjicilior lectio principle
it / Into three limits very equally.' it has been retained here; also because
where to where, whither Q^s reading permits an extension of
stay sojourn; remain the image of the preceding line:
5 m y foot common synecdoche for the instead of receiving hoped-for riches
whole body; cf. R2 1.1.63-6. from the great lord Time, the earth-
6 the . . . thee the region of the world bound petitioner receives only round
furthest away (removed = separated, and leaden tears, which are like empty
remote) from where you are; alterna noughts in a ledger.
tively, removed may govern foot, yield 14 But no more than, merely
ing 'where I am removed from you in heavy . . . woe Heaviness is the
the furthest region of the world'. attribute of earth, and tears belong to
7 j u m p 'to pass clear over by a leap' water: the speaker's woe ensues from
(OED 6a, with this example); cf. also his imprisonment in these two ele
Mac 1.7.7. ments; however, as Booth (206)
8 think think about, think of (OED 2a) observes, either*s woe also suggests
he The primary subject is thought: 'your woe and mine'. The final woe
'thought can travel as swiftly as it con resonates as 'O', reinforcing naughts in
ceives of a desired place' (and cf. the previous line.
Tilley, T240). But there may be an
underlying sense of thinking about
198
Shakespeare s Sonnets 44
44
3 despite] dispight 6 removed] remoou'd 12 attend time's] attend, times 13 naughts] 42/ nought
Ard' slow] sloe
199
45 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
200
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Shakespeare s Sonnets 45
45
2 wherever] where euer 5 elements] Elements 6 embassy] Embassie 9 life's] Malone; Hues Q
Benson 10 returned] return'd 12 thy] Malone; their Q
201
46 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
46 This sonnet and the following pursue sense 'determine or resolve'. Ingram
a rhetorical debate between the speak and Redpath retain 'side', glossing it
er's eye, which can apprehend the as a verb = 'to take the part o f or 'to
youth physically, and his heart, which clear or tidy up'; however, their sup
comprehends him imaginatively. The porting examples are not closely anal
conceit was a traditional one; the sus ogous. Another possible, but on bal
tained metaphor is that of a legal dis ance less cogent, emendation would
putation. be 'cite', = 'testify to, be evidence o f ,
1 m o r t a l primarily suggests a fight to as in A W1.2.216; in this case the error
the death (OED 3); but there may be a might result from compositorial mis
secondary, subversive, suggestion that hearing.
the conflict is itself mortal in the sense title claim, entitlement
of being transient (OED 2), as in Ham e m p a n e l l e d empanelled: = com
3.1.67. pelled to appear in a court
2 divide the conquest distribute the 10 quest jury
spoils of war; share out the benefits of 11 determined determined: = resolved,
having seen the youth adjudged
thy sight the sight of you, or of an 12 clear eyes' m o i e t y the portion that
image of you belongs to the clear eyes - cf. crystal
3 My eye wishes to deny my heart the eyes in 1. 6; the portion that clearly
sight of your image. belongs to the eyes
3,*13, 148 thy See 26.12n. dear heart's part the portion
6 'Closet' could denote a small cabinet belonging to the heart, the intimate
in which valuables were stored (OED seat of feeling; the precious portion
3a); but 'the closet of the heart' had a belonging to the heart: just as clear
specific anatomical reference to the may govern either eyes or moiety, so
pericardium or area surrounding the dear may apply to either eyes or part.
heart (OED 6a). The transparency of The internal rhyme in heart's part
eyes, which are crystal (cf. H5 2.3.54; gives additional emphasis to the chias-
VA 963), is implicitly contrasted with tic repetition, in the rhymes at 10, 12,
the opacity of the enclosed heart. 13, 14, of heart. . . part. . . part. . .
7 the defendant The heart prosecutes; heart.
the eye defends. 13 m i n e eyes' due what is owed, as rec
deny another term with legal conno ompense, to the eyes; cf. the world's
tations due, 1.14 and n.
9 *To 'cide Most modern editors 14 m y heart's right what belongs to my
accept George Sewell's (Rollins, heart as of right
1.127-9) and Malone's interpretation thy . . . heart suggests both 'my love
of Q^s 'side' as '(de)cide', which given of you, retained within my heart';
the indifference of the copy-text and, with a quick shift of emphasis,
writer or the compositors to 's'/'c' 'your heartfelt love of me'
distinctions is plausible, yielding the
202
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 46
46
203
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47 Shakespeare s Sonnets
47 In 46 eye and heart were in conflict; smothers itself; or, the loving heart
here they are in harmony, each consol smothers itself with sighing.
ing the other with thoughts or images 5 m y love's picture appears to refer to
of the young man. a concrete depiction, not just a mental
1 a . . . took an agreement is made: in image
Elizabethan usage 'took' was an 6 bids invites: the metaphor of the lov
acceptable past participle (cf. Abbott, ing banquet recalls Spenser's Amoretti
and MM 2.2.74). (1595), 77 (Shorter Poems, 646-7).
2 good turns Cf. the similar use of the 11 *no The MS may have read 'noe',
phrase in 24.9 rendered by the compositor as 'nor'.
3 f a m i s h e d . . . look for the notion of 12 t h e m . . . they The subject is still my
the eyes of an absent lover as 'fam thoughts.
ished', cf. Sidney, AS, 106.6 14 eye's kept in the singular, to conform
4 with sighs may be the object either with eye in 11. 1, 3, 5, 7, though Q^s
of in love or of smother, the heart 'eyes' would permit 'eyes' '
loves empty sighs, and consequently
204
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 47
47
205
48 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
206
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Shakespeare s Sonnets 48
48
207
49 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
4 9 The speaker prepares himself for the 8 gravity the mature judgement associ
prospect of a future time when the ated with age: cf. 2H4 1.2.160.
young man no longer cares for him by 9 ensconce m e here establish myself
invoking the irrationality of love. firmly, as if in a 'sconce', or small fort
Since neither his own love nor that of 10 m i n e own desert Initially, it may
the young man can be justified, the appear that the speaker is consoling
future cessation of the youth's affec himself with the thought of his own
tion needs no justification, either. The merit; but the final couplet indicates
imagined situation is strongly remi that the implication is 'my own (lack
niscent of Henry V's rejection of of) merit'.
Falstaff. 11 this m y hand includes a reference to
1 Against that t i m e in expectation of 'this my handwriting', i.e. the sonnet
that time: cf. MND 3.2.99. we are reading
2 defects failings, deficiencies uprear raise, as if raising a hand to
3 Whenas at a time when affirm testimony given in a lawcourt:
cast . . . s u m made its final reckon the speaker incriminates himself;
ing: cf. cast = 'To count or reckon so there is also some suggestion of rais
as to ascertain the sum of various ing his hand towards physical self-
numbers' {OED 37a, b, c.) injury.
4 a u d i t a formal examination of 12 guard protect, justify
accounts: cf. 126.11. on thy part on your side in a contest
advised respects sober considera or legal dispute
tions: cf. 'advised respect', KJ 13 thou . . . laws You are supported by
4.2.214; there may also be a sugges legal right. The anticipated alliance
tion of the young man taking advice between the youth and laws is analo
from a mature counsellor. gous to Prince Hal's reconciliation
5 s t r a n g e l y p a s s walk by like a with the Lord Chief Justice, 2H4 5.2.
stranger, with an estranged or distant 14 why to love cuts two ways. The
demeanour (cf. OED strange 11) speaker declares a self-disarming
7 converted . . . was transformed from inability to discover any reason why he
its former condition: cf. 2 H4 5.5.56, should be loved, but also hints that he
'Presume not that I am the thing I cannot justify his own love for the
was' ; also 5.2.60-1, 'Harry lives, that young man: 'Why should you love me
shall convert those tears / By number - but, come to that, why should I love
into hours of happiness'. you?'
208
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 49
49
209
50 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
210
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 50
50
211
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51 Shakespeare s Sonnets
212
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 51
51
213
52 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
52 Still trying to corne to terms with sep- Henry IV speaks of his careful control
aration from his friend, the poet com- of his public appearances: 'and so my
pares absence with the physical and state / Seldom, but sumptuous,
temporal constraints by means of show'd like a feast, / And wan by
which the preciousness of jewels and rareness such solemnity'.
special holidays is sustained. The son- 6 in . . . year arranged in the year which
net's number alludes to the number of for long stretches lacks holidays
weeks in a year. 7 placed placed
1 So . . . rich I am like the rich (man). 8 captain chief, principal
The image is broadly reminiscent of carcanet 'an ornamental collar or
the opening scenes of Marlowe's Jew necklace, usually of gold or set with
of Malta and Jonson's Volpone, in both jewels' {OED)
of which the protagonist surveys his 9 So . . . you in the same manner, the
treasure; in neither of these, however, time that keeps you separate from me
is it suggested that this is an infre- is
quent activity. 11 to 'make special' = indicate specially,
blessed blessed specify; the sense is 'to mark out as
2 bring h i m to bring him to a sight of especially fortunate some particular
up-locked up-lockèd moment'
4 for fear of dulling the keenness of 12 his imprisoned pride the splendour
pleasure, which is sustained by infre- of the moment, previously hidden by
quency the time of absence; the occluded
5 rare special, choice; not often magnificence of the youth
encountered: the idea is strongly anal- 13 Blessed blessed: expanded from the
ogous to Prince Hal's image, applied word's previous occurrence in 1. 11 as
to his absence from court, in 1H4 a single syllable
1.2.199-201 : 'If all the year were play- 14 (Your merits ensure that) those who
ing holidays, / To sport would be as enjoy your presence experience a
tedious as to work; / But when they sense of triumph; those who are sepa-
seldom come, they wish'd for come, / rated from you can at least enjoy the
And nothing pleaseth but rare acci- the pleasure of hoping for it.
dents.' Cf. also 3.2.55-9, in which
214
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 52
52
215
53 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
53 The fair youth is claimed as the arche ideal of beauty'; however, the act of
type or denning image of all beauty, imitating or counterfeiting seems to
whether human or natural, male or be partly transferred from artist to
female; but according to the Platonic subject, with connotations of cosmet
idea of externals as a shadow of ics and false beauty. Like Son, TC was
inward realities, he is (apparently) printed in 1609, and 11. 7-8 may carry
praised above all for moral excellence. an allusion to Shakespeare's own pub
1 substance used in the philosophical lished play, in which, however, Helen
sense: cf. OED 3a, 'That which is rather unflatteringly portrayed.
underlies phenomena; the permanent 8 Grecian tires Greek costume or
substratum of things'; cf. 5.14 for a attire, or, specifically, head-dress, con
similar application of the word. tinuing the suggestion that the
2 m i l l i o n s . . . tend 'numberless imitable features of Helen of Troy are
images of other individuals accompa not her natural beauties but her artifi
ny you': strange suggests both 'foreign' cial adornments. The idea of a young
and 'belonging to another person or man adorned with a Greek woman's
place, not one's own' (Glossary); shad costume or head-dress seems a shade
ows suggests various kinds of simu grotesque, but it is of course such an
lacra, such as ghosts, portraits or image that Elizabethan audiences
actors; and to tend may be to wait would have seen either in Marlowe's
upon, take care of, or follow. Doctor Faustus or Shakespeare's TC
3 'since each one of the strange shadows 3.1.
has a single image or appearance' 9 Shakespeare's reference to his own
4 The young man's plurality is con writings here comes even closer to
tained in singleness. Though he is home, since sonnet 18 has deployed
only one (cf. sonnets 1-17, especially 3 imagery of spring and summer, 12 of
and 8, with their stress on his 'single autumn and harvest; foison - abun
ness'), he is able to impart or bestow dance; by extension, abundant har
something on all the others. Initially it vest, the season of harvest.
seems that lend = 'lend an appearance 10 T h e one spring; despite the denial, in
o f ; but 11. 5—6 define it as 'bestow sonnet 18, that a summer's day could
fresh attributes upon'. be an adequate metonym for the youth
5-6 Presumably refers to Shakespeare's shadow appearance, representation,
own VA, with its celebration of the with an oxymoron in the notion of a
irresistible though immature beauty shadow, supposedly dark, representing
of 'rose-cheeked Adonis': the impli the freshness and clarity of spring and
cation is therefore not only that 'any youthful beauty
one who attempts to describe Adonis 11 bounty munificence, like the abun
will produce something which resem dance of harvest; however, the sug
bles you, but falls far short', but also: gestion may be rather of bountiful
'look at my own poetic shadowing of endowments than of largesse in dis
Adonis, and you will find that it is an tributing them.
inadequate representation of your 12 may be read either as 'and you (are
self. Southamptonites may find sup manifested) in every fair image we
port in this second reading, since VA perceive'; or 'and we acknowledge
was dedicated to Southampton; how (know) you in every fair image'
ever, the allusion would work equally blessed blessed
well as a claim that Shakespeare's first 13 external grace grace, or beauty, of
published poem was an unconscious exterior form
(as well as inadequate) foreshadowing 14 primarily hyperbolic praise: (a) 'There
of another fair youth, and/or patron. is no resemblance between you and
7 ' "Set out" (portray) Helen of Troy in anyone else when it comes to the inte
such a way as to exemplify the highest rior virtue of constancy', with some
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Shakespeare 's Sonnets 53
53
reminiscence, prompted by the Helen ification of all that has gone before,
simile of 11. 7-8, of 20, 3-4, in which rather than an extension: (a) suggests
the youth has a woman's facial beauty 'your beauty is paramount, and so is
but lacks her emotional instability; your constancy'; (b) 'your external
however, if like is construed as a verb, beauty is paramount, but does not
a contrary sense (b) emerges, one match up to your inward qualities,
which conforms better with 40-42: since you are inconstant'. For an
'But you are attracted to (like) no one image analogous to (b), of excelling
for the sake of his or her constant beauty which fails to correspond with
heart, nor is that the source of your moral worth, cf. TN 3.2.375-9. Booth
own attractiveness'. Shakespeare (226) suggests that constant heart
often used 'like' (v.) for 'be sexually could have been readily heard as 'con
attracted to'; cf. CE 32.1, AC 3.3.13 stant art', which would link the youth
and many other instances. In this further with the seductive wiles of
reading But introduces a radical mod Helen in 11. 7-8.
ill
54 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
218
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 54
54
sweet, because the process of conser used in a sense which overlaps with
vation required the addition of a large 'fade' (as in 1. 10); cf. Sidney, AS,
quantity of sugar. 102.5, 'How doth the colour vade of
13 And . . . you 'and the same principle those vermilion dyes',
applies to you'; or, 'and so the beauty by . . . truth 'by means of verse your
which is yours' truth is preserved and transmitted to
youth primarily suggests 'you, my future generations': whereas in son
young friend'; but we may if we nets 1 and 5 procreation was recom
choose read the assertion as applying mended as the means of preserving
to the general condition of 'beauteous beauty's rose, that power is here attrib
and lovely youth'. There may be a uted to poetry. The suggestion that
threatening distinction between the ageing (and death?) must occur before
youth which is beauteous and lovely, poetic distillation is fully accom
which will enjoy a second life in poet plished is effective if chilling: even as
ry, and that which is empty and shal plucked roses are boiled with sugar, so
low (like poppy blooms?) and will be (dead) human beauty is conserved
quickly forgotten. with rhetoric. CapelPs widely accept
14 that beauty, the announced subject of ed emendation of by to 'my' narrows
the sonnet; or youth, now interpreted down the exploration of large princi
as the condition of being young ples that characterizes this sonnet.
vade go away (cf. Lat. vadere), often
3 rose] Rose 5 canker] Canker 6, 11 roses] Roses 10 un wooed] vnwoo'd 14 by] my Capell
219
55 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
220
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 55
55
221
56 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
222
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Shakespeare s Sonnets 56
56
56] sonnet omitted by Benson 3, 5 today] too daie 4 sharpened] sharpned 7 Tomorrow] Too
morrow 8 love] Loue 9 interim] Intrim ocean] Ocean 12 blessed] blest 13 Or] Capell; As
1,
Riv Cam winter] Winter 14 summer's] Sômers wished] wish'd
223
57 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
224
Shakespeare 's Sonnets SI
57
225
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58 Shakespeare s Sonnets
58 Continuing the image of the speaker patience.' Most earlier editors, with
as a slave to his young friend, the poet the exception of Capell, have taken
reluctantly tells him that he is entitled tame as an adjective,
to act as independently as he wishes. to . . . check 'endure (hide) every
While in 57 he made subjection to his reverse or disappointment, subjecting
friend's whims sound easy, it is here it to endurance'; or 'command (bid)
shown as requiring superhuman every disappointment to a condition
effort. of patient forbearance'. For this sense
1 That god forbid subjunctive: = may of sufferance, cf. Glossary, 2.
that god forbid. Perhaps the god 8 'without holding you blameworthy for
referred to is Cupid (not named until injuring me'
the penultimate sonnet); but Q]s capi 9 where you list wherever you feel like
talized 'God' causes the reader initial being; cf. 'the wind bloweth where it
ly to register an oath, 'God forbid', listeth', John, 3.8. That Shakespeare
that The use of the less personal that, saw the wind as the archetypal image
rather than 'who', serves to filter out of freely chartered liberty is suggest
the conjecture that the Christian God ed by AYL 2.7.48 and H5 1.1.48.
is invoked. charter privilege, entitlement
2 that I should (even) in my own mind 10 privilege authorize, license; cf. the
seek to regulate your enjoyments, or analogously ironic application in Luc
times when it 'pleases' you to see me; 621, 'To privilege dishonour'. The
cf. 1. 14 and note. wider implication seems to be that
3 or seek to ask you for an itemization 'your position (of privilege?) entitles
(account) of how you spend your time. you to spend your time however you
The collocation of hand and account like'.
suggests a written enumeration, like a 11-12 to . . . crime 'It is up to you (or, it
financial account-book; cf. 30.11 and n. is your prerogative) to exonerate
4 vassal . . . leisure your slave, who is yourself of wrongs done by yourself,
obliged (bound) to wait until you have or to yourself: self-doing seems to
time for him suggest that the use the young man
5 suffer endure, acquiesce in; with makes of his freedom may be morally
some undertow of 'sustain loss or injurious to himself, as well as harm
injury' (Glossary, 2, 4) ful to his absent friend.
being . . . beck awaiting your sum 13 wait suggests, besides 'spend time in
mons, or 'beckoning' gesture passive expectation', 'be in atten
6 a dense conceit: = 'my prolonged dance, as on a monarch or lord'
absence from you, a consequence of 14 suggests both 'not blame you for your
the freedom of which you avail your demeanour towards me, whether it is
self, which to me is a form of impris friendly or adverse' (cf. the still-
onment' current phrase 'the Queen's pleasure')
7 patience t a m e Tame appears to be a and 'not reprimand you for indulging
verb governed by let me in 1. 5: '(Let in pleasure, whether you are spending
me) govern and control my (im)- your time well or badly'
226
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 58
58
2
1 god] Aril'; God Q, Malone 5 suffer, being . . . beck,] suffer (being . . . beck) 49, Malone, Cam
6 imprisoned] imprison'd 11 To] Do Malone, Ard'
221
59 Shakespeare s Sonnets
59 If (as some ancient writers suggest) most familiar with this notion from
the world goes through a succession of the speech attributed to Pythagoras in
repetitive cycles, the young man's Ovid, Met., 15.66ff; cf. especially 11.
beauty may have both existed and 431-48, describing the 500-year life-
been described poetically in the past; cycle of the Phoenix.
but the speaker ends by asserting that 7 antique ancient, with a suggestion of
earlier poets have praised subjects 'old-fashioned, out of date' (Glossary)
worse. 8 (a book) produced soon after the time
1-2 If . . . new 'The thing that hath when men first learned to express
been, it is that which shall be; and that their thoughts in writing
which is done is that which shall be 9-10 what . . . this both 'how much
done: and there is no new thing under writings of ancient times could say,
the sun' (Ecclesiastes, 1.9). This chap when compared with this'; and 'what
ter was ordained to be read at Evening writers of former times could say if
Prayer on 29 October (BCP, 45). (an archetype of) this were their sub
2-4 brains . . . child The image of the ject'
brain as a womb, giving birth to ideas 10 c o m p o s e d . . . frame refers both to
and language, was commonplace; cf. the young man's body and to the
Sidney, AS, 50.11; Son 76.8. poet's image of it: (a) the ordered
3 a m i s s adverbial: = erroneously, in a beauty of your bodily harmony; (b)
wrong way the amazing beauty of your body as
4 a child (concept) of earlier times articulated and ordered (composed) in
which is laboriously brought into my verse
being once again c o m p o s e d composed
5 record record: memory, the power of 11 m e n d e d improved
recollection, as in 77V 5.1.253 and 12 whether . . . s a m e 'whether the cycle
Ham 1.5.99 of time has brought about an exact
6 Even o f even to the extent of replication'; cf. 1. 6n.
five . . . sun The immediate impres 14 worse primarily suggests that the
sion is of the mind looking back 'a young man's beauty excels that of past
very long time': cf. Tit 1.1.350; but ages, early poets having praised 'less
some have detected a reference to the excellent' persons; but undercut by a
'Platonic' or Pythagorean Great Year, swaggering tone which invites the
a period of time after which all the reading 'even worse': all poets lie and
moving bodies in the cosmos were exaggerate, it is implied, but the wits
believed to return to their previous of former days were exaggerating even
positions. Shakespeare was probably more than I am.
228
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 59
59
229
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60 Shakespeare s Sonnets
230
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 60
60
231
61 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
232
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Shakespeare s Sonnets 61
61
1 image] Image 8 tenor] Booth, Oxf, Kerrigan; tenure Q Benson; tenour Capell jealousy] Ielousie
12 watchman] watch-man 14 too] to
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62 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
62 In the first of two sonnets on his own haps a shade of 'experienced' (OED
decrepitude, the speaker first rejoices 4); cf. AYL 2.4.50.
in his own merit and beauty, then chopped cracked, fissured
acknowledges that the beauties he tanned antiquity the process of age
boasts of belong to the young man ing, personified as itself tanned with
whom he loves, and only vicariously age; the process of ageing which 'tans'
to himself. human skin, making it brown and
1 self-love Cf. 3.8, where the leathery. According to the Grave-
addressee's self-tombed self-love digger in Ham 5.1.162-8, tanners'
inhibits reproduction: the sequence is skins became toughened with their
in process of tracing a circle from the trade; since Shakespeare's father was a
youth's sterile narcissism to the poet's. 'whittawer', who prepared leather for
4 inward inwardly gloves, Shakespeare may well have
6 N o . . . true no body so well-propor believed his own skin to have under
tioned: cf. KL 1.2.8, where Edmund gone this process (Chambers,
claims 'my shape as true / As honest Shakespeare, 1.12).
madam's issue'. 11 quite . . . read I interpret in a quite
o f such account of such value; to be opposite sense
so highly esteemed 12 A self engaging in that kind of self-
7 for m y s e l f for my own benefit; with love would be guilty of sin (iniquity);
regard to myself or of 'inequity', failure to achieve a
8 (I calculate my value) in such a way correct estimation.
that I excel everyone else in every area 14 Painting m y age adorning, decorat
of excellence. ing my (old) age; or describing it in
10 Beated acceptable form of 'beaten' = terms of your youthful beauty
battered, weather-beaten, with per
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2
10 Beated] 'Bated Malime chopped] chopt Q, Cam tanned] tand 11 self-love] selfe loue
12 self-loving] selfe louing 13 Tis] T'is
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63 Anticipating a time when the fair youth: cf. 'the stealing hours of time',
youth will be as old and decrepit as he Ham 5.1.71.
is now, the speaker makes provision 9 For in preparation for; a resumption
against the youth's loss of beauty by of the sense of Against in 1. 1
preserving it in poetry. It is surely not fortify make a fortification or but
by chance that this sonnet on the tress; cf. 16.3-4, where progeny,
severe changes brought about by the rather than barren rhyme, was the
ageing process is positioned as num means by which the youth was advised
ber 63, the 'grand climacteric', = 7 x to fortify himself.
9, a figure associated with major life 10 age's cruel knife repeats the rhythm
changes. Also, we are now exactly of age's steepy night in 1. 5, but con
half-way through the 'fair youth' flates age with time, who is so often
sequence, which ends with the imper armed with a sharp implement, as in
fect 126 (see Introduction, p. 100). 60.9-10
1 Against in preparation for the time 12 though . . . life 'though (he will cut
when; cf. MND 3.2.99; R2 3.4.28. from human memory) the life of my
2 injurious 'wilfully inflicting injury or lover': the apparent synonymity here
wrong' (OED 1); cf. TC 4.4.41-2: of my love and my lover is disconcert
'Injurious Time now with a robber's ing, but there is a possibility that My
haste / Crams his rich thiev'ry up, he sweet love's beauty refers to the poet's
knows not how'. imaginative vision of his beloved, in
o'erworn worn out, like a piece of contrast to the mortal specificity of
shabby cloth my lover's life.
3 filled Though Q]s 'fild' has been 13 black lines lines of poetry, forming
modernized to fitted, the possibility black lines on the page; they appropri
cannot be excluded that the word ate and redefine the lines and wrinkles
should be 'filed', suggesting both of 1. 4.
'carved with lines' and 'defiled': cf. 14 he . . . green 'he will remain, in the
Duncan-Jones, 'Modernizing'. poet's verses, fresh and youthful.'
5 travailed As at 34.2, Q]s spelling has However, the word green also has asso
been retained, to ensure that modern ciations with rawness and unripeness
readers do not lose the simultaneous which introduce an acidic note; cf. VA
sense of 'labouring' and 'journeying', 806; AC 1.5.74. Where we might
steepy difficult to ascend, like a steep anticipate a conventional paradox of
hill; cf. Tim 1.1.75. black ink revealing the brightness or
8 Stealing away The verb functions fairness of the love-object, as in 65.14,
both (a) intransitively - the young green suggests that the poet's lines
man's beauties 'steal away', flee may preserve the young man's callow-
stealthily; and (b) transitively, with ness and immaturity as much as his
time's injurious hand and/or hours as consummate beauty.
the subject, which 'steal' the glories of
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63
2 crushed] crusht 3 drained] dreind filled] fild 5, 10 age's] Ages 6 king] King 7 vanished]
vanisht 8 spring] Spring
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64 Viewing the operation of time in the artefacts to nature, viewing land and
world, the poet is prompted to reflect sea as greedy competitors.
on the death of his love, which he 7 m a i n ocean; cf. R3 1.4.20.
laments in anticipation. The sonnet is 8 Each side's gain is the other side's
formally organized, with three qua loss. The word store played a crucial
trains opening 'When I have seen', part in sonnets 1-17, suggesting, at
and a couplet which declares his 11.9 and 14.12, the vital essence of the
response to what he has seen. youth which requires to be repro
2 suggests the expensive splendour of duced; but here it seems to carry no
elaborate funeral monuments, such as promise of perpetuity.
those to be seen in Westminster 9 interchange of state alternation or
Abbey or St Paul's. The three compo vicissitude of condition; with a sec
nents of rich proud cost, = opulent, ondary reference to 'state' in the polit
arrogant expenditure, are matched ical sense, anticipated in the image of
and counteracted by outworn buried dry land's kingdom in 1. 6. For readers
age, = men who have grown old and in 1609 an allusion to the end of
exhausted, or who lived long ago, and Elizabeth's long reign and the begin
are now interred. ning of James's in 1603 must have
3 s o m e t i m e lofty towers buildings been irresistible.
which were once lofty: 'tower' (OED 10 to decay functions both as a noun,
1, 2) could refer to any tall building, indicating the condition that a con
such as a church, castle or monastery, founded, confused or destroyed condi
down razed deliberately swept away tion may be brought to, and as an
or demolished (OED raze 5a and b); infinitive verb, governing both the
perhaps with specific reference to interchange of state and state . . . con
large religious buildings pulled down founded which the poet has seen
or reconstructed for secular use after decaying
Henry VIII's dissolution of the 11 Ruin has taught the speaker to rumi
monasteries nate partly because of the similarity of
4 brass . . . rage Even brass, though the verb 'ruinate', into which the con
durable by nature, is perpetually sub sonant from me has been injected:
ject to the depredations of humanity; 'my' thoughts are embraced by ruin,
eternal refers both to brass's supposed and even the word taught is only an
lastingness and to its continued vul aspirate away from thought. The prox
nerability. If a specific reference is imity of 'ruminating' to 'ruinating'
intended to Horace's claim that in his anticipates the swift removal of my
Odes he has constructed a monument love.
aere perennius, 'more lasting than 12 m y love the object of my love; the
brass' (Odes, 3.30.1), there may be a feeling of love that I experience
covert suggestion that poetry, too, is 14 weep to have weep while in posses
vulnerable. sion of; weep with desire to possess
5-8 The poet turns his gaze from human
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2 rich proud] rich-proud Malone 3 razed] rased 5 ocean] Ocean 6 kingdom] Kingdome
10 itself] it selfe 11 ruminate:] ruminate 12 time] Time 14 lose] loose
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66 Shakespeare *s Sonnets
66 Weary of the corruption and I right true, absolute: while the previ
hypocrisy of the age he lives in, the ous line suggests the sexual degrada
speaker longs for death, restrained tion of women, this points to wider -
only by the thought of abandoning his possibly male - qualities of perfection
love. The catalogue of eleven wrongs which are slandered or dishonoured.
is analogous to the sevenfold catalogue 8 'strength deprived of its effect by an
in Hamlet's 'To be or not to be' authority which is itself weak': the
speech, Ham 3.1.70—6, though it is image suggests the power exercised
fear of 'something after death', not of over young male courtiers by the age
deserting his love, that restrains ing Elizabeth during the last years of
Hamlet. This despairing poem is her reign, the most conspicuous
probably located where it is by design. example being the house arrest
Multiples of six have adverse conno imposed on the Earl of Essex in
tations, alluding to the biblical 'beast' 1600/1. To form a rhyme with strum
associated with universal corruption: peted the last word needs to be pro
all human beings 'had the marke, or nounced as 'disable-led', which gener
the number of his name . . . and his ates a further play on strength as
number is, sixe hundred threescore governed (led) by limping sway.
and sixe' (Revelation, 13.16-18). 9 Though 'art' normally alluded to
1 Tired with tired of; cf. Per 2 Gower skills generally, not especially to cre
37. ative art, the image of it as tongue-tied
2 desert synecdoche for 'those who are suggests a reference to censorship of
deserving' literature, to which Elizabethan
3 needy . . . jollity empty, worthless dramatists were frequently subject.
people dressed up in extravagant (by 10 doctor-like Doctor is here used in
implication, costly) clothes. The OED's sense 2a, 'One who, by reason
boorish Cloten, who adorns himself of his skill in any branch of knowl
in Posthumus's clothes, is described as edge, is competent to teach it'.
'that harsh, noble, simple nothing' II plain truth wrongly described as folly
(Cym 3.4.135; cf. also 4.2.192-3, or stupidity: reminiscent of Lear's
where 'Triumphs for nothing' are dismissal of Cordelia for plain speak
identified with 'jollity for apes'). For ing. The phrase simple truth is differ
jollity as 'finery of dress or array', cf. ently applied in 138.8.
OED1. 12 Another version of the concept in 1. 8,
4 unhappily forsworn suggests both with the metaphor changed from
those who have kept vows and then political to military: good is enslaved
regrettably broken them, and those to, and in the service of, captain ill.
who have kept their own vows truly The rank of captain had some associ
but have been maliciously betrayed by ations with corruption and false
others: cf. OED unhappily. authority, as in 2H4 2.4. 136-47.
5 'honours and adornments disgrace 13 Tired with Like the repetitions in
fully bestowed on undeserving recipi the catalogue itself (cf. previous note),
ents' the repetition of the opening phrase
6 s t r u m p e t e d suggests both chastity enacts the wearying, tedious experi
calumniated by being accused of ence of living in a corrupt society.
whoredom, as in the defamation of 14 to die if I die; in order to die; and the
Hero in MA, Desdemona in Oth and rhyme of die with cry in 1. 1 suggests
Hermione in WT ; and chaste girls further iterance.
raped and made into 'strumpets'. The I . . . alone, 'I leave my beloved lone
resemblance of the word to 'trumpet ly'; or 'I withdraw from my emotion of
ed' accentuates the public and notori love'; or 'I desist from importuning my
ous nature of the disgrace done to love-object'; or even 'I leave only my
maiden virtue. love, nothing else' (cf. Booth, 249-50).
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66
243
67 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
244
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 67
67
245
68 Shakespeare s Sonnets
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68
1 outworn] out-worne 2 lived and died] liu'd and dy'ed 13 nature] Nature 14 art] Art
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69 To outward view, the youth's beauty 10 that refers to 'the beauty of thy mind'
and merit is faultless, and is so reput in guess by conjecture, estimate
ed; but those whose gaze extends to 11 T h e n . . . thoughts Most modern
his moral character find it degraded. editors (e.g. Ingram and Redpath,
1 The parts = beauties and/or accom Booth) enclose churls by commas,
plishments that are visible to every making it an adjective applied to those
one; cf. 17.4, 37.7 and passim. For a same tongues; however, an antithesis
comparable distinction between visi seems to be set up between 'kind eyes'
ble beauty and unknown inward qual and 'churlish thoughts'.
ities, cf. Cym 1.6.17. 12 weeds often used by Shakespeare as
2 Want lack an image of moral corruption; cf. e.g.,
t h a t . . . m e n d that heartfelt thoughts R2 3.4.38; 2H4 4.1.11; H8 5.1.52.
could improve: i.e., the youth's parts 14 *soil Neither Q]s 'solve' nor any of
could not, to outward view, be bet the many proposed emendations
tered in imagination. yields a wholly satisfactory sense; but
3 *due Q]s 'end' may be the result of soil is the most plausible, both because
compositorial error, resulting from reversals of letter-order are a feature
'turned letters' ('u' for 'n') and/or a of this part of Q_(cf. 'end' for 'due',
failure of the usual process of con 1. 3; rn'wd' for 'ruin'd', 73.4), and
verting the correct order to 'mirror- because it yields a reasonable, if
writing' as viewed on the composing- slightly strained, sense: 'the basis
stick; cf. McKerrow, 257, 9-10. (ground, soil) of the disparity
Alternatively or additionally, the com between your fair appearance and foul
positor's eye may have slipped to mend moral reputation is that you are
in the previous line. Booth (253) debasing yourself, perhaps by keeping
describes this sonnet as 'sloppily unworthy company'. The ease with
printed throughout'. which the word 'common' could slide
4 even . . . c o m m e n d Even probably from 'widespread' to 'morally obnox
governs foes, = 'so that even your ene ious' is illustrated in Ham \.2.12-4.
mies praise you', rather than 'in such Alternatively or additionally, soil may
a manner as enemies give praise'. derive from the obsolete verb, a vari
5 *Thy one of Q]s 'thy'/'their' errors; ant of 'assoiP, meaning 'To resolve,
cf. 26.12n. clear up, expound or explain' (OED
7 other accents other (less favourable) 3), functioning here as if it meant 'the
tones solution'. Shakespeare could have
confound undermine, destroy (cf. selected the odd word 'soil' in prefer
60.8); but there may also be a sense of ence to some more familiar word such
'confuse, complicate'. as 'cause' because it opens up an addi
9 look into investigate closely; with the tional play on 'common soil': 'you
possible suggestion of 'look to see if keep common, or vulgar, company'.
there is any . . .' (OED look 16 a-c)
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Shakespeare s Sonnets 69
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3 tongues, the . . . souls,] toungs (the . . . soules) 3 due] Capell; end £ 4 commend] Commend
5 Thy] Capell; Their Q_ 8 further] farther 14 soil] Benson; solye £
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70 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
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Shakespeare 's Sonnets 70
70
1 blamed] blam'd 4 crow] Crow 6 Thy] Capell; Their Q wooed] woo'd 7 canker] Canker
8 unstained] unstayined 9 passed] past 10 assailed] assayld charged] charg'd 12 enlarged]
inlarged 13 masked] maskt
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Shakespeare 's Sonnets 71
71
253
72 Shakespeare s Sonnets
72 Continues from the end of the pre the price of being untruthful'; 'speak
ceding sonnet, with another plea for well of me, who am "untrue", i.e.
oblivion which functions as a morally flawed'
reminder. If the young man is pressed 13 'That which cometh out of the man,
to say what virtues his dead friend that defileth the man. For from with
had, he should not lie on his behalf, in, out of the heart of men, proceed
but suppress the recollection of him. evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
1 task . . . recite challenge you to tell murders. Thefts, covetousness, wicked
(OED task 2b, with this example) ness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil
2 lived in m e was in me (while I lived) eye, blasphemy, foolishness: All these
4 nothing worthy prove (a) 'appre evil things come from within, and
hend (prove) nothing of value'; possi defile the man' (Mark, 7.20-3):
bly undercut by (b), 'demonstrate that though generally read as referring to
even nothing has value' the production of poems, as in 38.11
7 h a n g . . . I the image derives from the or 103.1, there is a connected sugges
practice of suspending epitaphs and tion of shameful actions and desires.
trophies on the hearse or funeral 14 so should you so you too ought to be
monument of the deceased. The use ashamed; or so will you, too, be
of I for 'me' not only achieves the brought into disgrace if you stand by
needed rhyme with lie, but activates a me.
pun on the poet's 'deceased eye' - T t h i n g s n o t h i n g worth Primarily
shall not live to see it'. suggests 'that which is of no value, i.e.
deceased deceased the dead poet'; but there may also be a
8 niggard miserly reference to the poet's words, as in
9 in this in this respect 'who will make me a liar, and make my
10 speak . . . untrue 'speak well of me at speech nothing worth?' (Job, 24.25).
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73 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
73 This sonnet explores the young man's light, in the form of afterglow
perception of the poet's decrepitude 8 Death's second self Sleep, rather
through a series of images of decay, than night, is commonly called 'the
concluding that this strengthens, or elder brother of death' (cf. Sidney,
should strengthen, his love. OA, 88, and Tilley, S526); but the
2 yellow . . . few The reversal of the métonymie transfer to night is easily
steadily diminishing order - the read made.
er expects 'or few, or none' - ensures seals . . . rest suggests both 'closes
that we focus on several stages of the everything up in repose, as in a coffin
process of seasonal decay, which which is "sealed"'; and 'closes all
includes both the leafless trees of mid eyes', as in 'seel' = sew up the eyes of
winter and the partly stripped trees of a falcon. The word rest hints at death
mid-autumn, rather than simply on as an end which is as much desired as
the period when the stripping of veg feared.
etation is complete. Since Shakes 10 his youth Since Elizabethan English
peare was bald, a visual analogy may lacked the genitive 'its', his should not
be implied between an almost-leafless automatically be construed as person
tree and the almost-hairless head, a alizing fire; however, followed by
process which may in a specific as well deathbed, it does naturally suggest the
as a general sense be viewed in me. dying embers of a human life.
3 shake against shiver in anticipation 12 'Eaten up by that which it ate up', cf.
of (cf. the temporal use of Against in tempus edax rerum, tuque, invidiosa
63.1); shiver in response to vetustas, Ovid, Met., 15.234-6, a
4 *Bare ruined choirs Primarily, the phrase which immediately follows an
tree branches are imagined as those image of Helen looking at her wrin
'Quires and places where they sing' kled face in a mirror. The larger sub
(BCP, Morning and Evening Prayer) ject of that is presumably time, as in
which in summer were the haunts of Ovid; the human body was brought to
songbirds; however, the phrase Bare maturity [nourished) by the same tem
ruined choirs also inevitably evokes poral process which destroys it.
visual recollections of chancels of 13 which . . . strong tonally ambivalent:
abbeys left desolate by Henry VIII's = either declarative of the existing
dissolution of the monasteries. Q]s strength of the youth's love, or carry
'rn'wd' is one of several errors of ing a note of hope: 'which (will) make
reversal made by Compositor B in sigs your love more strong'; or simply
V
E P - E4 ; cf. 'end' for due in 69.3; cf. descriptive, 'yours must be a very
also 'wiht' for with, 23.14, also the strong love, to be capable of being
work of Compositor B; and 'stainteh' bestowed on a transient object'
for staineth, 33.14, this time 14 T o . . . well to love that (love-object)
Compositor A. Here there is also a fully, heartily; conceivably there is a
minim error, the M S having presum play on 'Will', i.e. 'to love that man
ably read 'ruin'd' or 'rvin'd'. called William'.
5 twilight Shakespeare's only use of leave picks up leaves from 1. 2, re
the word, whose relative unfamiliarity applying it as a verb, = 'be separated
may be indicated by Q]s hyphenation from'
such day such a day; or such day
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Shakespeare 's Sonnets 73
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4 Bare ruined choirs] Benson; Bare rn'wd quiers Qj Barren'd of quires Capell 5 twilight] twi-light
6 sunset] Sun-set west] West 11 deathbed] death bed 12 Consumed] Consum'd nourished]
nurrisht
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74 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
7 4 Revoking his appeal to the youth in 71 quest all describe my body being dead.
to forget the author of these sonnets, 9 the . . . life literalizes spirit in the pre
the poet implores him to retain the vious line, treating death as a process
better part of him, which will survive of distillation in which the physical
in his verse after death. body is left behind as dregs
1 be c o n t e n t e d stress should fall 11 A much-discussed line: momentarily
strongly on be, since the implication it may seem that the poet anticipates
is: 'despite what I said in the preced self-slaughter, but it is more likely
ing sonnet about loving my ageing that the wretch whose sharp imple
body, remain untroubled'. ment has taken possession of the
that fell arrest the arrival of death, speaker's body is personified death,
seen as an officer coming to appre seen in 11. 1-2 as a relentless officer
hend a criminal; fell = fierce, terrible, carrying the dead man to judgement,
as in 'one fell swoop', Mac 4.3.219. and now as a ruthless assassin.
2 Without all bail without any possi However, the tone is confusing, both
bility of release from prison because it is not clear whether coward
3 in . . . interest some right of posses applies chiefly to the terror of the
sion or continued residence in the line dying man or to the 'cowardly' attack
of verse which you read: for interest cf. made on him, and because elsewhere
'where life hath no more interest but Shakespeare often uses wretch in
to breathe', AYL 5.1.8. Though line terms of pity or tenderness; cf., e.g.,
might also suggest the thread of VA 680, Oth 3.3.90, KL 3.4.28.
human life spun by the Fates, or the 12 r e m e m b e r e d remembered: = (a)
line of offspring, neither seems applic recollected; (b) brought back to life,
able here. with the bodily 'members' put togeth
5 reviewest survey, or resurvey er again
review see once more 13-14 The distinction between that
6 very part true portion: cf. 'thou art (body due to be destroyed by death)
all the better part of me', 39.2. and this (poem that you are reading) is
7 T h e earth . . . earth 'We therefore developed from 11. 1 and 5, and here,
commit his body to the ground, earth because of the threefold repetition of
to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust', that and twofold repetition of this,
The Order for the Burial of the Dead, produces an effect of quickfire quib
BCP, 310. bling, with this ultimately cracked
9-11 The three metaphorical phrases the open to reveal its underlying relation
dregs, The prey, and The coward con ship with thee.
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Shakespeare s Sonnets 74
74
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75 Shakespeare s Sonnets
75 This sonnet sustains a metaphor of some danger does approach you near
the friend's image and presence as ly', Mac 42.67.
nourishment to the poet, in relation to 8 T h e n bettered elliptical: may sug
which he alternately starves and gest 'then bettering that best in the
feasts. desire . . . '; or, as Booth (263) has it,
1 as food to life equivalent to the nour 'made better, made happier'
ishment which sustains (human) life 9 S o m e t i m e at times; cf. 18.5.
2 sweet seasoned showers suggests 10 clean utterly, wholly (OED adv. 5b)
both showers that fall in a 'sweet sea starved starved
son', spring, and, continuing the 11 Possessing or pursuing anticipates
metaphor of eating, showers which the depiction of sexual desire in
are 'sweetly seasoned', delicious in 129.9, 'Mad in pursuit, and in posses
flavour sion so'
3 'in order to attain the peace which is 12 m u s t . . . took must be derived from
embodied in you I engage in such you in the future; or, can be derived
conflict': the odd expression peace of from you alone
you supports a pun, which extends the 13 pine and surfeit suffer from too lit
metaphor of hunger and anticipates tle food or too much
that of money, on 'piece of you'. 14 Or either
According to Booth (263) 'This line all The young man is the speaker's
passes all understanding'. all; cf. 31.14, 40.1, 109.14, 112.5.
6 D o u b t i n g fearing that; cf. 'I doubt
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Shakespeare 's Sonnets 75
75
2 sweet seasoned] sweet season'd Qj sweet-season'd Malone 8 bettered] betterd Qj better Capell
1
9 Sometime] Ard ; Some-time j(? 14 away.] away,
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76 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
76 Apologizing for the stylistic mono so, the race / Of Shakespeares minde,
tony of his verse, the poet ascribes this and manners brightly shines / In his
to the constancy of his affection and well torned, and true-filed lines'
its object. The sonnet resumes the (Jonson, 8.392).
theme of 38 (which is 38 sonnets fur *tell Q's 'feP is probably one of
ther back), where the sweet argument Compositor B's errors of reversal, in
of the youth was expected to inspire this case the result of a confusion
unlimited invention. between't' and T ; cf. 73.4n
1 barren o f deficient in, lacking 8 their that of his words, considered
4 To new literary styles and unusual collectively
combinations (of genre, types of 9 o f about, concerning: cf. Lat. de; there
rhetoric, or poetic diction): OED cites is also a suggestion that what he writes
this line under 'compound' sb. 2c, derives directly from the youth.
defining it as 'A compound word, a 10 a r g u m e n t subject-matter; with a
verbal compound'. Shakespeare him subsidiary suggestion of contention
self may be glancing aside at or dispute between you and love: cf.
Drayton's ongoing revision and thy lovely argument, 79.5.
republication of his sonnet sequence 11 all m y best the best I can do
Idea, originally published in 1594, but dressing . . . new rearranging old
appearing in extensively revised and words, or ornamenting old words to
expanded versions in 1599, 1600,1602 make them seem like new ones; con
and 1605 (see Introduction, pp. tinues the clothing metaphor of 11.
14-15); or Daniel's revised and 7-8, in which words are personified as
expanded sonnet sequence Delia in children dressed in their parent's liv
1601-2. According to Drayton's edi ery
tors, Tn his new sonnets [Drayton] 12 suggests that his words are like old
emphasizes his difference from other coins, capable of supporting repeated
sonneteers . . . and his lighthearted transactions, or like sexual emissions
readiness to experiment, to range from an almost-exhausted source; cf.,
sportively "in all Humors", "wilde, 4.1-2n.
madding, jocond, & irreguler'" 13 The identification of the poet's verse
(Drayton, 5.138-9). and its subject-matter with the sun's
5 Why . . . one Why do I persist in cycle simultaneously elevates the
writing in the same manner? youth and makes him sound tedious;
However, all one may also anticipate there may be an association also
alone in 79.2; the poet writes in isola between iterative 'sonnets' and itera
tion as well as in a solipsistic style. tive 'suns'.
6 a noted weed a distinctive, recogniz 14 still . . . told suggests both the
able garb or livery: a metaphor for a repeated relation of an old narrative
characteristic literary style and the repeated counting (telling) of
7 In his poem prefixed to the First Folio a hoard of coins. The close links with
Jonson stressed the distinctive and sonnet 38, with which 76 shares both
authentic character of the lines a general subject and four key words,
Shakespeare fathered: 'Looke how the invention, sweet, write and argument,
fathers face / Liues in his issue, euen also reinforce the notion of repetition.
262
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 76
76
1 pride,] pride? 4 new-found] new found 7 tell] Capell; fel Q 13 sun] Sun
263
y
77 Shakespeare s Sonnets
264
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 11
11
with black lines (63.13), as waste, con refers, not just to writing and reading,
taining nothing of value until they but to the threefold stages of self-
bear the impress of the youth's reflec contemplation proposed in 11. 1-4, all
tions on his own image. of which entail looking.
11 'your own thoughts, born from your 14 will promote your moral improve
brain and nourished by further con ment, and add to the value of your
templation': the placing of nursed (note)book: a tritely predictable admo
before delivered 'may have been nition; however, if the allusion is not
prompted by Shakespeare's desire to to a blank notebook, but to the youth's
stress the idea that what the mind book of his friend's sonnets, a more
gives it also receives' (Booth, 268). complex suggestion is made that the
12 a new acquaintance Reading the value of the book called Shakespeare's
written version of his thoughts, he Sonnets derives, not from what the
will encounter them afresh. poet has written, but from the (writ
13 offices functions, duties: presumably ten) response to it of the youth.
1
1 wear] Capell (Gildon); were j£ 2 minutes] mynuits 3 The] Q, Ard ; These Capell 10 blanks]
Capell; blacks Q 11 nursed] nurst delivered] deliuerd 14 enrich] inrich
265
78 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
78 Continuing the enlargement of poetic youth to the poet, and to his subse
self-awareness initiated in 76, the quent inspiration of others. If
speaker claims that his celebration of 'Mr. W.H.' (Dedication, 1. 3) is William
the youth as his (male) Muse has pro Herbert, there could be an allusion to
voked many other writers to invoke Captain Tobias Hume, The First Part
him as their patron; he appeals to the of Ay res (1605), dedicated to William
young man to cherish his poems most, Herbert by a soldier who claims to
because his dependence on him is lack eloquence, yet translates songs
most absolute. and composes airs.
2 fair assistance suggests both favour 7 suggests both the process of 'imping'
able help as a patron, and the directly feathers on to birds' wings in falconry,
inspiring quality of the fair youth's and the reinforcement of the goose
beauty quill which is the instrument of writ
3 alien The italicization and capitaliza ing
tion of this word in Q appears to 9 c o m p i l e compose: cf. 'Longaville /
underline the 'alienness', or other Did never sonnet for her sake com
ness, of the rival writers. The word pile', LLL 4.3.131-2; and OED 3.
primarily suggests 'foreign' or 'immi 10 Whose . . . thine The poems the
grant' (OED la, 3a), but is here pre speaker writes are wholly inspired by
sumably figurative (OED 2). It might, the addressee.
however, suggest a pen employed, 11 m e n d improve; cf. 103.9.
learnedly, in translating alien, i.e. non- 12 'Your graciousness (or gracefulness)
English, writings. adds lustre to manifestations of liter
got m y use appropriated my custom ary skill'; a further layer is added if
(of invoking you as my Muse) the addressee is a nobleman who may
4 under . . . disperse distribute their at times be addressed as 'your grace',
poems under your patronage; disper and/or consorts with other such
sal could take the form of manuscript graces, though this term is correctly
circulation or printing or both. applied only to those of ducal rank or
5-8 t a u g h t . . . majesty traces a fourfold above (OED grace 16b).
process of amelioration, with two graced graced
negatives positived and two forms of 13 thou art . . . art Cf. Sidney, AS,
talent enhanced: the dumb sing; the 64.14, 'Thou art my wit, and thou my
ignorant are raised up; the learned are virtue art', with a similar play on art =
made more so; grace and dignity are you are / art = literary skill.
enhanced. 14 The speaker is the least learned or
5 taught . . . sing taught those previ lofty of all those who address the
ously dumb to sing high, or compose youth, but because of his primacy in
'lofty' verses: could apply both to the invoking the youth he is elevated to
original inspiration afforded by the the level of the most learned.
266
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 78
78
1 invoked] inuok'd 3 alien] Alien 8 majesty] Maiestie 10 born] borne 12 arts] Arts
267
79 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
268
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 79
79
3 decayed] decayde 5 grant, sweet love,] grant (sweet loue) 7 poet] Poet
269
80 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
270
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 80
80
5 worth, wide . . . is,] worth (wide . . . is) ocean] Ocean 7 bark, inferior . . . his,] bark (inferior
. . . his) 9 afloat] a floate 11 Or, being wracked,] Or (being wrackt) 13 if] If
271
81 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
272
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 81
81
• pen,]
273
82 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
274
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 82
82
5 hue] hew 8 time-bettering] time bettering days,] dayes 9 devised] deuisde 10 rhetoric] Rhethorick
11 sympathized] simpathizde 12 true-telling] true telling 13 used] vs'd 14 abused] abus'd
275
83 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
276
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 83
83
277
84 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
278
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 84
84
W h o is it t h a t says m o s t ? W h i c h c a n say m o r e ,
T h a n this r i c h p r a i s e : t h a t y o u a l o n e are y o u ,
I n w h o s e confine i m m u r e d is t h e s t o r e
W h i c h s h o u l d e x a m p l e w h e r e y o u r e q u a l grew?
L e a n p e n u r y w i t h i n t h a t p e n d o t h dwell 5
T h a t to his subject l e n d s n o t s o m e small glory;
B u t h e t h a t w r i t e s of y o u , if h e c a n tell
T h a t you a r e y o u , so dignifies his story.
L e t h i m b u t c o p y w h a t in y o u is w r i t ,
N o t m a k i n g w o r s e w h a t n a t u r e m a d e so clear, 10
A n d s u c h a c o u n t e r p a r t shall f a m e h i s wit,
M a k i n g his style a d m i r e d e v e r y w h e r e .
You to y o u r b e a u t e o u s blessings a d d a c u r s e ,
B e i n g fond o n praise, w h i c h m a k e s y o u r p r a i s e s
worse.
279
85 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
85 Still playing the Cordelia role, the application of the word, following Fr.
speaker concedes and confirms the précieux, as 'affected, over-refined',
glorious praises voiced by a rival poet, was not current until the mid seven-
but claims that his own silent, inter- teenth century.
nalized devotion merits equal favour. 5 other others
There are further echoes here of 6 unlettered clerk The function of the
Sidney's AS, especially of 54, with the parish clerk was to lead the congrega-
same paradox that the reader is asked tion in responses and 'amens': cf. R2
to accept a carefully elaborated sonnet 4.1.172-3.
as an image of inarticulate love. 7 h y m n song of praise, perhaps with a
1 in . . . still out of courtesy maintains pun on 'him' = 'every Tom, Dick or
her silence: though the primary sug- Harry'
gestion of in manners is that the speak- that . . . affords which that talented
er's Muse is showing deference to the genius lends to you; or, which is pro-
rival poet, there may also be an impli- vided by poetic ingenuity interpreted
cation that the other's elaborate lan- more broadly. The following sonnet,
guage is not 'mannerly'; and still sug- with its reference to the spirit of a sin-
gests not only 'in silence' but 'in gle writer, would support the first
continuance'. reading.
2 c o m m e n t s . . . praise expositions of 8 well-refined well-refinèd: in the
or commentaries on your praisewor- sophisticated style produced by a
thy qualities, possibly in the form of writer whose style is successfully
illustrative matter rather than the cen- purified (cf. OED refine la and b; 3a);
tral text (cf. OED comment 1, 3). there may also be a suggestion that the
c o m p i l e d collected into a volume or writer's language has benefited from
treatise {OED 1) immersion in such a well of inspi-
3 *Reserve your character retain, ration as the youth.
preserve your appearance, demeanour: 10 m o s t utmost
for this sense of reserve, cf. Son 32.7, 12 holds . . . before maintains first posi-
MM 5.1.467; for character cf. MM tion in the hierarchy (of those who
1.2.151. Pooler's suggested emenda- love you)
1
tion of Q]s 'their' to thy (Ard ) has 13 respect love; esteem; cf. TGV
been rejected in favour of 'your' (RP). 1.2.131.
golden quill suggests a beautifully 14 speaking in effect which speak in
elaborate, 'aureate', style of writing external action or in truth, rather than
4 precious phrase following on from in mere breath of words, which is here
golden, denoting language of the treated as insubstantial and suspect:
utmost value. The adverse literary cf. OED effect 8.
280
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 85
85
1
2 compiled] compil'd, 3 your] this edit. (RP) their Q thy Ard conj. character] Character 4 filed]
fiPd 7 hymn] Himne 8 well-refined] well refined 9 praised] prais'd 10 something] some-thing
12 hindmost] hind-most
281
86 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
86 Undaunted by the splendour of his Mr. W.H. as the sonnets' only begetter
rival's verses, the speaker quails only (Dedication, 11. 1-3).
at his appropriation of the young 5 spirit intellectual power, energy
man's favour. The imagery of 80, in (Glossary, 2, 1)
which the addressee offers an ocean of spirits suggests supernatural beings,
favour to those who are able to navi such as the spirits of dead writers;
gate it, is here resumed; and both son George Chapman, for instance, was
nets are paralleled in Thomas Fuller's inspired by Musaeus and Christopher
account of Shakespeare and Jonson in Marlowe to complete the latter's Hero
his Worthies of England (1662), 126: and Leander (1598) (cf. 3.123-198);
'Many were the wit-combates betwixt and by Homer to translate the Seaven
him and Ben Johnson, which two I Bookes of the IHades ( 1598), expanded
behold like a Spanish great Gallion, into a twelve-book version in the win
and an English man of War ; Master ter of 1608/9. But the word could
Johnson (like the former) was built far simply refer to the rival poet's own
higher in Learning; Solid, but Slow in powerful spirits, or reserves of creative
his performances. Shake-spear with energy.
the English-man of War, lesser in bulk, 6 mortal pitch height attainable by
but lighter in sailing, could turn with mere mortals
all tides, tack about and take advan struck m e dead stunned me into
tage of all winds, by the quickness of (dead) silence (OED strike 46b): there
his Wit and Invention.' Possibly seems to be a parallel to Touchstone's
Fuller alludes to these sonnets, and remark, sometimes taken as an allu
believed Jonson to be the chief 'rival sion to the death of Marlowe, 'When a
poet'; or believed that some of man's verses cannot be understood,
Shakespeare's and Jonson's published nor a man's good wit seconded with
writings (perhaps specifically the lat- the forward child, understanding, it
ter's Epigrammes (1616) and the for strikes a man more dead than a great
mer's Sonnets) reflect such an emula reckoning in a little room' (AYL
tion. The 'wit-combats' need not have 3.3.9-14).
been oral, as Schoenbaum (Lives, 57) 7 his . . . night once taken as an allusion
and others have assumed. to the 'School of Night', a supposed
1 the . . . verse like the tall building and coterie whose members included
goodly pride attributed to the rival Ralegh, Chapman, Harriot and others
poet's vessel in 80.12, suggests a (cf. Bradbrook): compeers - compan
mighty ocean-going galleon, figuring ions, associates. The implication is
an ambitious and perhaps highly elab that the rival poet is dependent on the
orated form of verse promptings of others for his cre
2 Bound . . . prize The image is of a ations.
privateer setting out for the Indies or 8 a s t o n i s h e d astonished: stunned,
elsewhere in the hope of capturing struck dumb with amazement (cf. Luc
valuable booty. 1730)
3 As in the final line of the preceding 9 that . . . ghost that benign and
sonnet, the speaker claims to be friendly guardian spirit (cf. OED
unable to voice his thoughts of love: familiar 2d, familiar angel). The
they are ready for utterance (ripe), but phrase seems to carry an allusion to
remain buried (in-hearsed) in his brain some well-known relationship
because he is intimidated by his rival. between a poet and his Muse or
4 causing them to die even before they inspiring genius, such as Chapman's
were born (uttered): the image of the with the spirit of Homer.
brain as a womb, fairly common, also 10 gulls . . . intelligence tricks him
recalls Thorpe's identification of with (false) communications
282
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 86
86
11 victors . . . boast (Those spirits) can the sailing imagery of 11. 1-2, a
not claim to have been the cause of favourable breath which 'fills' the sails
my (poetic) silence. of his project, as in Prospero's appeal
12 sick of sick because of; cf. 77V 1.5.97, for 'Gentle breath' (Tern Epilogue
'O, you are sick of self-love, 11-12). Though Q> spelling 'fild'
Malvolio'. permits the reading 'filed' as polished,
13 your countenance your face; your refined, as in 1. 4 of the preceding
favourable regard: the word has sonnet, the full sail of 1. 1 makes filled
strong biblical associations with more probable; and a countenance,
divine favour, as in Numbers, 6.26, viewed as emitting light, warmth and
'The Lord lift up his countenance breath, cannot readily be imagined as
upon thee, and give thee peace.' 'filing'.
filled up suggests both a patronage 14 m a t t e r substance, subject-matter
which reinforces and strengthens the {OED 11a)
rival poet's great verse, and, resuming
283
87 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
87 Using legal and financial imagery, the slightly strained application, the word
speaker relinquishes his claim to the being partly dictated by the rhyme, to
young man, which was based on a suggest that the speaker's rights of
misjudgement or misprision, the youth ownership have lapsed or become
having underestimated his own value void. The word is elsewhere associat
and overestimated that of the speaker. ed with moral deviance: cf. H5
The use of feminine rhymes in every 22233; AC 3.11.50.
line except 2 and 4 draws attention to 10 else probably governs me rather than
the sonnet as unusual in form (cf. 20 mistaking, the larger sense being 'you
and headnote), perhaps to mark a new gave yourself to me either in igno
phase in the sequence: the rival poet is rance of your own worth, or else in
forgotten, but all is not well with the ignorance of my lack of worth'
friends. There may be a structural m i s t a k i n g misapprehending, mis
allusion to Sidney's AS 87, which, fol judging; cf. AYL 1.3.64.
lowing four songs, initiates a phase of 11 upon misprision growing coming
sonnets on separation and misunder into existence as the result of a false
standing. estimate
1 too . . . possessing a paradox: on an 13 had thee possessed you, possibly
emotional level = T love you so much with sexual undertones ; cf. 129.10
that I cannot keep you', undercut by (and OED have 14e).
the financial sense, = 'you are too flatter deceive, beguile with pleasing
valuable for someone of my lowly sta illusion (OED 6, 7a and 7b): cf. 'For
tus' now reviving joy bids her rejoice, /
2 e s t i m a t e value, reputation (Glossary, And flatters her it is Adonis' voice'
1 and 2); suggests both 'you know (^4 976-7).
your true value' and 'you know how 14 in . . . king primarily suggests that
you are esteemed by others' the speaker has enjoyed intense happi
3 charter o f thy worth privilege you ness: cf. 'As merry (happy) as a king'
enjoy because of your merit; cf. the (Tilley, K54). Q]s capitalized 'King'
similar application of charter in 58.9. could alternatively suggest that he has
gives thee releasing entitles you to enjoyed his presence in a way analo
free yourself (from me) gous to James I; or king could apply to
4 'all that binds me finds its limit or the addressee, elevated to kingly sta
terms of expiry in you': for determi tus, or the status of a specific King,
nate in this sense, cf. OED A. In a son only by the speaker's imagination ; cf.
net where every other rhyme is disyl R2 5.1.1-9.
labic the use of a monosyllabic rhyme waking The internal rhyme on a king,
here reinforces a sense of severance. which also picks up mistaking... mak
6 riches suggesting 'a person of ing from 11. 10 and 12, suggests a quib
immense value because so much ble. Conceivably the elevenfold repeti
loved', cf. 'The riches of the ship is tion of the particle -ing hints at
come on shore', Oth 2.1.83. 'ingle', = a boy favourite, a catamite
7 T h e . . . gift the warrant for your (OED); some such innuendo may also
bestowing on me the beautiful gift of be underlined by the 'feminine'
yourself rhymes and the word had in the previ
wanting lacking; there is probably no ous line. There may additionally or
play on 'desiring', as Booth suggests, alternatively be an allusion to
since this sense is not recorded until Shakespeare having acted kings; cf.
the early eighteenth century (cf. OED John Davies of Hereford, Epigram
wanting; want 5a). 159, 'To our English Terence Mr.
8 patent privilege, right of ownership Will: Shake-speare': 'Some say (good
swerving turning, deviating; here a Will) which I, in sport, do sing, /
284
Shakespeare *s Sonnets 87
87
Had'st thou not plaid some kingly King among the meaner sort' (The
parts in sport, / Thou had'st bin a Scourge of Folly (1611), 76-7).
companion for a King; / And, beene a
285
88 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
88 Continuing the theme of severance cf. OED lose lb, and example from
between the friends deriving from KL 1.1.236: 'Such a tongue / That I
their disparity in value, the poet am glad I have not, though not to have
promises to endorse the young man's it / Hath lost me in your liking'.
rejection of him by enumerating his 11-12 Cf. KL 2.4.302-6: 'to wilful men /
own deficiencies, thus doubly affirm T h e injuries that they themselves pro
ing the young man's integrity. cure / Must be their schoolmasters'.
1 disposed . . . light in a mood to think 12 In bestowing benefit on you, (this pro
little of me cedure) will doubly benefit me (in
2 and look on my merits with a scornful reinforcing your merits and so making
eye, or cause others to do so you even more lovable).
4 demonstrate your integrity or truth 13 so in such a manner, so utterly
fulness, despite your false aspersions 14 In order to do the right thing by you,
on my merit to affirm your right to be loved and
6 a story a narration, a recital admired, I will take all faults on to
7 attainted tainted, morally compro myself: recalls the self-abnegating
mised; (rightfully) accused, as if in a denial of Shakespeare's heroines, such
court of law as Desdemona's 'Nobody, I myself,
8 That so that, with the consequence farewell' {Oth 5.2.125), or Cordelia's
that 'No cause, no cause' (KL 4.7.75).
losing m e destroying my reputation;
286
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 88
88
1 disposed] dispode Qj dispos'd Benson 7 concealed] conceald 8 losing] loosing 12 me:] me.
287
89 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
288
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 89
89
5 not, love,] not (loue) 11 I, too much profane,] I (too much prophane)
289
90 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
90 Following on from the end of the pre 5 this sorrow the sorrow of being
vious sonnet, the speaker urges his spurned by you
friend, if he must reject him, to do so 6 elliptical military metaphor: = bring
now, while his fortunes are at a low up the rear in assailing an opponent
ebb, so that his other misfortunes can who is, to his grief, already defeated
dwindle in comparison to this over 7 do not redouble my miseries by mak
whelming one. ing worse follow bad: resumes the
1 T h e n in that case (OED 4a); but with meteorological imagery of 33-4, in
some sense also of a temporal refer which the young man's favourable
ence, picking up the When of 88.1: regard is equated with sunshine, his
'When (and if) you feel like repudiat neglect, treachery or unkindness with
ing me . . . let the time be now.' storm and rain.
2 bent . . . cross determined to frus 8 military again: = to prolong the defeat
trate everything I do. This sounds like of me which you intend
a specific personal reference, but in 9 do . . . last do not be the last to leave
default of external evidence we can me: implies that the other misfortunes
not hope to connect it with document alluded to in 1. 2 also take the form of
ed reverses. rejections by friends
3 bow give in, submit to the crushing 10 petty griefs minor injuries
blows of fortune 11 taste experience
4 drop . . . after-loss descend on me 13 strains varieties, levels; or perhaps
with an additional blow after I have (musical) sounds (OED 9a, b; 13)
already received others: it has been s e e m woe seem (truly) woeful, griev
thought that drop in might be a tech ous
nical term from sport or warfare, but 14 so so grievous: since 'O' was used to
no convincing analogy has been represent the sound of a groan (cf. KL
found. The only faint parallel else (First Quarto) 5.3.308; R3 3.3.90), the
where in Shakespeare is 'Certain thrice-repeated 'O' sounds in woe . . .
friends that are both his and mine / woe . . . so mimic redoubled grief.
Whose loves I may not drop', Mac
3.1.122.
290
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 90
90
4 after-loss] after losse 5 'scaped] scapte 6 conquered] conquerd 8 purposed] purposd 10 spite]
spight 11 shall] Benson; stall X? 14 Compared] Compar'd
291
91 Shakespeare s Sonnets
292
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 91
91
4 hawks] Hawkes hounds] Hounds horse] Horse 9 better] Benson; bitter £ 11 hawks] Hawkes
horses] Horses
293
y
92 Shakespeare s Sonnets
92 Following from the end of the preced T need not fear the ultimate injury,
ing sonnet, the speaker reassures him the complete withdrawal of your love,
self with the thought that if the friend since I shall die at the first hint of it.'
withdraws his love, he will immediate 7 a better state a happier condition or
ly die, and so become immune to fur place; here, by implication, 'a state
ther injury from the young man's beyond mortal life'. Though the
whims; however, this thought does speaker's natural life depends on the
not protect him against injuries of youth's favour, his heritage is heaven,
which he is not (yet) aware. which transcends it.
1 steal thyself away 'steal away' = to 8 h u m o u r mood, inclination (OED 5,
depart or withdraw secretly (OED 9a); 6
>
with a secondary suggestion here that 9 vex . . . m i n d grieve me with (your)
the young man removes from the variable moods or intentions
speaker that which he has just 10 revolt change of sides or opinion
described as Richer than wealth (91.10) (OED lc, with this example)
2 t e r m o f life legal phrase applying to 11-12 The threefold happy appears to
marriage and/or property rights; the cancel the double wretched at the end
next line makes it clear that ''my life' is of the preceding sonnet, suggesting
understood. both 'joyful', 'fortunate', and (in the
assured m i n e firmly assigned to me third occurrence) 'contented'.
(OED assure 3): another legal term 11 title right of possession, entitlement
assured assured 13 blessed fair beneficently beautiful;
3 stay remain, inhere happily equitable
4 depends upon is governed by, is con blessed blessed
tingent upon fears no blot is not at risk of pollu
that . . . thine that love that you tion or diminution
bestow on me 14 T h o u . . . false you may be false to
5—6 the . . . t h e m Since the preceding me in the future; you may already be
sonnet has identified the withdrawal false to me now
of the young man's love as the worst yet nevertheless; for the time being
injury the speaker can experience, it is not Malone follows this with a colon,
hard to know how to interpret the least suggesting an introduction to 93.
of them ; but perhaps the suggestion is,
294
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 92
92
B u t d o t h y w o r s t to steal t h y s e l f away;
F o r t e r m of life t h o u a r t a s s u r e d m i n e ,
A n d life n o l o n g e r t h a n t h y love will stay,
F o r it d e p e n d s u p o n t h a t love of t h i n e .
T h e n n e e d I n o t t o fear t h e w o r s t of w r o n g s , 5
W h e n in t h e least of t h e m m y life h a t h e n d ;
I see a b e t t e r state to m e b e l o n g s
T h a n that which on thy h u m o u r doth depend.
T h o u c a n s t n o t vex m e w i t h i n c o n s t a n t m i n d ,
S i n c e t h a t m y life o n t h y revolt d o t h lie. 10
O w h a t a h a p p y title d o I find,
H a p p y t o have t h y love, h a p p y t o die!
B u t w h a t ' s so blessed fair t h a t fears n o blot?
T h o u m a y s t b e false, a n d yet I k n o w it n o t .
295
y
93 Shakespeare s Sonnets
93 The speaker develops from the last sure rather than age.
line of the previous sonnet the notion 11 workings Cf. Othello's comment on
of being happily deceived: the young Iago's words: 'They are close denote
man's appearance suggests that he is ments, working from the heart', Oth
incapable of being anything but lov 3.3.127.
ing, which makes the deceptiveness of 12 thence from the heart, a source of
his appearance - if it is deceptive - authentic impulse
the more disastrous. tell speak of; enumerate
1 So in this manner (as defined in the 13 Eve's apple a fruit which, like that
preceding sonnet) eaten by Eve in Genesis, 3.6, looks
supposing believing attractive but has evil effects when
2 Like . . . husband the kind of hus consumed; cf. the image applied by
band Othello would like to have been, Antonio to Shylock, 'a goodly apple
Oth 3.3.351-3. rotten at the heart', MV 1.3.102.
deceived deceived 14 virtue suggests both moral virtue and
3 May . . . m e may still appear to me as the medicinal 'virtue' residing in a
the quintessence of love; may still plant or fruit; cf. 54.9 and n.
seem expressive of love towards me answer . . . show does not corre
altered n e w newly altered; the spond with your appearance: both
beloved's face here seems like that of here and in the next sonnet
the changing moon. Shakespeare draws on the
4 Cf. 61.14. Neoplatonic idea that physical beauty
7 m a n y ' s looks the appearance of is, or should be, a trustworthy index of
many other men, or their facial inner virtue; cf. 'beautie commeth of
expression God . . . Wherupon doth very seldom
the . . . history the record of the an ill soule dwell in a beautifull bodie.
heart's falsity And therfore is the outwarde beautie a
8 m o o d s (expressions of) varying true signe of the inward goodnesse,
states of mind or feeling, with partic and in bodies this comelines is
ular connotations of anger; cf. TGV imprinted more and lesse (as it were)
4.1.51, H5 4.7.38. for a marke of the soule, whereby she
wrinkles strange odd contortions of is outwardly knowne' (Castiglione,
the facial muscles: see OED wrinkle 360).
3a; its associations are with displea
296
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 93
93
297
94 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
94 Picking up from the conclusion of the abuse', VA 166. The phrase it only
previous sonnet the notion that the suggests both '(though) it lives and
youth's beauty ought to be an index of dies alone' and '(though) it does no
sincere goodness, the speaker devel more than live and die'. There seems
ops the idea that the gift of beauty to be a parallel with Romans, 14.7-8:
carries with it an obligation to behave 'For none of us liveth to himself, and
virtuously. Those who, despite their no man dieth to himself. For whether
beautiful appearance, behave viciously we live, we live unto the Lord; and
deserve more obloquy than those whether we die, we die unto the
whose appearance marks them out as Lord'.
weeds. 11 base infection degrading pollution
1 power to hurt because of their beau or disease: cf. 67, 'Ah, wherefore with
ty: cf. 'To be able to do harm, and not infection should he live', where also
to do it, is noble' (Tilley, H170). there was an identification of the
2 the . . . show Presumably the refer youth with a flower (rose) of archetyp
ence is to sexual activity, which is al splendour.
'shown' in them in the sense that 12 outbraves outdoes in beauty or
thoughts of it are provoked by their splendour of array (OED 2b): cf. John
attractive appearance. Gerard, Herball (1597), Preface, of
3 as stone cold and unmoved, as in 'as King Solomon, 'The Lillies of the
still as a stone' (OED stone 3a, b); or field out-braved him'; there is proba
powerfully attractive, like lodestone bly a reference to the Sermon on the
(OED 8b) Mount, Matthew, 6.28-9: 'consider
4 U n m o v e d unmoved the lilies of the field, how they grow;
5 rightly as of right; truly, properly they toil not, neither do they spin.
6 husband preserve, administer with And yet I say unto you, That even
thrift and prudence (OED 2a) Solomon in all his glory was not
from expense from (unnecessary) arrayed like one of these'. The lordly
expenditure, with a play on refraining youth's dignity, like that of Solomon,
from the emission of semen; cf. can be outdone by a simple flower.
129.1-2 and n.; also 6.3-4 and n., 13 sweetest . . . deeds conflates two
20.14 and n. proverbs: 'What is sweet in the mouth
7-8 lords . . . stewards Those who are is oft sour in the maw', Tilley, M1265,
self-controlled are rightful possessors and cf. R2 1.3.235, Luc 699; and 'The
of their natural beauty; those who are corruption of the best is the worst'
not merely administer it for the bene (Tilley, C668)
fit of others, like stewards. 14 Though there may be an allusion to
9 s u m m e r ' s flower the flower that the proverb 'The lily is fair in show
pertains to the summer, with connota but foul in smell' (Tilley, L297), the
tions of the fragile beauty of (female) primary suggestion is that, untainted,
sexuality: cf. 'Women are as roses, the lily would smell sweet; a foul smell
whose fair flower / Being once dis- is worse in it than in a mere weed
play'd, doth fall that very hour' (TN because of the expectations of virtue
2.4.37-8). Both here and in 1. 11 flower (moral and botanical) activated by its
is linked by rhyme and position to beauty. The line occurs in identical
power in 1. 1. form in the anonymous The Reign of
to the s u m m e r as perceived by the King Edward the Third (1596), 2.1.41,
(personified) summer; with regard to (Edward III, 79). Whether or not
the summer Shakespeare had a hand in the play,
10 Contrast the undesirable canker verbal parallels leave no doubt that he
blooms of 54, which Die to themselves, was familiar with it and with the
and so lack value; cf. also 'Things application of the line to the lustful
growing to themselves are growth's Edward, who tries to use his high rank
298
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 94
94
299
y
95 Shakespeare s Sonnets
95 The speaker alters the angle from they will speak kindly
which he views the discrepancy 8 suggests that, though the youth is
between outward fairness and inward charged with lasciviousness, the dis
faultiness in the addressee, stressing tinction of his name exonerates him,
the dangerous freedom from reproach making unfavourable accounts appear
that his beauty allows him. favourable. There is some uncertainty
1 lovely beautiful; lovable: for the con here about whether it is high birth or
cept of an individual so attractive that beauty that chiefly protects him from
moral faults appear only as beauties, censure. The opening phrase may
cf. AC 1.1.49-50, 2.2.238-40; and, echo Sidney, AS 35.10-11: 'now long
with more immediate application needy fame / Doth even grow rich,
here, LC 316-22. naming my Stella's name'.
2 canker caterpillar or canker-worm 9 m a n s i o n dwelling, place of residence
(OED 4) 10 habitation place of abode (OED 2a),
3 spot stain, sully; reproach, vilify with a subsidiary play on 'habit' =
(OED la, b) apparel, clothing
budding n a m e suggests both 'bur 12 turns Q]s reading is surely right, the
geoning reputation' and 'role as a subject of both doth cover and turns
young scion of an aristocratic family'; being the transforming veil of beauty.
cf. 'bud of nobler race', WT 4.4.95. 13 dear heart primarily a form of inti
4 sweets sweet things, as in 12.11, with mate and affectionate address, but also
perhaps a more specific allusion to suggests a concern with the dear heart,
sugar and flower syrups or conserves or most intimate interior impulses, of
'enclosed' in a jar or box; but here the the addressee; cf. dear heart's part,
paradox is that, rather than being 46.12.
tightly enclosed, the sweets them 14 sounds proverbial, but not found else
selves enclose sins. where in quite this form: cf. 'Iron with
5 the (collective) tongue of those who often handling is worn to nothing'
comment on how you spend your time (Tilley, 192); and Polonius's senten
6 lascivious c o m m e n t s ellipsis for tious 'borrowing dulls the edge of
'comments on or accusations of las- husbandry', Ham 1.3.77. The surpris
civiousness' ing new field of imagery may carry an
sport pleasure, with connotations of implication that ill-judged promiscu
sexual pleasure; cf. VA 24, MM ity threatens the young man's potency,
3.2.120-1, Oth 2.1.228-9. especially given the sexual connota
7 kind manner, fashion; with a hint that tions of use, as in 6.5.
300
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 95
95
2 rose] Rose 3 name:] name? Qj name! Ard' 6 Making . . . sport,] (Making . . . sport) 12 turns]
1
turn Ard 13 heed, dear heart,] heed (deare heart) 14 used] vs'd
301
96 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
96 The youth is admired as much for his Matthew, 7.15, 'Beware of false
faults as for his youthful attractions, prophets, which come to you in
whose charm is so powerful that he sheep's clothing, but inwardly they
could, if he wished, mislead (seduce?) are ravening wolves', and cf. also 2H6
even more of his admirers than he 3.1.77-8; but more specifically the
does at present. image here suggests sexual rapacity, as
1-2 Though the lines are parallel in con at the moment of rape in Luc 611:
struction, there is a distinction 'The wolf hath seiz'd his prey, the
between 1. 1, in which two separate poor lamb cries', which in turn
groups of people identify the youth's derives from Ovid, Fasti, 2.800:
moral faultiness either with youth or 'Parva sub infesto cum jacet agna lupo\
with wantonness, and 1. 2, in which a 10 At first it may seem that the sugges
single group of people finds charm tion is that it is lambs which change
(grace) in his combination of youth their appearance, but probably the
and gentle sport - a phrase which sug suggestion is 'transform his appear
gests, rather than 'lasciviousness' or ance so that he looks like a lamb'.
'caprice, whim' (OED wantonness la, 11 gazers possibly implies a play on
g), 'aristocratic diversion' (OED gen 'grazers', sheep-like admirers who
tle 2b), and so hints that it may be will be misled, as in IVT4AA09
rank, as well as beauty, that glosses 12 the . . . state suggests both 'the power
over his imperfections. that comes from your condition of
3 m o r e and less those of higher and youthful beauty' and 'the force of
lower rank your high rank'
4 The image is of a great lord whose 13-14 repeated exactly from the end of
suitors arrive as faults, but are imme 36 (sixty sonnets earlier, perhaps a sig
diately elevated to graces. nificant interval?), but here deployed
5-6 suggests both a literal reference to a with different effect: in 36 the speaker
queen, such as the dead Elizabeth, views himself as the repository of
with her great love of elaborate jew shame on behalf of both friends; here
ellery, and a general metaphoric refer the suggestion is that the young man's
ence to unworthy court favourites good reputation, which so far has
who are admired because of their been enhanced rather than under
proximity to the throne mined by his faults, will eventually be
5 throned throned jeopardized if he takes too much
8 translated transformed, metamor advantage of his privileged position,
phosed; cf. MND 3.1.122. and the speaker will be implicated in
9-10 There is a general reference to this disgrace.
302
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 96
96
3 loved] lou'd 5 queen] Queene 6 jewel] Iewell esteemed] esteenVd 8 deemed] deem'd
9 1ambslLambs wolf] Wolfe 10 lamb] Lambe
303
97 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
97 The first of three sonnets on the 'transmitting' and 'giving birth to'
speaker's separation from the youth. wanton . . . prime ellipsis for 'the
Their position may allude to Sidney's burden (of fertility) begotten by the
AS, in which 87-98 (and possibly also lascivious spring'
99) relate to a period of physical sepa 8 as the wombs of pregnant widows do:
ration. While Sidney's 97 treats here the 'father', the spring, has died,
absence as a form of 'night', during but autumn brings forth his abundant
which the sun, Stella, shines else issue. The image is strongly reminis
where, Shakespeare's treats it as a cent of 1.3-4.
form of winter. 9 s e e m e d The past tense reinforces the
2 pleasure that which makes the year sense that the summer period of sep
pleasurable; with a subsidiary sugges aration is now over, and is being
tion that the year is using the viewed from the perspective of late
addressee at his pleasure (OED plea autumn.
sure 5a) 10 no more than the benefits hoped for
fleeting year the year that flies swift (in vain) by orphans and fatherless
ly past; cf. 19.5, where time is issue: the identification of the absent
instructed to 'Make glad and sorry youth with spring and summer makes
seasons as thou fleet'st'. nature's autumnal bounty seem for
4 old D e c e m b e r ' s bareness Decem lorn.
ber is personified as an old man, per 11 s u m m e r . . . thee 'Summer and his
haps with a bald head; the bareness of pleasures' are personified as courtiers
former Decembers, former winters, is or suitors who attend on the youth as
experienced; also suggests that the their king or lord. Whereas in Nashe's
bareness is that of late December, Summer's Last Will and Testament
when the month itself is old. (1600; Nashe, 3.233-95), with which
5 t i m e r e m o v e d time when I was this sonnet seems strongly connected,
removed (from you) Summer predictably ends up by mak
s u m m e r ' s t i m e As the next three ing Autumn his 'adopted heire', here
lines make clear, this denotes the his withdrawal is associated with the
whole period presided over by sum removed youth.
mer, which extends from spring to 12 thou away while or because you are
harvest; it is astronomically reckoned away
from the summer solstice (21 June) to the . . . m u t e pathetic fallacy: the lit
the autumnal equinox (22 or 23 eral time is autumn or later, but the
September). poet attributes the silence of the birds
6 T h e t e e m i n g a u t u m n Autumn is to the young man's absence.
personified as an abundantly fertile 13-14 Or . . . pale While appearing to
woman; cf. Gaunt's description of modify the preceding conceit, the
England as 'This nurse, this teeming poet elaborates it: such birdsong as
womb of royal kings', R2 2.1.51: to there is is so dismal as to provoke the
'teem' = 'bring forth young' or 'be leaves to fade.
full, as if ready to give birth' (OED 1, 13 cheer mood, disposition
2). 14 winter's near Rhyme and rhythm
big with great with (young), ready to link the dreaded onset of winter with
give birth to (OED big 4) the fleeting year of 1. 2.
7 B e a r i n g as in 1.4, suggests both
304
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 97
97
1
1 winter] Winter 2 year!] Ard ; yeare? Q 3 seen,] seene? 4 everywhere!] Malone; euery where? j£>
5 removed] remou'd 6 autumn] Autumne 8 lords'] Lords 9 seemed] seem'd 10 orphans]
Orphans unfathered] vn-fathered 11 summer] Sommer 14 winter's] Winters
305
98 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
98 This continues from the preceding sad tale's best for winter'.
sonnet, but with a retrospective view 8 their proud lap presumably a
of the flowers of spring rather than of metonym for 'the lap (of April, or of
the fruits of teeming autumn: the earth) which is proud to bear them'
speaker took no pleasure in the season 9 lily's white This could be modern
because the youth, its archetype, is ized alternatively as 'lilies white' =
elsewhere. white lilies, or 'lilies' white' = white
2 proud pied splendid and variegated; ness of (plural) lilies. However, both
there seems no need to hyphenate the the singular rose in the following line
double epithet, as most editors since and the proverbial 'As white as a lily'
Thomas Ewing and Malone have (Tilley, L296) make a collective singu
done. April is personified, as is con lar the most plausible reading.
ventional, as a gaudily dressed young 10 vermilion bright red or scarlet (OED
man. 2); not used by Shakespeare elsewhere
trim adornment, array (OED 4a); cf. 11 but sweet sweet, but no more than
1H4 4.1.113, where Hotspur that; suggests a superficial acknowl
describes the splendidly arrayed edgement of the pleasantness of
troops of Prince Hal as 'like sacrifices spring flowers
in their trim'. but figures o f delight merely forms
3-4 p u t . . . T h a t ellipsis for 'put such a or outlines of pleasure
spirit. . . that (even)' 12 after in imitation of, like (OED 14c):
4 heavy Saturn The planetary deity suggests that the addressee is the
Saturn is associated with old age, Platonic archetype of beauty of which
coldness and disaster; cf. Chaucer, spring and summer are mere copies.
Knight's Tale, 2453-69 ; MA 1.3.12; Cf. Oth 5.2.11, 'thou cunning'st pat
Tit 2.3.31. Here he is seen as heavy in tern of excelling nature'; and Son
the sense of 'grave', 'ponderous' or 19.12, beauty's pattern.
'slow, sluggish' (OED 13, 18, 19). 14 Undercuts the speaker's previous
5 'nor neither denial that he has taken pleasure in
6 flowers which differ from each other the delights of spring, for he acknowl
in scent and colour; elaborates the pied edges after all that he did play, that is,
effect of April sport, frolic, perhaps sexually (OED
7 s u m m e r ' s story (cheerful) narrative 10a, b, c), with the simulacra of the
suitable for summer; apparently youth which the season offered.
Shakespeare's invention of a counter There may be a parallel with Sidney,
part and opposite to the proverbial AS, 91.10, in which Astrophil admits
'winter's tale', told by the fire in win that in absence he has been pleased by
ter; cf. Marlowe and Nashe, Dido the beauty of other ladies, but only
Queen of Carthage, 3.3.59; Mac 3.4.65; because 'of you they models be'.
and, most pertinently, JfT 2.1.25, 'A
506
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 98
98
2 proud pied] proud pide Qj proud-pied Malone April, dressed . . . trim,] Aprill (drest . . . trim)
4 Saturn] Saturne laughed] laugh't leaped] leapt 9 lily's] Lillies 10 rose] Rose 11 were] weare
13 seemed] seem'd winter] Winter
307
99 Shakespeare s Sonnets
99 This develops from the end of the to 1. 1; but alternatively we may count
preceding sonnet the conceit that the 1. 1 as an introduction, and treat the
delightful attributes of spring flowers sonnet proper as starting with 1. 2.
are only figures of the archetypal beau 6 I blamed the lily for stealing whiteness
ty of the youth. Some editors, closing from your hand; I condemned it as an
98 with a colon, have seen the whole inadequate representation of your
sonnet as an account of the manner in hand. Adonis' hand is identified with
which the speaker has 'played' with a lily, VA 362.
the spring flowers. Uniquely, the son c o n d e m n e d condemned
net is fifteen lines long: this reinforces 7 buds of marjoram small tight curls
the sense of a potentially unlimited which are also fragrant; the reference
catalogue of flowers. may be specifically to knotty or knot
1 forward violet The violet is forward ted marjoram, an aromatic herb used
both because it flowers very early and in cookery.
because it has been bold or presump 8 on thorns literally, 'on thorny stems';
tuous in appropriating the youth's fra but 'to stand on thorns' = 'to be in a
grance (OED forward 7, 8). Elsewhere painful state of anxiety or suspense'
Shakespeare associates violets with (OED thorns 1, 2). The roses are pre
young courtiers; cf. R2 5.2.45-6: 'who sumably imagined as fearful because
are the violets now / That strew the they are guilty of stealing their
green lap of the new-come spring?' colours from the youth.
chide rebuke 10 had . . . both This one is presumably
2 Sweet thief fragrant thief; thief of pink or 'carnation' = flesh pink in
fragrance colour.
thy . . . s m e l l s your sweetness that 11 to his theft of red and white had
smells (sweet) added the further crime of stealing
3-5 T h e . . . dyed The conceit is that the scent (breath)
violet, invading the youth's body in 12 in . . . growth when he was resplen
order to steal his breath, has left dent in reaching his fullest growth
behind tell-tale traces of purple in his 13 A vengeful canker a canker-worm or
veins. caterpillar (cf. 35. 4, 95.2)
purple pride purple colour in which ate . . . death consumed the rose to
you glory, take pride the point where it was killed
5 too grossly dyed too obviously, man 14 noted observed, took note of; cf. Luc
ifestly stained, no doubt with a play 414.
on 'died', suggesting that the violets 15 But except that. This somewhat lame
have perished in the youth's body and conclusion fails to modify, undercut
left purple streaks behind. or refine what has gone before: the
Technically this appears to be the extra-long sonnet is slack rather than
additional line, adding a third rhyme rich.
308
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 99
99
3 breath?]; breath, £ 4 dwells]; dwells? £ 5 dyed] Capell; died £), Benson 6 lily] Lillie 8 roses]
Roses 9 One] Malone; Our Q, Benson 10, 15 stol'n] stolne 11 annexed] annext
309
100 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
100 The poet rebukes his Muse for aban ic; there may also be suggestion that
doning her true subject, my love, and 100 is a 'gentler' number than those
exhorts her to resume the war on time which have gone before.
that will rescue the youth's beauty 7 the . . . e s t e e m The first indication in
from decay. A new beginning, though Son that the addressee is an apprecia
one which resumes the war on time tive reader.
conducted in sonnets 1-19. We may 9 resty sluggish, indolent (OED 2a);
imagine either that a period of poetic and cf. Cym 3.7.3.
silence has elapsed between 99 and 9-10 survey / If gaze at ('my love's
100, or that the speaker's absence and sweet face') to see whether
preoccupation with mere shadows of 10 graven inscribed; as in many preced
the youth (cf. 98.14) constitutes a ing sonnets, time and the poet com
poetic desertion of him. pete, the one seeking to inscribe lines
3 Spend'st . . . fury do you exhaust of ageing, the other to counteract
your inspiration? Fury presumably these with lines of verse.
refers to the technical term furor poet- 11 If any if (you find) any
icus, derived from Plato via Ficino. Cf. be . . . decay be a satirist in attacking
Sidney, AS, 74.4—5: 'Some do I hear (and so counteracting) the process
of poet's fury tell, / But, God wot, of decay (cf. OED satire II. 4, with
wot not what they mean by it' ; also quotation from the anonymous
E.K.'s gloss on Cuddie's last speech in ULYSSES upon Aiax (1596), E l \
the 'October' eclogue of Spenser's 'Harke in thine eare, Misacmos is a
Shepheardes Calender (1579) - 'He Satire, a quipping fellow'). Satire in
seemeth here to be ravished with a this sense is associated with the rough
Poetical furie' (Shorter Poems, 182). and hairy 'satyr', so the Muse, nor
s o m e w o r t h l e s s s o n g suggests mally conceived of as female, is being
either that the poet has frittered his enjoined to change both sex and func
energies away on other verses, or that tion.
some of the preceding sonnets, such 12 cause time's conquest of beauty, or
as 97-99, with their seasonal preoccu marring of it (spoils suggests both), to
pations, constitute a deviation. be universally scorned
Whatever worthless song refers to, it despised despised
can surely not be a play. 14 So in this manner; on condition that
4 compromising or shadowing your prevent'st outrun, outstrip (OED
poetic energies in order to elevate or 3d), with perhaps some sense also of
brighten unworthy topics or individu 'outdo, excel' (ibid. 3b)
als; may also suggest that the poet's scythe . . . knife presumably a poetic
Muse has directed her attention to tautology, in which time's curved
commoners - base subjects - abandon scythe or sickle is alternatively
ing the kingly or aristocratic youth. described as a crooked knife ; cf. age's
5-6 r e d e e m . . . t i m e save (time) from cruel knife, 63.10; but the effect here is
being lost (OED redeem 8; and cf. to make time seem doubly armed, and
1H4 1.2.241) by means of verses unlikely to be effectively outdone by
which are gracious and/or aristocrat the poet's languid Muse.
510
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 100
100
311
J
101 Shakespeare s Sonnets
101 This sonnet continues the dialogue (OED 41a, with this example); cf.
between the poet and his Muse: she Sidney, NA, 232, 'Shall I labour to lay
claims that the youth's beauty needs marble colours over my ruinous
no poetic embellishment, but he thoughts?', and a discussion of
exhorts her to immortalize it in verse. Sidney's revision of this passage, OA,
1 w h a t . . . a m e n d s how can you make xxx-xxxin.
amends? 8 what is best is at its best without adul
2 truth . . . dyed truth which is an inte teration or addition; sounds prover
gral part of the beauty it inhabits bial, but appears not to be, though we
3 depends are subordinate to; wait in may find a parallel in JfT 4.4.87-8
expectation upon (OED 3, 6); the 11 m u c h outlive survive much longer
youth is treated as the Platonic arche than
type of truth and beauty, like the a gilded t o m b Cf. 'the gilded
Phoenix and the Turtle (PT 62). For monuments / Of princes' in 55.1-2,
singular verb used with plural subject, which is also 'outlived' by poetry.
cf. 41.3. 12 ages . . . be Cf. 'The age to come',
4 and therein dignified and you 17.7.
derive dignity from your own depen 13 office duty, obligation
dence on my love I . . . how implies that this and sur
5 haply perhaps rounding sonnets are written without
6 Since truth's colour, or beauty, is inte the aid of the Muse, and are therefore
gral to it (picking up dyed from 1. 2), it uninspired; yet if they serve an exem
needs no additional colour, or pretext plary function to the Muse, perhaps
for embellishment. the poet does not really need her?
7 pencil brush or instrument for paint 14 s e e m . . . shows Although in the
ing, metaphorically 'transferred to octave the speaker has stressed the
word-painting or descriptive skill' absolute authenticity of the youth's
(OED lb, with this example); cf. time's beauty, the wording here suggests that
pencil, 16.10. poetic art can offer only a 'seeming'
to lay to put upon a surface in layers; beauty in contrast to the immediate
to put or arrange colours on canvas appearance which he shows now.
312
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 101
101
313
102 Shakespeare *s Sonnets
102 Still claiming to have fallen silent, of the MS, which may have read 'hir'.
1
the poet claims that he loves just as However, both Pooler (Ard , 98) and
much, though he shows it less, for fear Booth (330) defend 'his',
of wearisome repetition. in . . . days as summer days develop
1 in s e e m i n g in appearance, in show and lengthen: the nightingale was
3 merchandised reduced to the value believed to stop singing at the end of
of a saleable commodity (cf. OED 2, July; cf. Sidney, OA, 66.13-14, where,
with this example): cf. 'There's beg however, the nightingale is male.
gary in the love that can be reckon'd', 9, 11 that because
AC 1.1.15. 11 wild . . . bough every tree branch is
rich e s t e e m i n g the high value placed filled with the songs of wild birds:
on it by its owner suggests both that the boughs are
4 publish broadcast, make public physically burdened with crowds of
5 but in the spring Cf. Proteus's birds, and that the burdens, or refrains,
'spring of love', TGV 1.3.84; also CE that they sing crowd the air (OED
3.2.3. burden 10)
7 P h i l o m e l the nightingale, supposed 12 pleasures which have become familiar
ly metamorphosed from the princess are no longer so intensely enjoyable:
Philomela after her rape by her broth cf. the proverb 'Familiarity breeds
er-in-law Tereus; cf. Ovid, Met. contempt' (Tilley, F47); and Son
6.424-674. 12.11, 'sweets and beauties do them
s u m m e r ' s front the first period or selves forsake'.
beginning of summer (OED summer 13 s o m e t i m e sometimes (cf. 18.5); for
6b, with this example): cf. 'April's some time
front', WT4A.3. 14 dull you bore you, be tedious to you;
8 *her The use of her in 11. 10 and 13 represent you in a tedious manner in
suggests that Q]s 'his' is a misreading my verse
314
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 102
102
3 merchandised] marchandiz'd 7 Philomel] Philomell 8 her] IR; his Q, Booth, Kerrigan 11 bur
dens) burthens bough] bow 13 sometime] some-time
MS
103 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
103 Continuing to apologize for his inad prompt him to reproduce himself
equate or scanty verse, the speaker physically - this appears purely eulo
tells the youth to look in his glass to gistic.
see his true excellence. This is the 7 overgoes transcends, overcomes (OED
third time he has told him to look in 4, 5a); cf. Gabriel Harvey's account of
his glass: cf. sonnets 3 and 77. Spenser's ambition to 'overgo' Ario-
2 That in that, in so far as sto's Orlando Furioso in his Faerie
scope . . . pride opportunity to dis Queene, in Spenser and Harvey, Three
play her rhetorical splendour, or to Proper, and wittie Letters (1580): Spen
reveal the youth of whom she is ser, Prose Works, 471.
'proud' (OED pride 7, 5a) 8 showing up my verse as dreary and
3 a r g u m e n t essential subject-matter, inadequate and bringing me to shame
i.e. the youth: cf. thy lovely argument, 9-10 striving . . . m a r while attempting
79.5. to improve (my writing), to make (the
3^1 all . . . beside has even less value at subject I was trying to embellish)
that time when my (poetic) praise has worse: cf. Sidney's account of
been bestowed on it: that is, my Musidorus writing a verse letter, NA,
attempts to glorify you in verse have 310, 'marring with mending, and
failed to enhance their subject-matter, putting out better than he left'.
yourself. 10 well good, perfect
6 Look . . . glass an echo of 'Look in 11 pass event, completion (of project)
thy glass' (3.1), a hundred sonnets (OED 5, with this example)
earlier; but whereas the previous tend aim
injunction was admonitory - the 13 sit be enthroned (OED lb); cf. Luc
youth's sight of himself was to 288.
316
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 103
103
317
104 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
104 It seems that the youth has obeyed scheme on his sequence of lyrics (see
the injunction in 103.6, 'Look in your Introduction, p. 21).
glass', and has, as in 77.5, discovered 4 three s u m m e r s ' pride Trees' foliage
signs of ageing, for this sonnet is is identified with the pride, or splen
devoted to reassuring him that in the dour, of summer; cf. Rjf 1.2.10.
speaker's eyes he will never age; or, if 6 process progression (OED la)
he does, the poet will transmit an 8 fresh . . . green If fresh and green are
image of his perfect beauty to poster treated as synonymous, the fair friend
ity. is undiminished in beauty; but on a
1 Though apparently a loving compli second reading it may seem that there
ment, this line suggests that in the is a distinction between fresh, which
eyes of himself and others the youth may be equated with the fragrance of
can be seen as old. April, and green, which may be associ
2 your . . . eyed a witty epanodos (= ated with the summer heat of June.
'regression, turning to the same Note also the adverse connotations of
sound, when one and the same sound green: cf. 63.14n.
is repeated in the beginning and mid 9 like . . . hand like the hand of a
dle, or middle and end', Fraunce, ch. mechanical timepiece: cf. 77.7-8 and n.
23) which also plays on the conceit 10 Steal . . . figure (beauty) moves
'your I' = your identity stealthily away from his outward
3 s e e m s appears: at first this reads as a appearance (cf. OED figure 4, and Fr.
confident assertion that the youth's figure = face, visage); alternatively, if
beauty is undiminished, but the Steal is treated as transitive, 'steals
acknowledgement in 1. 12 that 'mine from the sum (figure) of his allotted
eye may be deceived' leads to a subse days or years'
quent reinterpretation of seems as no pace perceived There is no per
'seems - perhaps falsely'. ceptible movement or stepping.
three winters cold This apparently 11 hue used, as in 20.7 and 82.5, to stand
precise time reference, suggesting that for 'beauty of complexion or outward
three years have elapsed since poet appearance'
and youth first met, should not be still doth stand stands still, appears
taken too literally. If it carries any lit to be motionless
eral allusion, it does not help us, since 13 age unbred posterity; future age of
we do not know at what date the son human beings not yet conceived; there
net was written. But in any case, as may also be a suggestion of future
Lee pointed out, a three-year passage readers who lack 'breeding', or aristo
of time was suggested by other son cratic blood-lines.
neteers, such as Ronsard, Desportes, 14 The consummation (or eternal summer,
Vausquelin de la Fresnaie, and Daniel as in 18.9) of human beauty lived and
(Rollins, 1.255-6). Perhaps Tennyson, died before you were born. As in some
whose In Memoriam we know to have earlier sonnets (cf. 63) this affirmation
been composed over more than fifteen of the durability of the youth's beauty
years, was following in this tradition in art is undercut by the reminder that
when he imposed a three-year time- the fair youth will die.
318
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 104
104
2 eyed] eyde 3 still: three winters] still: Three Winters j^; still.Three winters Malone 5 autumn
turned] Autumne turn'd, 7 burned] burn'd 9 dial] Dyall 10 perceived] perceiu'd 11 hue] hew
methinks] me thinkes
319
105 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
320
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 105
105
1 called] caFd idolatry] Idolâtrie 2 idol] Idoll 7 confined] confin'de 10 varying] varrying
13 lived] liu'd
321
106 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
106
323
107 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
107 A great change has taken place in the nent'; s.v. endure, 3, 4, 'to undergo,
public sphere, which has turned out sustain, submit to'.)
much better than expected; in the pri 6 Sombre or gloomy soothsayers laugh
vate realm, both poet and youth flour at their own predictions. The Roman
ish, and the speaker claims that his associations of the word augurs (cf.
verse will outlive both this and further OED augur sb. 2) suggest prophecies
changes. The topical allusions seem to of long standing, as well as ones
conform best with the death of authorized by the state.
Elizabeth I and accession of James I in 7 outcomes of which the world was
March to April 1603, followed by unsure are now securely 'crowned', or
James's coronation and progress brought to a happy consummation (cf.
through the City of London in March OED crown 10; Tern 3.1.69). This
1604; for further discussion, see could readily be construed as an allu
Introduction, pp. 21-4. sion to James I's accession and coro
1 N o t neither nation (see Introduction, pp. 22-3).
the prophetic soul the inward spec 8 The olives seem here to denote a 'peri
ulations (of the generality of people); od free from conflict' (cf. 2H6 4.4.87;
cf. Ham 1.5.41, 'O my prophetic soul! Tim 5.4.82; AC 4.6.7), so that the sug
My uncle!' gestion is 'the peace we now enjoy
2 the wide world the world in general, announces further, unending, phases
presumably here a metonym for 'all of peace'. The suggestion that olive
those who inhabit the globe' - a rather trees planted at this moment will live
different application from 'the wide for ever can only be symbolic, since
world and all her fading sweets', 19.7 olives do not grow in Britain; cf. 2H4
3 can regulate or set a limit to my right 4.4.87, 'Peace puts forth her olive
to possess my true love (OED control everywhere'.
5, 1). Booth (343) calls yet here 'near 9-10 Now . . . fresh 'Balm' is frequently
ly meaningless', but it may serve both associated by Shakespeare with the
to govern the two previous lines - anointing of a monarch, as in R2
'not even my fears or others' prophe 3.2.55, //54.1.277; but also more gen
cies . . . ' - and to hint at 'as yet': 'it erally with healing. The 'balm' which
may have looked as if my time was up, characterizes this period of unexpect
but as yet it is not'. ed but welcome peace bestows its
4 presumed to be surrendered to a sen blessing on the youth - and/or the
tence of limitation or confinement: if speaker's affection for him - who con
my true love is taken as referring to the sequently looks blooming or flourish
person loved, rather than to the ing.
(shared or separate) emotion of love, 10 death . . . subscribes Death submits
an allusion to literal imprisonment to me (OED subscribe 8, with this
can readily be discovered here. example): there is a particular appro
Shakespeare's early patron, the Earl of priateness in death's 'subscribing', lit
Southampton, was released from erally = 'writing beneath', the poet,
prison on the accession of James; his whose poor rhyme will triumph over
later one, William Herbert, was him.
received back at court after a spell of 12 insults o'er exults over, triumphs in
imprisonment, followed by banish an insolent way (OED insult lb)
ment, in 1601. 13 this this poor rhyme: the fact that it
5 most readily glossed as 'the moon- has been so described somewhat
Queen, Elizabeth, subject to death, detracts from the apparent compli
has now been eclipsed by it' - i.e. she ment.
always was mortal, and now she is 14 tyrants' crests the crowns or heraldic
dead. (Cf. OED eclipse lb, 'depriva crests that identify monarchs: the use
tion of light, temporary or perma here of the word 'tyrant' serves both
324
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 107
107
4 Supposed] Supposde confined] confin'd 5 moon] Moone endured] indur'de 6 augurs] Augurs
1 3
7 Uncertainties] Incertenties Qj Incertainties Ard , Cam themselves] them-selues assured] assur'de
8 olives] Oliues 11 'spite] spight
325
108 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
108 Reaching 108, the total number of to secular love were not uncommon:
sonnets in Sidney's AS (imitated by cf. Sidney's account of Leicester say
several other sonneteers; see ing his rosary by adding 'and
Introduction, p. 99), the poet takes Elizabeth' to 'Our Father' (Sidney,
stock of his achievements. He can find / W , 31).
no new way of representing either 8 hallowed . . . n a m e revered your
himself or the youth in words, but is name as holy, as in 'hallowed be thy
compelled to reiterate what he has name' in the Lord's Prayer (BCP);
often said before; in so doing he con there may also be a play on 'halloo', to
tinually rediscovers his first love and shout or call (OED 3); and cf. 'halloo
the young man's first beauty, revivi your name to the reverberate hills',
fied in language though vanished in 77V 1.5.291. Falstaff appears to con
nature. flate the two words in his claim that
1 character write, inscribe; cf. Ham 'For my voice, I have lost it with hal
1.3.59. looing, and singing of anthems', 2H4
2 figured portrayed, represented (OED 1.2.187-8.
figure 4) 9 eternal . . . case love which is ever
3 *new to register Booth (348) lasting enclosed in the outward form
defends Q]s 'now', glossing the phrase of a new kind of love; eternal love
as 'what now remains unrecorded'; again has strong religious connota
but it seems more likely to be a com- tions, as in Sidney's CS, 32.13-14:
positorial slip for new, 11. 3-4 being 'Then farewell, world, thy uttermost I
constructed on the parallelism of try see; /Eternal love, maintain thy life in
ing speak.. .my love in a new way, and me'.
register. . . thy . . . merit in a new way. 10 Weighs not does not pay heed to, care
Register = record, note. about (OED weigh 14a, b)
5 sweet boy the only time the youth is injury o f age the injuries done by
so addressed, though the epithet sweet age to the body
has often been applied to him in other 11 nor yields to the wrinkles which are
forms (cf. 1.8, 4.10, 13.4, 35.4, 38.3 inevitable (cf. OED give 23)
and passim). Falstaff unwisely greets 12 makes the object of love, though aged,
the newly acceded Henry V as 'my for ever his boy page or attendant (this
sweet boy', 2H4 5.5.43. The phrase follows well from the sweet hoy of line
has caused embarrassment, for 5); or makes ancient love, love of long
Benson altered it to 'sweet love', and a standing, for ever his subject-matter -
German editor, Richard Flatter, to the page on which he writes (this fol
'sweet joy' (Rollins, 1.271-2). lows well from the ink of 1. 1)
like prayers divine another applica 13-14 finding the original impulse of
tion of religious formulas (cf. 105, love generated in the very place (by
106.9-10 and n.): the speaker is oblig implication, your body) in which the
ed to repeat his daily praises of the passage of time and external appear
youth just as Elizabethans were ance appear to show (the beauty
required, morning and evening, to which prompted love) as no longer
repeat 'divine prayer'. Such applica present: cf. 104, which also closes with
tions of repetitive religious devotion a rhyme of unbred / dead.
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 108
108
1 ink] Inck 2 figured] figur'd spirit?] spirit, 3 new . . . new] Malone; new . . . now Q, Benson
5 boy] love Benson
327
109 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
109 The first of two sonnets on the the speaker's crime was his departure,
speaker's voluntary absence from the his return cancels it.' There may also
youth. He claims that his soul still be a suggestion of repentant tears,
resides in the young man, and that expressed in the sonnet itself,
nothing else in the world has value for 9 reigned prevailed, predominated
him. 10 blood passion, appetite {OED 5, 6)
2 m y . . . qualify to modify or reduce 11 it my nature
the strength of my love's ardency preposterously unnaturally, absurd
{OED qualify 8, 11) ly {OED 1): cf. Brabantio's indigna
3 easy easily, readily tion at the idea of his daughter being
depart separate, be divided: cf. attracted to Othello: 'For nature so
Solemnization of Matrimony {BCP, preposterously to err, / (Being not
292), 'till death us depart'. deficient, blind, or lame of sense,)
5 h o m e o f love Like the first quatrain, /Sans witchcraft could not' {Oth
this suggests the domesticity of mar 1.3.61-3).
riage. stained polluted, morally compro
7 exactly at the time appointed, not mised: cf. 33.14, 35.3.
altered by the passage of time (cf. 12 nothing something of no value, in
OED exchange 5, with this example); contrast to the microcosmic sum of
however, the second phrase probably good embodied in the addressee; for
also plays with the notion 'not given nothing also suggests 'for no cause',
away or altered in response to a 13 wide universe expands on the wide
changing environment', as in Why world of 107.2, perhaps partly to
with the time do I not glance aside', accommodate the sound you, the sec
76.3. Booth (351) finds in this line a ond person plural, alluding to 'every
display of 'Falstaff-like gall in one else in the world except thou'.
solemnly making a logical-sounding Shakespeare uses universe only once
equation between two non-compara elsewhere, in H5 4 Prol. 3.
ble things: the journeys of a traveler 14 m y rose Cf. beauty's rose, 1.2; his rose,
and the promiscuous sexual liaisons of 67.8. As a form of address, rose = a
an unfaithful lover'. peerless or matchless person, a para
8 water for m y stain water to wash gon {OED 5), most often applied to
away my faults: another image with women, though Ophelia calls Hamlet
religious associations. As Booth (352) the 'rose of the fair state' {Ham
observes, 'The essential idea of the 3.1.154).
line is the implied argument that since
328
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 109
109
329
110 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
110 The speaker acknowledges that he square with the absolute claim made in
has strayed in affection from the never more in the following line; also,
youth, but claims that this has served the invocation of the divine seems
only to strengthen his original and consistent with by all above in 1. 6 and
continuing devotion. next my heaven in 1. 13: the speaker
1 here and there in this place and that; claims that his reaffirmation of love
in various places (OED here 9a; and for the addressee is now lifelong, to be
cf. Ham 1.1.93) ended or transcended only by 'what
2 m o t l e y . . . view fool in appearance; shall have no end' - divine love.
and since the motley worn by fools was 10-11 grind / . . . proof sharpen or
particoloured, there is also a sugges intensify by experiments elsewhere:
tion of visible fickleness. an elaboration of the notion of mak
3 Gored (1) pierced, wounded (OED ing an appetite keen, as in 118.1, with
1); or (2) divided up with differently the appetite as a knife whose grind
coloured wedges or 'gores' of cloth; or stone is other objects of love
(3) defiled as with filth or congealed 11 to . . . friend to test out (by compari
blood: (2) follows on best from the son) the worth of a former friend; to
image of motley, and could be linked cause suffering to a friend who is
with 77V 1.5.63, T wear not motley in older: like 1. 7, this hints strongly that
my brain'; but (3) leads on better to the speaker's affections have deviated
the next phrase. towards one (even) younger than the
4 turned my new attachments into old addressee.
(or former) injuries or wrongs; or 12 A. . . love one god-like in capacity for
offences against my old affections love; a god who is in love', one made a
5 truth true love (mine and/or yours) god in the transaction of love, so per
embodied in you. The youth has pre haps deified by the speaker's adora
viously been associated with truth in tion. The invocation of his love for the
14.11,14; 37.4; 54.2; 60.11; and 101. 3, youth in terms of religious devotion,
6. initiated in 105, reaches a climax here,
6 Askance and strangely disdainfully confined limited, restricted: apart
or obliquely, and in a 'strange' or from the extravagance of claiming
unfriendly manner; cf. 49.5, and look that he can love only his friend when a
strange, 89.8. few lines earlier he acknowledged that
7 blenches sidelong glances (OED 2, he has strayed to other loves, the word
with this example) confined introduces suggestions of
another youth a renewed period of unwelcome restrictions such as
youth; another young man: as Booth imprisonment or even torment; cf. old
(356) points out, 'In context of the Hamlet, 'for the day confin'd to fast in
speaker's infidelity and the relative ages fires', Ham 1.5.11.
of lover and beloved . . . another youth 13 In which case you, who are for me the
carries incidentally self-incriminating best thing in the world short of heav
suggestions of "a different boy".' en, (should) receive me warmly: con
8 and experiments with or trials of infe trast with 21.1-3, in which the speak
rior (love) demonstrated you to offer er distinguished himself from the
me the best experience of love (cf. poets who elaborated their themes
OED essay 11, with this example) with reference to heaven itself.
9 all is done suggests both 'all my infi 14 m o s t m o s t loving As Booth points
delity is at an end' and 'my life is com out (359), although this registers ini
plete' tially as an extravagant compliment, it
* s a v e . . . end Malone's emendation of also 'carries perverse overtones', and
Q]s first 'have' to save has been adopt may be read as suggesting that the
ed, because the open-endedness of addressee outdoes the speaker in his
'have what shall have' does not seem to ability to find affections new.
330
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 110
110
3 Gored] Gor'd 5 looked] lookt 6 Askance] Asconce strangely; but] strangely: But 8 proved]
1
prou'd 9 save] Malone; haue Q; have Ard 10 grind] grin'de 12 god] God confined] confin'd
331
Ill Shakespeare's Sonnets
111 The speaker blames Fortune for his '(as a result of my occupation) my
public, and therefore publicly com nature is almost reduced to the level
promised, way of life; he implores the . . . '. For subdued in this sense, cf. KL
young man to pity him and to impose 3.4.70: 'nothing could have subdued
on him any penance he wishes. Like nature / To such a lowness but his
the preceding sonnet, but more plau unkind daughters'; cf. also Oth 1.3.25,
sibly, this has been frequently read as 'My heart's subdued / Even to the
an allusion to Shakespeare's public very quality of my lord'.
profession as an actor-dramatist. 7 the dyer's hand As the dyer's hand is
1 do you a command: = do it, you stained by dye, so is the speaker's
*with Fortune chide Although not nature by his public occupation. In so
adopted by Benson, the correction of far as Shakespeare's occupation was
Q^s 'wish' to with seems clearly cor writing, rather than acting, his own
rect, especially since 'chide . . . with', hand could also be imagined as dark
signifying 'complain against, dispute ened with ink.
angrily with' (OED 2b), was a regular 8 renewed restored to what I would
expression; cf. Ham 4.2.167. have been if not polluted or stigma
2 guilty . . . deeds the goddess who is tized in the manner described in the
morally responsible for, or guilty of, octave. The word has biblical associa
the things I have done wrong tions, as in 'thy youth is renewed like
3 That who the eagle's', Psalms, 104.5, or 'though
m y life my means of living, my sup our outward man perish, yet the
port; cf. Tern 2.1.47-8: 'Gon. Here is inward man is renewed day by day', 2
everything advantageous to life. /Ant. Corinthians 4.16.
True; save means to live'. 9 a willing patient one who suffers
4 public m e a n s public methods; pub pain willingly; one who is willingly
lic money, such as that paid by those sick, or compliant in accepting treat
who attend the 'public' theatres. The ment (OED patient la, 2)
line can be read with public means as 10 P o t i o n s o f eisell concoctions of
either subject or object - breeding vinegar; cf. Ham 5.1.271: 'Woo't drink
public manners, or bred by them, up eisel, eat a crocodile?' Though
public m a n n e r s breeds causes or many medicines, including some used
generates (or is caused by) a style of against the plague, were indeed made
behaviour appropriate to a public way with vinegar, the word is probably
of life: John Davies of Hereford's used here, as in Ham, to suggest
comment on Shakespeare having drinks of extreme bitterness like the
jeopardized his social position by his 'vinegar . . . mingled with gall' offered
career as an actor may be pertinent to Christ on the cross (Matthew
here; cf. 87.14n. 27.34).
5 m y . . . brand my name is marked or 11 N o bitterness (there is) no bitterness
stigmatized, as in the Roman practice 12 Nor double penance 'nor (will I
of public censure, or 'branded' with a protest at) double penance'
hot iron, like the hand or face of an 14 If the friend's pity suffices for the
Elizabethan criminal (OED brand 4b) speaker's cure, perhaps he will not,
6 a l m o s t . . . subdued Probably almost after all, be required to consume the
governs subdued rather than thence: bitter potions of 11. 9-12.
332
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 111
111
1 with] Capell; wish Q, Benson 6 subdued] subdu'd 7 dyer's] Dyers 8 renewed] renu'de 10 eisell]
Eysell
333
112 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
112 This continues directly from the pre lament for her absent son Arthur, KJ
ceding sonnet, adding to the idea that 3.3.103-4: 'O Lord! my boy, my
the addressee has it uniquely in his Arthur, my fair son! / My life, my joy,
power to expunge the speaker's faults, my food, my all the world!'
a more hyperbolic conceit of nothing 7-8 *George Steevens called these two
in the world, except his friend, regis lines 'purblind and obscure' (Rollins,
tering with the speaker. 1.284), but it is the second only that
1-2 doth . . . brow smooths over (by fill poses major problems. Line 7 presum
ing up) the dent made in my reputa ably means '(because it is your opinion
tion by popular repute: scandal is here only that I care about) it is as if no one
imagined as a physical stumbling- but you is alive as far as I am con
block or stone (OED scandal lb) cerned, and I live in the opinion of no
which has made a depression or one else'. Line 8 is more difficult, but
indentation (OED impression 2a) in if T.G. Tucker's emendation (Rollins,
the speaker's brow, or visible public 1.284) of Qs 'or changes' to o'er-
image. There may also be a notion of changes is adopted (cf. 'o'er-silvered',
a printed book, perhaps written by the the accepted rendering of Q]s 'or
poet (cf. 111.6-7), whose title-page is siluer'd', 12.4) it yields up: 'so that my
stamped, or printed, in a disgraceful resolute (strengthened) perceptions
manner, but redeemed by the young transmute both right and wrong'.
man's love and pity; cf. 2H4 1.1.60: With steeled cf. VA 376; R2 5.2.34; R3
'This man's brow, like to a title-leaf, / 1.1.148; for o'er-changes, see OED
Foretells the nature of a tragic vol overchange (obsolete), 'to change into
ume'. If this reading is accepted, we something else or into another condi
may discern here an allusion to tion; to transmute'.
Jaggard's piratical publishing of PP 9 profound a b y s m deep gulf or bot
(twice) in 1599, with Shakespeare's tomless pit; 'abysm' is most often
name on the title-page, which, accord associated with hell, as in AC
ing to Thomas Heywood, caused 3.13.146, but can also suggest a men
Shakespeare to be 'much offended tal gulf, as in Tern 1.2.50, 'the dark
with Master Jaggard that altogether backward and abysm of time' in
unknowne to him presumed to make Miranda's memory. These three are
so bold with his name' (T. Heywood, the only occurrences of the word in
Apology for Actors (1612), sig. G4). Shakespeare.
3 calls . . . ill gives me a good or a bad 9-10 care / O f anxiety about, heed to
name 10 adder's sense my senses, which are
4 So provided that collectively deaf or unreceptive: cf.
o'er-green . . . allow gloss over what 'As deaf as an adder', Tilley, A32,
I have done wrong and praise my good with this example.
deeds: though commentators have 11 stopped stopped
made heavy weather of o'er-green, 12 how . . . dispense how, given my
emending it to 'o'er-skreen', 'o'er- neglect of or obliviousness to (the
grieve' or 'o'er-grain', and others have opinions of others); or, given my con
engaged in elaborate expositions (see, dition of being neglected, I excuse
for instance, Everett, 'Greening'), myself, or disregard (the world); cf.
Malone and OED are probably correct OED dispense 9, 12.
in glossing Q]s reading as a nonce 13 in . . . bred brought into existence in
word meaning 'To cover with green, my discourse or preoccupations (OED
clothe with verdure; hence fig. to purpose 4b, 5)
cover so as to conceal a defect, embell 14 None of the proposed emendations to
ish'. 'Allow' (OED 1) = praise, com Q]s 'y'are' yields easier sense. The line
mend, sanction. as it stands can be read as '(because I
5 m y all-the-world Cf. Constance's have excluded the rest of the world
334
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 112
112
2 stamped] stampt 4 o'er-green] Ard'; ore-green X? 5 all-the-world] Capell; All the world Q,
Benson 8 steeled] steel'd o'er-changes] this edn. (Tucker) ; or changes j£? 9 abysm] Ahisme
10 adder's] Adders 14 you're] y'are Qj are Capell
335
y
113 Shakespeare s Sonnets
113 This sonnet resumes the absence to the inner consciousness retain the
motif of 109, combining it with a fur image of what it sees.
ther elaboration of the claim in 112 10 *sweet-favoured Although Q]s
that 'You are my all-the-world': he 'sweet-fauor', = 'beautiful appear
sees the outside world only in terms of ance', makes sense, the hyphenation
his friend. suggests an adjectival application, and
1 m i n e . . . m i n d My 'mind's eye', its positioning as an alternative and
which continues to see you while I am opposite term to deformed'st seems to
physically absent, is all that is opera match the exact parallelism of moun
tive. tain/sea, day Inight, crow/dove, so
2 that which guides me where to walk Nikolaus Delius's emendation (Rol
(that is, my physical eyesight) lins, 1.286) has been adopted.
3 D o t h part partly performs 12 shapes . . . feature transforms their
4 out put out, extinguished appearance so that it becomes yours
5 i t . . . heart (Physical eyesight) trans (cf. OED shape 2a, 7a)
mits no images to my interior con 13 Incapable unable to take in, receive
sciousness: for the eye/heart relation or keep {OED la, with this example)
ship, cf. 24. replete full to capacity
6 *latch Capell's emendation of Q^s 14 *Though many editors have tried to
'lack' has been adopted; the copy MS rationalize this line by emending Q]s
may have read 'lach'. For 'latch' = mine, Malone is surely correct in say
grasp, seize (with the mind), cf. OED ing 'Untrue is used as a substantive.
la; mdMac 4.3.195. The sincerity of my affection is the cause
7 his quick objects the live things that of my untruth; i.e. of my not seeing
the eye encounters objects truly, such as they appear to
8 Nor does the eye that sends messages the rest of mankind.'
336
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 113
113
6 latch] Capell; lack £ 10 sweet-favoured] this edn (Delias) ; sweet-fauor Q 12 crow] Croe dove]
Doue 13 more, replete] more repleat, 14 My] Thy Malone mine] mine eye Capell
337
114 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
114 Picking up from the preceding son shapeless and crude, therefore not
net the idea that ugly things, as well as beautiful
beautiful, are transformed in his 6 chérubins youthful angels: Shakes
mind's eye to images of the friend, the peare associates chérubins (the form of
speaker considers whether his mind is the word he normally uses) with deli
'flattered' by his eye or truly instruct cate beauty as well as with goodness:
ed by it. cf. Othello's address to Desdemona as
1-3 Or whether . . . Or whether Is it 'thou young and rose-lipped chéru
the case t h a t . . . or that . . . ? For the bin', Oth 4.2.63.
or whether construction framing alter 8 to his b e a m s The eye was thought of
natives, cf. Cor 1.3.63; MV by the Elizabethans as emitting beams
3.2.116-18. of light which illuminate what is seen
1 b e i n g . . . you being honoured, (cf. Sidney, AS, 6.3 and passim).
blessed with your love: cf. 87.14, in 10 m o s t kingly most like the king sub
which the speaker believes he enjoys ject to flattery, as defined in 1. 2
the youth's love as a king (and OED 11 w h a t . . . greeing what best suits the
crown v. 10). individual taste or appetite (of my
2 greedily consume this flattery (pleas mind): cf. OED gust 2, with this
ing delusion), which is the disease example: 'greeing', ppl. a., concor
incident to kings. For another associa dant.
tion of flattery with drinking, cf. Tim 12 to adjusted to, to suit
1.2.132-4. 13-14 'tis . . . begin The weakness of the
4 your love your love to me; my love of mind, in preferring the poisoned cup of
you falsehood to the pure cup of truth, is
this a l c h e m y this power to trans mitigated by the fact that in his eager
mute base and ugly things to precious ness (loves it) he drinks it first - per
and beautiful; cf. the sun's heavenly forming the tasting function normally
alchemy, 33.4. exercised by a menial servitor, not a
5 m a k e o f make out of monarch.
t h i n g s indigest things which are
338
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 114
114
339
}
115 Shakespeare s Sonnets
115 This sonnet plays with the paradoxes 6 'twixt vows between vows and their
of a love claimed as absolute, yet still fulfilment
increasing, and therefore altering. 7 T a n darken and toughen, like leather
Donne's 'Loves Growth', possibly which is tanned; cf. Ham 5.1.162-5.
inspired by this sonnet, explores sim sacred beauty beauty which had
ilar paradoxes; cf. 'Me thinks I lied all appeared to be consecrated and there
winter, when I swore, / M y love was fore unchanging
infinite, if spring make it more' (5-6). 8 cause strongly resolute intentions to
1
2 Pooler (Ard ) asks, unnecessarily, 'Can be diverted (1) 'into the direction dic
this refer to lost sonnets?' Many of the tated by things as they change'; but
preceding sonnets make such a claim, probably also (2) 'into the current of
either directly or obliquely; see for changing circumstances' (IR)
instance 91, 105. 9 fearing o f fearing
3 Yet but, however; as yet 10 Might . . . say Was it not reasonable
4 m o s t full flame flame (of love) for me at that time to say?
burning at what appeared to be maxi 11 certain o'er uncertainty perhaps,
mum intensity; the image of love's 'confident of triumphing over
ardency is resumed from 109.2. changes or uncertainties'; or, as Booth
5 But reckoning t i m e The loose syn (384) proposes as an alternative, T was
tax of this quatrain makes it hard to more certain than even uncertainty
parse: at first it may appear that time [which is the surest thing in life]'
(anticipating the images of time call 12 Crowning the present resumes
ing nature to account in 126) is the image from 114.1: suggests 'identify
subject of reckoning; also, as Booth ing the present moment with com
(379-80) points out, reckoning has plete fulfilment or happiness'
some aural similarity to 'wrecking'. doubting o f fearful of, uncertain of
However, on a second or later reading 13 Love . . . babe because identified with
it may seem to work better if we take the baby Cupid, not mentioned by
the speaker to be the subject of reck name until 153
oning, who was making absolute then . . . so repeats the claim of 1. 10
claims for the strength of his love, that it was reasonable or natural for
'without reckoning on, or paying the speaker to assert, in the past, that
regard to, the operation of time', his love was absolute. The simplest
m i l l i o n e d a c c i d e n t s unforeseen interpretation of then is 'since love is a
occurrences or unusual events (OED baby, it was natural that I, in the full
accident 1) which are numbered by ardency of love, was naive and lacking
the million: see OED million 1, with in insight about the future'. For an
this example; OED observes however account of several other readings of 11.
that Q^s 'milliond' may simply be a 13-14, see Booth, 382-4.
dialectal form of 'million'.
340
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 115
115
1
5 millioned] milliond 6 kings] Kings 11 uncertainty] in-certainty Qj incertainty Ard 13 babe]
Babe
341
116 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
116 Building on the preceding sonnet's association with 80, where the speaker
attempt to define love's constancy in a praises 'your worth, wide as the ocean',
world of change, the speaker now sets his . . . taken its altitude is scientifi-
up an ideal of true love as unaltered cally measured: 'take height' was a
and unalterable, which he claims is regular term in navigation and astron-
embodied in himself - or in his son- omy (OED take 32b).
net. For a musical adaptation of this 9 T i m e ' s fool Something mocked by
sonnet, see Appendix, p. 465. Time, because Time has power over
1 Let m e not may I never; I hope that it; cf. and contrast 1H4 5.4.81: 'And
I shall not thought's the slave of life, and life,
1-2 m a r r i a g e . . . i m p e d i m e n t s time's fool'.
'acknowledge objections to the fulfil- 9-10 though . . . c o m e though physical
ment of the union of true (truly lov- beauty falls within the range of time's
ing) minds or intentions': legal termi- sickle: bending suggests, in addition to
nology which recalls the marriage its curved shape, a capacity to scoop
service in the Book of Common up even what may appear to lie far
Prayer: 'if any man do allege and from it.
declare any impediment why they 11 his Time's
may not be coupled together in matri- 12 bears it out sustains without giving
mony . . . then the Solemnization way, endures; see OED bear 15b; cf.
must be deferred until such time as also A ^ 3 . 3 . 5 - 6 , 'we'll strive to bear it
the truth be tried' (BCP, 291). The for your worthy sake / To th'extreme
challenge offered resembles the call- edge of hazard'.
ing of banns, but the marriage pro- edge o f d o o m first onset of
posed is of true minds, not (necessarily) Doomsday, the Last Judgement (cf.
of bodies. OED edge 11): though the marriage
2 love . . . love presumably, '(apparent) service opens with an injunction to
love is not true love'; cf. 'A perfect the couple to affirm the lawfulness of
love does last eternally', Tilley, L539, their union 'as you will answer at the
with this example; also ibid., L573, dreadful day of judgement, when the
'Love without end has no end.' secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed'
4 bends turns (itself), deviates (OED (BCP, 291), it is clear that the death of
13) either partner dissolves the bond; the
with . . . remove to move in response love defined here appears not merely
to, or in harmony with, the change or life-long but world-long. Though
departure of the love-object Booth (386) argues for the possibility
5 ever-fixed mark permanent beacon that doom also means merely 'death',
or signal for shipping; cf. Othello's with reference to 14.14 and the
penitent words to the dead proverb 'Death's day is doomsday'
Desdemona, Oth 5.2.268-9: 'Here is (Tilley, D162), this does not seem in
my journey's end, here is my butt, / key with the hyperbole of the rest of
And very sea-mark of my utmost sail'; the sonnet.
also Cor 5.3.74. 13-14 Booth (387-92) discusses this son-
ever-fixed ever-fixèd net at length, and in particular
7 star guiding star; most readily identi- defends its ending against the charge
fied with 'the northern star' (JC of 'bombast', which he defines vividly
3.1.60-2), or Pole Star as 'high-sounding, energetic nonsense
wand'ring bark lost ship; in 80.7 the that addresses its topic but does not
speaker compared himself to a saucy indicate what is being said about it'.
bark. However, reading this sonnet in the
8 Whose worth's unknown the value context of the preceding one, on
of which is beyond human measure- love's inevitable changeableness, as
ment: there seems again to be some well as the three following, on the
342
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 116
116
speaker's deviations from love of the and the challenge seems a Pistol-like
addressee, it is difficult not to feel that piece of swaggering.
in the final couplet Shakespeare is liv- 113 upon m e proved proved against me;
ing up to his surname, originating as a or proved (to be error) with reference
'nickname for a belligerent person, or to myself: language of legal or chival-
perhaps a bawdy name for an exhibi ric challenge, as in KL 5.3.110-13, Tf
tionist' (Hanks and Hodges, 482). At any man will maintain upon Edmund,
116 sonnets into the sequence, it is supposed Earl of Gloucester, that he
clear enough that the speaker has writ, is a manifold traitor'.
116] 119 5 ever-fixed] euer fixed 8 height] higthh 9 Love's] Lou's For a MS adaptation, see
Appendix, p. 465
343
117 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
117 Continuing the legal challenge sug cf. WT 4.2.33-4, 'he is of late much
gested by the couplet of the preceding retired from court, and is less fre
sonnet, the speaker subjects himself quent to his princely exercises',
to his friend's (supposed) allegations unknown m i n d s strangers, individu
of ingratitude and unfaithfulness, als not known to you: perhaps so
defending himself on the ground that described to distinguish them from
he was testing his friend's constancy. the true minds of 116.1
1 scanted all withheld or neglected all 6 elliptical for 'given (away) your own
those things: see OED scant 2; and cf. richly earned right to spend time with
KL 1.1.281, 'You have obedience me'
scanted'. 7 h o i s t e d sail As in 116.5-8 and
2 in which I ought to recompense you in 80.5-12, the speaker sees himself as a
the magnificent terms which you small sailing boat, here one which has
deserve; or for the great things you allowed the winds of favour or friend
have done for me: your great deserts ship to carry it all over the place.
may also suggest that the addressee is 9 Book record, itemize, as if drawing
a great (= aristocratic) man, who is up a list of charges or accusations
therefore especially deserving of ser 10 pile up conjectures (of my misdeeds)
vice; cf. Duty so great, 26.5. on the basis of what has been clearly
3 upon . . . call to invoke or appeal to demonstrated
your most precious (most affection 11 within the level within the aim or
ate) love: cf. OED call 23b, c. firing range (archery term); cf. OED
4 bonds moral and/or personal ties or level 9.
obligations: this line suggests that the 12 wakened hate your hate which has
speaker has received concrete favours been activated by my derelictions
from his friend, as well as being loved 13 m y appeal says my defence against
by him in the abstract. your accusation claims
5 frequent familiar, in company (with): prove test; demonstrate
344
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 117
117
345
118 Shakespeare s Sonnets
118 The speaker continues to attempt to 5ne'er cloying In Q^s spelling 'nere
defend himself against allegations cloying' suggests a pun on 'nearly
that he has been unfaithful to his cloying' = unpleasantly sweet.
friend, this time through the analogy 6 frame m y feeding adjust my (social)
of bitter foods or medicines used to diet
improve appetite or health, elaborat 7 welfare being well, being healthy
ing such proverbs as 'Sweet meat (OED la); cf. also the late-medieval
must have sour sauce' (Tilley, M839), sense (OED 3b), 'abundance of meat,
or 'Sweet sauce begins to wax sour' drink'; activates the often dormant
(S97). notion contained in 'farewell'
1 Like as just as, even as; cf. the open m e e t n e s s appropriateness, fitting-
ing of 60, where, however, the analogy ness
is straightforward and cogent. 8 To be in being
2 eager c o m p o u n d s pungent or bitter- 9-10 policy . . . assured My (supposed)
tasting concoctions (OED eager la, wise stratagem in our relationship,
with this example): cf. the image (adopted) to forestall non-existent
applied to the action of poison on evils, produced or led to definite
old Hamlet's bloodstream, Ham wrongs.
1.5.68-70: 'with a sudden vigour it 11 applied a healthy condition to medical
doth posset /And curd, like eager treatment (or vice versa)
droppings into milk, / The thin and 12 rank o f abounding in, (excessively)
wholesome blood'. luxuriant with
urge stimulate, excite (OED 7a) 14 so . . . you became ill in this manner
3 As as (also) because of you; grew weary of your
4 sicken . . . sickness make ourselves company. The identification of love
ill to ward off illness: alludes to the with sickness is conventional; cf.
practice of taking regular 'purges' at Sidney, 0 4 , 4 1 . 8 .
certain times of year (e.g. spring) to
ward off infection
346
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 118
118
5 ne'er cloying] nere cloying 7 welfare] wel-fare 8 diseased] diseas'd 10 were not,] were, not
347
119 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
119 Building on the last line of the previ 6 so blessed never never so blessed; as
ous sonnet, in which he has been 'poi blessed or happy as can be
soned' by his own misguided efforts to 7 spheres the circuit or celestial loca
maintain the health of his relationship tion of stars; the round sockets in
with his friend, the speaker sees him which eyes are contained
self as maddened and confused, yet, blessed blessed
once recovered, strengthened and fitted forced by fits or paroxysms out
increased in love. 1
of (the usual place), OED fit v. , with
1 siren tears Sirens - for the this example only. W.N. Lettsom's
Elizabethans, more or less synonymous 'flitted' (Rollins, 1.300-1) would make
with mermaids - are normally thought good sense (cf. OED flit v. 1, 'To
of as exercising their fatal enchantments remove or transport to another
through singing, rather than weeping, place'), but the fact that Shakespeare
though in so far as they are also thought does not use this word elsewhere is
of as serpents, or serpent-like, they against it. The concordance of fitted
might conceivably merge with croco with the sustained disease image of
diles, which certainly were associated the following line, together with the
with deceptive tears, as in 2H6 3.1.226; iteration of the sound in benefit, 1. 9,
Oth 4.1.257. John Dickenson, Greene in supports Q^s reading.
Conceipt (1598), 48, closely associates 8 distraction . . . fever confusion
sirens' tongues and crocodiles' tears. caused by this fever which drives me
1
However, it is possible that Q]s Syren* mad: with distraction cf. TC 5.2.41,
additionally or alternatively refers to 5.3.85; with madding, AW53.IU.
'serene' or 'serein', 'A light fall of mois 10 better . . . better That which is better
ture or fine rain after sunset in hot coun - in the sense of being good, not evil -
tries, formerly regarded as a noxious is always made even better after recov
dew or mist' (OED). This, if drunk, ering from an onslaught of evil.
would certainly be regarded as toxic, as 11 An adaptation to a building metaphor
in Sidney's lines in the double sestina of (identifying love with a ruined house
Strephon and Klaius: 'Meseems I feele rebuilt) of the popular Latin proverb,
the comfort of the morning / Turnde to derived from Terence by way of
the mortall serene of an evening' (OA, Erasmus, amantium irae amoris redinte-
71.41-2). Four of the MS texts of gratio, 'The falling-out of lovers is a
Sidney's Old Arcadia spell the word renewing of love' (Tilley, F40). The
1
''Siren , and in one of OED's examples word 'falling-out', used in most English
(Moryson, 1617) it is spelt ''Syren'. versions of the proverb, may have sug
For a more detailed discussion, see gested the idea of love as a collapsing
Duncan-Jones, ''Syren teares'. building. Cf. also Richard Edwards's
2 limbecks alembics, or gourd-shaped poem elaborating the aphorism in The
vessels used in distillation, whose Paradise of Dainty Devices (1576).
beak conveyed vapours to a receiver in 13 r e t u r n . . . content come back, correct
which they were condensed (OED) ed in a way that makes me happy; come
3 Applying administering: continues back to my happiness, suitably rebuked
the sense of medical treatment 14 gain . . . spent suggests an allusion
4 saw . . . win believed myself to be both to the idea of the felix culpa or
about to conquer, or in process of 'fortunate fall' - man's sin which
conquering, my sickness occasioned the Redemption - and to
5 cf. Desdemona's 'Alas, what ignorant the parable of the talents (Matthew,
sin have I committed?', Oth 4.2.70, 25.14—30), in which the servants who
and Othello's interpretation of 'com have increased their lord's money
mit' as 'commit (adultery)', as, also, in (possibly by means of usury, which
KL 3.4.80, 'commit not with man's most Elizabethans saw as 'ill') are
sworn spouse'. praised by their master.
348
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 119
119
1
1 siren] Booth; Syren Qj Siren Ard 2 Distilled] DistiPd limbecks] Lymbecks 7 spheres]
Spheares 10 is by] is, by 11 ruined] ruin'd 13 rebuked] rebukt 14 ills] ill Malone
349
120 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
350
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 120
120
1 befriends] be-friends 4 nerves] Nerues 6 you've] Ard'; y'haue Qj you have IR passed] past
time] Time 9 remembered] remembred 11 tendered] tendred
351
121 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
121 This sonnet is a reflection on false frailer spies people, or people's eyes,
reputation, and on the corrupted even more faulty or susceptible than
judgements of those who disseminate myself
damaging rumours about the speaker. 8 in their wills 'in their desires or
1 Cf. 'There is small difference to the inclinations; with overtones both of
eye of the world in being nought and sexual desire and of wilfulness' (OED
being thought so' (Tilley, D336, with will 2; and cf. 57.13, in your will).
this example); however, Shakespeare Booth (409-10) suggests 'a farfetched
elaborates the proverb, suggesting pun on "in their Williams" ', pointing
that it is actually better to be vile (here out the conjunction of wills with / am
more or less synonymous with ... I am in the following line, yielding
'nought', = immoral, vicious, OED 1; a possible play on 'will-I-am'.
cf. also OED vile 1, 'Of actions, char 9 I a m . . . a m Cf. 'And God said unto
acter etc., Despicable on moral Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he
grounds') than to be falsely thought said, Thus shalt thou say unto the
so. children of Israel, I AM hath sent me
2-3 When . . . lost when the subject of unto you' (Exodus, 3.14). No doubt
the adjudication of others, though in Shakespeare was aware of the semi-
fact not vile, is blamed for being so, blasphemous effect of the divine self-
and yet has missed the rightful or definition appropriated by a wilful
legitimate pleasure (that might have human individual, for he twice put
accompanied genuine 'vileness') similar statements into the mouth of
3 which The subject is not clear, but is the demi-devil Richard III: T am
probably the pleasure wrongly identi myself alone', 3H6 5.6.83; and
fied by reproachful commentators, 'Richard loves Richard, that is, I am
so d e e m e d judged to be (sexual?) F, R3 5.3.184 (Folio text). According
pleasure to Booth (410), the biblical echo
5 adulterate (themselves) defiled with makes 'the speaker sound smug, pre
adultery; counterfeit, of base origin sumptuous and stupid'.
(OED 1, 2): the association of eyes level guess at, aim (weapons) at (OED
with adultery suggests an allusion to 8b, 7a)
the Sermon on the Mount: 'whosoev 10 abuses misdeeds, injuries (to others)
er looketh on a woman to lust after her reckon up enumerate, list
hath committed adultery with her 11 bevel zigzag (heraldry); oblique (car
already in his heart', Matthew, 5.28. pentry); an odd word for 'crooked',
6 Give salutation to greet, be familiar perhaps chosen both for the rhyme
with; cf. R3 5.3.210-11, 'The early and for its echo of be vile in 1. 1
village cock / Hath twice done saluta 12 By according to the estimation or
tion to the morn'. The word also sug judgement of
gests an ironical allusion to the rank profuse; rotten; sexually uncon
Annunciation and the Virgin Mary's trolled; cf. 118.12.
anxiety about 'what manner of saluta 13 m a i n t a i n assert; argue in favour of
tion this should be' when visited by 14 in . . . reign (1) flourish, triumph in
the Angel Gabriel, Luke, 1.29. their viciousness; or (2) use their own
m y sportive blood my (supposed) badness as sanction for their pursuit
propensity to be wanton or out of of others; or (3) are governed by their
control; cf. 109.10, 'All frailties that own particular form of badness, as a
besiege all kinds of blood'. 'ruling' or 'reigning' passion: (3) is
7 frailties moral weaknesses, short roughly synonymous with Jonson's
comings; cf. 2H4 3.3.164-8. phrase 'every man in his humour'.
why are why are there
352
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 121
121
353
122 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
122 The speaker has parted with a note that the poet's thoughts, articulated in
book or manuscript volume given him verse, will ensure that he lives as long
by his friend, but claims that his own as human faculties survive in the
memory provides a more lasting world. However, the sestet makes it
memento. The sonnet recalls Ham clear that the focus is here on the
1.5.95-110, in which Hamlet needs no speaker's own brain and heart only, not
external help to retain the memory of on their representation in words.
his father 'Within the book and vol 6 faculty capability, power, with per
ume of my brain', but turns to his haps some reference to the specialized
tables to note down the smiling vil application of the word to 'One of the
lainy of Claudius. Cf. also 77, in several "powers" of the mind, will,
which the poet appears to give the the reason, memory' (OED 3, 4)
young man a book with vacant leaves 7 razed oblivion oblivion which causes
for him to write in. mental images to be razed, or eradi
1 tables either 'A small portable tablet cated
for writing upon, especially for notes 8 thy record the recollection or docu
or memoranda' (OED table 2b) or, mentation of you: OED record n. 7,
more probably, synonymous here with 5a; cf. also 77V 5.1.253, Son 55.8
'table-book', a pocket notebook, as in m i s s e d lost, missing
2H4 2.4.264. 9 That poor retention the notebook, a
1-2 are . . . m e m o r y This can be read as feeble means, compared with the
suggesting either that the notebook brain, of 'retaining' the image of the
itself was Full charactered, that is, beloved
amply inscribed, and that its contents 10 tallies . . . score physical objects on
are firmly lodged in the speaker's which to measure and record the value
mind; or that, though the notebook of your love, which is so precious as to
itself is blank, in the speaker's memo be immeasurable: a 'tally' was a stick
ry it is Full charactered - amply writ on which the amount of a debt or pay
ten on - with recollections of the ment was marked, or 'scored', with
donor. For 'character' = write, see notches; cf. OED tally 1, 2a; score 10c;
108.1. also 2H6 4.7.32-3, 'our forefathers
3 Which can refer either to the tables or had no other books but the score and
to their imagined or actual contents the tally'.
that idle rank that worthless row or 11 give . . . m e give them (it) away
level (of other persons or writings); 12 those tables the tables of memory, as
perhaps comparable with the 'trivial in Ham 1.5.98
fond records' which Hamlet expunges 13 adjunct something additional or aux
from his memory in favour of recol iliary (OED 1); cf. ELL 4.3.314,
lection of his father's ghost 'Learning is but an adjunct to our
4 all date all limit or end of a period of self.
time (OED date 5); cf. 14.14 and 30.6. 14 import imply, betoken (OED 5a, b)
5-6 so . . . subsist At first this may seem forgetfulness a poor memory, a ten
to revert to the theme of the youth's dency to forget
immortality, suggesting, like 18.13-14,
354
J
Shakespeare s Sonnets 122
122
355
123 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
356
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 123
123
1
1 No! Time,] Q; No, Time, Ard ; No, time, Capell 7 born] borne 14 scythe] syeth
357
y
124 Shakespeare s Sonnets
358
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 124
124
of the word, cf. Tim 3.2.88-9: 'Men cal values, so the image of policy as
must learn now with pity to dispense, itself a heretic underlines the speaker's
/ For policy sits above conscience'; cf. definition of an independent value-
also 'Policy with his long nails has system.
almost scratched out the eyes of reli 10 which operates in terms of limited
gion', Tilley, P463. periods of time measured by conven
heretic religious dissident, or 'one tional units: short-numbered hours sug
who maintains opinions upon any gests hours which are both short and
subject at variance with those general few in number. There may be some
ly received or considered authorita connection between the image of fast-
tive' (OED 1, 2). As the previous note moving cycles of (twenty-four) hours
shows, policy in its adverse sense was and the number of the sonnet; cf. 12
seen as opposed to religious and ethi headnote.
359
124 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
360
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 124
124
361
125 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
125 Continuing to define a space for his I dwell on form', where Juliet wishes
love as separate from, and more last to stay within the bounds of courtly
ing than, political structures and the behaviour.
public ceremonial that expresses 6 paying . . . rent paying too high a
them, the speaker defends the pure price: recalls the 'leases of short-
simplicity of his love as the best bas numbered hours' in 124.10
tion against the assaults of time. 7 neglecting simple tastes for the sake of
1 Were't . . . m e would it signify any a sweet (by implication, rich and
thing to me, what value would it have unwholesome) mingling of flavours:
for me? in culinary terms, compound sweet sug
bore the canopy carried a ceremoni gests the tarts and sweetmeats served
al canopy over a monarch or great per at aristocratic banquets, in contrast
son in procession (OED canopy la): with the plain ingredients consumed
the word's strong association with by the common people. Cf. the
monarchy is suggested by Henry VPs proverbial 'Things sweet to taste
meditation, 3H6 2.5.42-5: 'Gives not prove in digestion sour' (R2 1.3.236;
the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade / Tilley, M1265), which derives from
To shepherds looking on their silly Revelation, 10.9-10. It is tempting
sheep, / Than doth a rich embroi also to find in compound sweet a refer
dered canopy / To kings that fear ence to the Earl of Essex, who as a
their subjects' treachery?' If there is a young courtier was rewarded, c. 1590,
specific allusion here, James I's tri with 'the farm of sweet wines' - the
umphal procession through London right to charge tax on all imported
seems, as in 123, the most likely. sweet wine - but lost it in September
2 honouring exterior (displays of 1600 after his unlicensed return from
power) with my own exterior (appear Ireland, and was executed for his
ance): for another use of extern in failed coup in February 1601; see
1
OED s sense 1, 'pertaining to or con Introduction, pp. 27-8.
nected with the outside', cf. Oth 8 pitiable (or contemptible) aspirants
1.1.63. after success, or individuals who
3 bases probably bases (foundations) thrive poorly, who in their steadfast
for columns or pyramids, as in gazing (on form and favour) are
123.1-2 destroyed: suggests an allusion to
for eternity to support or celebrate being blinded by looking directly at
eternity; (supposedly) to last for ever the sun, which could supposedly be
4 which (though designated eternity) done with impunitv only by an eagle
turns out in the event to last no longer (cf. 3H6 2.1.91-2)." This, too, would
than onslaught and decay permit; apply aptly to Essex, who on his
therefore, paradoxically, ruining is return from Ireland burst in on the
more durable than eternity. undressed Queen in her bedchamber.
5 Have . . . seen While 11. 3-4 suggest a 9 obsequious obedient, dutiful, espe
long historical perspective in which cially with reference to the dead and
ruined physical monuments of the their funeral 'obsequies' (OED la, b):
past testify to the frailty of human the word may subliminally prepare
attempts to create something lasting, the reader for the anticipation of the
the speaker now limits himself to his youth's death in the next poem.
own memory and his experience of 10 oblation offering, especially in a reli
mutability in the sphere of courtly gious context, as in the offering of
ambition. sacramental bread and wine to God
dwellers . . . favour those preoccu (OED 2, 3)
pied with outward beauty or ceremo poor but free applies both to the
nial and the favour of the great and oblation, simple but freely, generously
powerful: cf. Rjf 2.2.288, 'Fain would given, and to the speaker, who is poor
362
Shakespeare s Sonnets 125
125
but free from courtly subservience Time, the explicit addressee of son
11 seconds material, e.g. flour, grapes, of nets 123-5: cf. VA 655, where jealousy
secondary or inferior quality (OED 5) is described as a 'sour informer'.
knows no art is not experienced in Here, Time is seen as the false witness
any artful mingling of elements, or who claims that the speaker is in his
courtly wiles power by 'boasting' of his change
12 render surrender, making over to (123.1).
another (OED n. 2, with this example) 14 i m p e a c h e d challenged, disparaged;
13 suborned informer bribed false wit accused of treason or other major
ness, hired spy. Previous commenta crime (OED 3, 5): cf. also MND
tors have taken the phrase to refer 2.1.214, for an instance of 'impeach'
cryptically to some 'actual' individual, = jeopardize, put at risk.
but most probably the reference is to
7 sweet forgoing] sweet; Forgoing 11 mixed] mixt 13 suborned informer] subbornd Informer
14 impeached] impeacht
363
126 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
126 This six-couplet poem marks the error for the other: the sense would be
completion of the 'fair youth' 'his fickle hour (-glass)'. However, on
sequence. The young man's power the difficilior lectio principle it is
over time is shown as bestowed on preferable to retain sickle, construed
him by his patroness, nature, who as an adjectival noun: 'the hour when
must eventually hand him over (to Time's (^death's) sickle cuts off life'.
decay and death). The number six, In 116.10 the speaker had proclaimed
associated with perfection that is love's ability to stand out of reach of
merely human, not divine (cf. Philo Time's bending sickle's compass; and
Judaeus quoted by Hopper, 47-8), The unique phrase sickle hour - time
and with the dreaded Beast of of harvest, when ripe corn is cut -
Revelation (cf. 66 headnote) is sig matches the field of imagery of wan
nalled both by the six-couplet verse ing, withering and 'growing' in the
form and by the figure at the head of next two lines. The youth, though
the poem, which may be construed as growing, has the ability to hold back
12/6. As 63 x 2 it suggests the com or defer the moment of harvest when
pletion of two 'grand climacterics', what is fully ripe is reaped with a sick
shadowing the deaths of both poet le.
and youth (see Introduction, p. 100). 3 Who . . . grown who, through the
1 m y lovely Boy Though some com waning or diminution of time, has
mentators have identified the lovely grown (to maturity or beyond): there
Boy with Cupid, the context makes it may be a suggestion both of the wan
clear that the addressee is the speak ing hourglass with its descending
er's beloved, and a mortal, not a deity. grains of sand, and of a waning moon,
In 108.5 the youth had been addressed visually prefigured in his sickle hour,
as sweet boy. The phrase caused the hour when the moon is dimin
embarrassment to Sidney Lee and ished to a slender sickle; and an addi
others; yet compare Richard Barn- tional play on 'weaning', often in this
field's The Affectionate Shepheard period spelt 'wayning' or 'waning' (cf.
(1594), 11-12: 'If it be sinne to love a OED's example from Foxe) and prob
lovely Lad; / Oh then sinne I, for ably identical in sound.
whom my soule is sad'. 4 The same process which brings the
in thy power The youth's alleged youth to perfection brings the speaker
power over time is presumably con to decay. Q^s 'louers' permits modern
trasted with the limited control over ization as 'lovers' ', = the withering of
love exercised by the suborned all those who love you; but the propri
informer, Time, at the end of 125; cf. etorial and singular claim of 'O thou
also 20.7, 'all hues in his controlling'. my lovely Boy' tips the balance in
2 fickle glass presumably the hourglass favour of the singular lover's as pre
traditionally held by personified dominant.
Time, which is fickle because the 5 sovereign . . . wrack supreme or
sands perpetually trickling down paramount ruler over destruction, or
mark time's inexorable movement, over the destructive processes of time
causing it to be changeable, unreliable (cf. OED wrack 2b); in the context of
(OED fickle, with this example) love and loveliness, there is also an
*his sickle hour It seems initially implication that nature is a supreme
tempting to follow Bernard Lintott mistress, Venus-like, in a sexual sense.
and others (Rollins, 1.319-21) in 6 As you move forward (into maturity)
emending Q]s sickle to 'fickle', espe she continually pulls you, or desires
cially since the 'fi' and 'si' ligatures in (will) to pull you back (from decay):
Qare almost identical (see for instance the image of nature, personified here
the second sins in 35.8), and a com as a mature woman devoted to a fair
positor might readily pick up one in youth, 'plucking' him back from the
364
J
Shakespeare s Sonnets 126
126
jaws of destruction recalls the myth of suggestion that the boy's beauty
the nymph Thetis, who tried to pre (grace) makes Old Father Time look
serve her son Achilles from mortality ugly
by plunging him in the river Styx, wretched m i n u t e kill destroy that
holding him back by the heel. hateful unit of time which, by its
7 keeps holds, retains; preserves, cares relentless repetition, brings mortal
for (you) (OED 16-20) beings to their destruction. It is sur
her skill her skill in maintaining your prising that so many editors, includ
youthful appearance and apparent ing Kerrigan, emend to 'minutes', for
invulnerability to decay 'wretched minutes', like the 'damned
8 t i m e disgrace put time to shame by minutes' endured by the jealous hus
eclipsing or outdoing him (OED dis band in Oth 3.3.173, would be
grace v.2); perhaps with an additional tedious, unpleasant minutes, better
126] sonnet omitted by Benson 2 sickle hour,] IR; sickle, hower: Q- sickle, hour; Ard'; sickle-hour;
2
Oxf; fickle hour: Cam (Lintott) 5 nature, sovereign mistress . . . wrack,] Nature (soueraine mis-
teres . . . wrack) 7 skill] skill. 8 minute] mynuit Q- minutes Capell 11 audit, though delayed,]
Audite (though delayd) answered] answer'd 12 quietus] Quietus
365
126 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
killed off than experienced, thus triv Why, thou owest God a death. /
ializing what is claimed here for Falstaff. 'Tis not due yet, I would be
nature. She is surely not trying mere loath to pay him before his day',
ly to 'kill time', in the sense of answered satisfied, made good; cf.
expunging tedious minutes in favour 1H4 1.3.183-4: 'To answer all the
of enjoyable ones, but attempting to debt he owes to you, / Even with the
challenge time's power in an absolute bloody payment of your deaths'.
sense. As Booth (433) points out, the 12 The method by which nature is oblig
singular minute 'appears in company ed to acquit herself of debt is by
with the curious use of hour in line 2'. handing you over in payment (cf.
In addition, in Q]s spelling, 'mynuit' OED render 11): for quietus, clearing
may operate as a visual pun on Fr. of accounts, as an image of death, cf.
minuit, midnight, suggesting that Ham 3.1.75. Though 11. 11-12 make a
nature seeks to cancel the wretched perfectly complete sentence, they
ness of the midnight hour so often leave the reader with a sense of
associated with death, despair and the incompleteness or sudden ending,
expiry of legal contracts, as in which is reinforced by the empty
Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, 19.137. parentheses which follow, as if they
9 Yet fear her In spite of what I have figure the emptiness which will ensue
just said, you should fear her: - 'The rest is silence' (Ham 5.2.363).
although this poem is not a sonnet, The parentheses themselves, omitted
the sense of a break and a modified in all previous modernized editions,
viewpoint after the first eight lines - not only mark off the end of the 'fair
as if they were an octave - is here youth' sequence, but suggest a range
strongly marked. of apt significances. They resemble
O . . . pleasure recalls and redefines marks in an account-book enclosing
the opening phrase: the youth is in the final sum, but empty. As Graziani
nature's possession, not just the has pointed out, they sketch out the
speaker's, and as 'nature's darling' is shape of an hourglass, but one that
subject to the adverse as well as posi contains no sand; and as Lennard
tive aspects of her pleasure, as in the (41-3) has suggested, the round
sense of doing something 'at plea brackets or lunulae, little moons,
sure', or when one pleases (OED plea image a repeated waxing and waning
sure 5b). The word minion also, in of the moon, pointing to fickleness
addition to its ironical or contemptu and frailty. Lennard sees the spaces as
ous associations, suggests one vulner representing 'either the silence (quiet)
able because exclusively dependent on of the grave, or the empty grave into
the favour of a sovereign or great per which the corpse of the louely Boy
son (OED la, b, c). must sooner or later fall'. Also, since
10 d e t a i n keep back, restrain from these brackets enclose an expected
(delivery to time) (OED 4, 5) couplet, they may image a failure to
still keep retain always; retain in a 'couple'. The poet had warned the
motionless state, unaltered by time youth in 8.14 that 'Thou single wilt
11 audit summons to a final statement prove none': unless he 'couples' him
(literally, 'hearing') of accounts, in self in marriage, he will fail to pre
which nature must settle her score serve his beauty for posterity. Even
with time: underlying 11. 11-12 is the the poet's black lines (63.13) are finally
commonplace image of death as pay missing. The poet's verse is incom
ment of a 'debt to nature', Tilley, plete, and so is the youth's life.
D168; and cf. 1H4 5.1.126-8: 'Prince.
366
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 126
126
367
127 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
127 Initiating the 'dark lady' sequence, art's . . . face the falsely appropriated
the speaker claims that 'fairness' of face or appearance created by artifice
complexion is no longer esteemed, 7 hath no n a m e is not verbally identi
since it can be falsely appropriated by fied as beauty, as in 1. 1; has no legiti
means of cosmetics; fashionably, mate inheritance, as in 1. 4; has no
therefore, he rejoices in a mistress eminence or reputation: cf. OED
with dark eyes (by implication, dark name 5b, 'of no name, implying
complexion), whose eyes seem to obscurity and unimportance', exem
mourn in mocking regret for the false plified in Job 30.8; and cf. H5 4.8.107.
reputation for beauty enjoyed by 8 is made commonplace, not sacred, or
other women, while asserting their even lives in disgrace: though as
own aesthetic superiority. Booth (435-6) points out, such a sim
1 the old age former times: although, plistic summary does not do justice to
as Ingram and Redpath point out, this this sonnet's syntactic and semantic
is 'not necessarily a long time ago' (IR, complexities, which aptly mirror
290), there must be some suggestion 'false identities that pass for real and
of the Golden Age, a time when ideals real ones that seem false'.
were fully realized, as in the 'antique 9 suggests either that, in order to be in
world' recalled by Adam's generous tune with the times, the speaker has
faithfulness in AYL 2.3.57. selected a black-eyed mistress; or,
black . . . fair a dark (complexion) more fantastically, that his mistress
was not adjudged to be blonde (beau has chosen her own fashionable eye-
tiful): the paradoxical assertion that colour
what is black (dark) is now regarded as 10 Her . . . suited Though the over
fair (light) identifies this sonnet, like whelming majority of editors have felt
130 and 132, as a conceited exercise in the repetition of eyes to be an error,
mock-encomium. and have either emended the eyes of
2 presumably, 'if dark was adjudged to the previous lines or these ones, to
be light (in those days), it still was not introduce an allusion to some other
described as beautiful': the concession part of the mistress's appearance, C£s
may be that though some dark com text makes perfectly good sense. The
plexions were admired in the past, speaker's mistress's eyes are, in respect
they were not celebrated in language, of their blackness (so), well matched
poetic or otherwise. both to the present age and to each
3 black blackness (of complexion) other. To add some other part -
beauty's successive heir the (legiti 'brow', 'hair' or whatever - multiplies
mate) heir to beauty, or inheritor of the number of mourners in the next
beauty phrase, so confusing the otherwise
4 beauty . . . s h a m e What used to be consistent use of anatomical synec
l
called beauty - a fair complexion' - doche: eyes alone figure the mistress's
has acquired a bad reputation through beauty, just as in 1. 5 hand figures all
the imputation of falseness, which the agents of artificial beauty, and in
excludes it from the inheritance of the final line tongue represents a mul
beauty. titude of commentators,
5 since since (the time when); because mourners Cf. Sidney's AS, 7, on the
each . . . power each and every hand blackness of Stella's eyes, which con
can assume the power (to fashion cludes that she chooses to dress 'Love'
beauty) that originally belonged to (Cupid) in 'mourning weed, / To
nature alone honour all their deaths, who for her
6 Fairing the foul beautifying the bleed'. The mistress's 'mourning'
ugly; for 'fair' as a verb cf. OED 2, here includes a sense of 'deplore' or
with this example; also unfair, — 'regret', as in OED's sense 5; and cf.
'deprive of beauty', 5.4. Oth 1.3.204.
368
J
Shakespeare s Sonnets 127
127
4 beauty slandered] Beautie slanderd 5 nature's] Natures 6 art's] Arts borrowed] borrow'd
8 profaned] prophan'd 9 mistress'] Mistersse raven] Rauen 10 eyes] hairs Capell; brow IR;
brows Kerrigan 11 born] borne 12 creation] Creation
369
128 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
128 Using the popular conceit of erotic jacks Strictly speaking these should
empathy with an object close to the refer to pieces of wood 'fixed to the
mistress, the speaker contemplates his back of the key-lever, and fitted with a
mistress playing the virginals, envying quill which plucked the string as the
the instrument its physical contact jack rose on the key's being pressed
with her. As Herford and Simpson down' (OED); however, it seems that
point out (Jonson, 9.461), 'it was a these objects are in direct contact with
stale lover's conceit', satirized by the woman's fingers, and OED is
Marston in The Scourge of Villanie probably right in suggesting that
(1598), 8.117-37, as well as by Jonson Shakespeare erroneously applies the
in his attribution of it to the affected word to the keys. The word also
courtier Fastidious Briske, who wish- evokes a 'knave' or 'ill-bred fellow'
es to be his mistress's viol, Every Man (OED 2a, b), personifying the keys as
Out of his Humour, 3.9.101-6. The unworthy sexual rivals. It has not been
Jonson analogy, originally proposed established whether the expression
by Gerald Massey, but scorned by 'nimble Jack', or 'Jack be nimble', was
R. M. Alden and Rollins (Rollins, yet current.
1.326-7), seems nevertheless apt. 6 tender . . . hand The palm of the
Though Shakespeare had used a ver- hand was especially associated with
sion of the conceit without apparent erotic intimacy, as in Oth 2.1.168,
irony in Tit 2.4.44—6, he may here be 25Ï-2; WT 1.2.125-6.
satirizing it, for the reader of Son, if 7 harvest harvest (of kisses), abun-
not for the imagined mistress. For an dance of kisses
early M S transcription, see Appen- 8 by . . . stand The conceit that the
dix, p. 466. speaker's lips stand motionless blush-
1 thou . . . play'st you, who are my ing at the sauciness of the virginals
music, or highest, most harmonious parallels that of the mistress's eyes as
delight, play music: the rhetorical mourners for made-up women in
trope (identified by Booth, 439, as 127.10.
antistasis, repetition of a word in a 9 tickled Cf. Fastidious Briske (with
different sense) alerts the reader to the tobacco-taking parenthesis) on
conspicuously 'conceited' character of Saviolina and her viol: 'Oh, shee tick-
the sonnet. les it so, that (Tab.) shee makes it
2-3 whose . . . fingers which is made to laugh most divinely', Jonson, Every
move, and consequently to resound, Man Out of his Humour, 3.9.101-3.
by your sweet fingers would perhaps punning on 'wood':
3 sway'st wield, manipulate, perhaps the lips desire to be 'wood', not flesh
with some sense of undulation (OED 9-10 change . . . situation change their
sway 8b, with this example) state from flesh to wood; their situation
4 wiry . . . confounds the harmony from distance to the proximity
produced by plucked wires which enjoyed by the jacks
(pleasingly) confuses my ear: cf. the 10 chips according to OED la, 'unless
'musical confusion' of Theseus' dogs, otherwise specified, understood to be
MND 1.1.149. of wood'
5 envy pronounced envy (rhyming with 11,14 *thy fingers two more of Q]s
'die'). 'their'/'thy' errors: cf. 26.12 and n.
370
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 128
128
5, 13 jacks] Iackes 11, 14 thy fingers] Malone; their fingers j£) 12 blessed] blest For a MS version,
see Appendix, p. 466.
371
129 y
Shakespeare s Sonnets
372
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 129
129
13 the world probably, as the following described in the preceding lines; the
line suggests, = all male persons in the female sex organ: the identification of
world hell with the vagina is made in
14 heaven the Hiss of 1. 11; perhaps also, Boccaccio's Decameron, 3.10; and cf.
women's 'heavenly' beauty 144.12 and KL 4.6.129.
this hell the hell of shame and hatred
I spirit] Spirit 3 perjured] periurd 5 Enjoyed] Inioyd 9 Mad in] Malone; Made In Q
II proved, a] Malone; proud and Q 12 proposed] proposd
373
130 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
130 As in the sestet of 127, the speaker bolic metaphor . . . as toward depreci
boasts defiantly of his mistress's dark ating the lady's complexion', some
colouring and lack of the convention readers may judge otherwise.
al attributes of female beauty. 4 If . . . wires Hairs and wires must
Following immediately on his analysis have been readily compared because
of the driving force of male lust, this of the lavish use of gold wires in
may suggest that the traditional forms 'tires' and hair ornaments, so it may
of beauty celebrated in love poetry are be that (gold) wires might be implied:
unnecessary to provoke desire: all that 'Whereas (poets' mistresses') hairs are
is necessary is that the object of desire normally compared with (gold) wires,
is female and available. This strongly mine possesses black ones.'
parallels Touchstone's wooing of the 5 damasked ornamented with varie
honestly ugly and wanton Audrey, gated colours; or, having the hue of
AYL 3.3.1-57. the damask rose (OED damask v. 3;
1 My Both here and in 1. 12, it seems damasked 4, with this example)
that My should receive strong empha red and white The 'damask' rose was
sis: the speaker is distinguishing him red, but the suggestion here is both
self from the majority of other love that he has seen variegated roses, and
poets: contrast, for instance Sidney's that he has seen red roses and white
AS, 8.9, praising Stella's 'faire skin, roses.
beamy eyes, like morning sun on 7 s o m e perfumes suggests, sarcasti
snow'. Rollins compares Poems, cally, that not all aromas classified as
Written by the . . . Earl of Pembroke perfumes are delightful; cf. Hotspur's
(1660), sig. D4: 'One Sun alone moves disgust with a fop's perfumes, 1H4
in the skye, / Two Suns thou hast, one 1.3.36.
in each eye; / Onely by day that sun 8 reeks exhales or emits steam or smoke
gives light, / Where thine doth rise, (OED 2a, b): the word does not seem
there is no night'. to have had quite such unpleasant
n o t h i n g like the sun in no way associations for the Elizabethans as it
resembling the sun: cf. the similarly was later to acquire (see Swift exam
adverbial nothing in 123.3. ple, OED 3a), but was frequently
2 Cf. TS 1.1.129, 'I saw her coral lips to linked with sweat, blood and bad
move'; VA 542, 'That sweet coral breath; cf. Cor 3.3.120-1: 'You com
mouth'; Luc 420, 'her coral lips, her mon cry of curs! whose breath I hate
snow-white dimpled chin'; also / A s reek o'th'rotten fens'; and Cym
Richard Barn field, Cynthia, With 1.2.2.
Certaine Sonnets (1595), sonnet 17.12, 11 a goddess go goddesses were suppos
'His teeth pure Pearle in blushing edly recognized by their gait; go =
Correll set'. Q]s 'lips' could alterna walk.
tively be modernized as i i p s " or 13 rare choice, special
'lip's'. 14 any . . . c o m p a r e any woman mis
3 If snow is used as the standard by represented through deceptive simi
which to judge whiteness, her breasts, les: for she as 'woman' cf. AYL 3.2.10,
in comparison with it, are a dull grey- in which Orlando prepares to write
brown: though Booth (454) argues bad verses celebrating 'The fair, the
that 'the thrust of the line is at least as chaste, and unexpressive she'.
much toward mocking inexact hyper
374
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 130
130
1 mistress'] Mistres sun] Sunne 2 Coral] Currall 5 roses damasked] Roses damaskt 6 roses]
Roses 8, 12 mistress] Mistres 10 music] Musicke 14 belied] beli'd
375
131 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
131 Celebrates the speaker's mistress, 'give each speech a full point of a
who exercises as much power over grone'; cf. also RJ 1.1.197-8.
him as more conventional beauties do 9-10 I . . . groans suggests that he uses
over their lovers. Although some groans to reinforce and validate the
allege that, because of her appearance, truth of what he swears by groaning
she must lack this power, he claims while he swears; but because groans
that she does have it; but he acknowl are ambivalent, being more frequently
edges that she is black in behaviour. associated with 'pain or distress'
1 tyrannous a stock epithet applied to (OED groan la) than with erotic
'Petrarchan' mistresses: cf. Spenser, delight, the hyperbole of A thousand
Amoretti (1595), 10.5, where the mis groans activates a suspicion that the
tress is called 'the Tyrannesse'; or speaker's response to his lady is not
Sidney, AS, 2.11, 'I call it praise to wholly adoring, and may even hint at
suffer Tyrannie'. the possibility that he has been vene-
so as thou art such as you are, so really infected by her.
lacking in conventional beauty as you 11 One . . . neck refers either to the
are: another highly charged so, as in groans, which come thick and fast
127.10 and 129.11 (OED neck 4; and Tilley, M1013,
2 As . . . cruel as those who, being gen 'One misfortune comes on the neck of
erally regarded as beautiful, have another'); or to the speaker and his
some cause to take pride in their looks mistress, who in embracing testify to
and their power over their lovers his devotion. To 'fall on one's neck' is
3 dear doting heart my own heart, a biblical term for a loving embrace, as
which loves you devotedly; perhaps in Genesis, 33.4, 45.14; Acts, 20.37.
with some suggestion, if dear is read 12 m y judgement's place the place
as an adverb, of 'paying a high price where my judgement resides, that is,
for this infatuation' my brain or consciousness. The con
4 jewel For the image of a jewel for the junction in 11. 11-12 of neck, witness,
most precious love-object, cf. Oth black and 'the place of judgement'
3.3.159-60: 'Good name in man and suggests an allusion to a condemned
woman's dear, my lord; / Is the imme person being hanged, as in the
diate jewel of their souls', and many proverb 'Wedding and hanging go by
other instances. destiny', Tilley, W232; note also the
5 in good faith either the speaker's possible sexual connotations of place,
expletive, or a phrase governing the as in 6.3-4.
speech of others: 'surprisingly 14 this slander the allegation, in 11. 5-6,
enough, some say'; or, 'some say, and that the woman's appearance makes
say sincerely' her unlovable. One charge is disposed
6 m a k e love groan cause lovers to of, only to be replaced by a worse one.
complain: like 'tyranny', the 'groans' as I think Booth (457) calls this
of unhappy lovers belong to phrase 'a single graceful razor stroke',
Petrarchan tradition, as in Sidney's especially since the speaker implies
AS, 54, in which Astrophil lists the 'that she hasn't the moral sensitivity
conventional signs of love, such as to notice that she has been cut apart'.
376
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 131
131
ill
132 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
132 Further elaborating the conceit of gest dim light (eyes) which matches
the mistress as both black and cruel, surrounding greyness rather than
the speaker claims that her eyes contrasting with it.
mourn for her scorned lover. 7 that full star the planet, generally
1 as as if Venus, though sometimes Mercury
2 t o r m e n t probably infinitive, = (to) (cf. Sidney, OA, 71.7), which is the
torment, forming an indirect state first visible star in the darkening sky:
ment after Knowing though full, this star sheds no light.
3 loving m o u r n e r s as in 127.10: fur 8 sober subdued in tone, neutral-tinted
ther evidence that the reduplicated (OED 9a)
eyes . . . eyes in 127.9-10 is not an 10-12 Building on his claim that the mis
error, but an emphatic affirmation of tress's black eyes both betoken pity
the conceit of black eyes as mourners and look beautiful, the speaker pleads
suited in black apparel for her to extend her pity - equated
4 pretty ruth charming compassion with blackness - to all the rest of her
5 m o r n i n g an obvious pun on 'mourn body.
ing', made explicit in 9, which serves 10 b e s e e m more or less synonymous
to suggest that this sun, like the eyes, with 'become', = be fitting, be apt for:
is dark unusually, and perhaps to underline
6 grey cheeks the grey (perhaps the unconventionality of what is being
cloudy) twilight of early dawn, seen as said, Shakespeare makes a new start
cheeks on either side of the face of the after nine lines rather than the normal
weakly shining sun: there seems little eight.
doubt that the praise here is ironical, 12 suit dress, adorn
for in no scale of beauty can human like alike, identically
cheeks be praised for being grey. Like 13 T h e n if you pity me; by implication,
Miso and her daughter Mopsa in acquiesce sexually
Sidney's Arcadia, the lady 'observe[s] 13-14 a somewhat swaggering assertion,
decorum', having features which especially since he has already made
match each other in dinginess (OA, such a claim in 127: 'Respond to my
30-1). Though Booth (457), perhaps advances, and I will use my poetic
trying to soften the sonnet's misogy- power to champion your blackness as
nistic taunts, claims that 'the sun gives the summation of beauty' Cf, with
colour to the gray clouds as it gives the same black/lack rhyme, Berowne's
colour to the cheeks of a pallid per ironic praise of 'black beauty', LLL
son', both 11. 5—6 and 7—8 seem to sug 4.3.248-50.
378
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 132
132
2 torment] torments Benson 5 sun of heaven] Sun of Heauen 6 the East] th'East 7 star] Starre
even] Eauen 9 mourning] Malone; morning Q
379
133 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
133 The speaker rebukes the mistress for engrossed gathered up, gained a
enslaving his next self, his friend, as monopoly in (OED 4), with a further
well as himself, and tries to negotiate suggestion of 'gross' or greedy
better terms by enclosing the friend's acquisitiveness
heart in his own bosom. 9 Prison imprison
1 Beshrew evil befall, devil take: cf. thy . . . ward the harshly unyielding
OED 3b; Oth 4.3.78. prison cell of your bosom: for the
m a k e s . . . groan supposedly with notion of a 'bosom' as a tightlv locked
adoration, as in 131.6, 10 cell, cf. MM 5.1.11, 'To lock "it in the
2 that . . . gives primarily an applica wards of covert bosom'; for ward, cf.
tion of the conventional conceit of 48.4.
male lovers' hearts wounded by darts 8 crossed thwarted, opposed
from a ladv's eves, as in Sidney, AS, 10 bail OED 1, 'To confine, rare', with
2.2, 20.1, 48.12; but Booth (460) sug this example: the reader may at first
gests an innuendo on the woman imagine that the speaker is offering
offering her sexual parts, sometimes his own heart as a pledge to the mis
described as a wound, as in PP tress on condition that she lets the
9.12-14, to both men. friend out on 'bail', but the following
4 But but that, without the conse lines indicate that OED's gloss is cor
quence that rect.
slave to slavery tautology for 11-12 Though the mistress may keep the
'enslaved to a tyrant', but also sug speaker closely imprisoned, as in 1. 9,
gesting 'compelled to slavish so long as his heart in turn is permit
drudgery (possibly sexual)'. The ted to be the guard, or jailer (or pris
notion of a Petrarchan lover as a slave oner), of the friend's heart, she cannot
was conventional; cf. Sidney, AS, torment him - use rigour - presumably
29.14,35.10, 53.5, 86.9. because he will be so happy in the pos
5 from m y s e l f from my own nature session of his friend's heart.
6 m y next self the self nearest to me, 13 pent imprisoned, enclosed
i.e. my friend; cf. 36, 39. 14 all . . . m e i.e. the friend, enclosed in
harder more severely, more cruelly the speaker's bosom
380
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 133
133
S enough] ynough 6 engrossed] ingrossed 8 threefold] three-fold 10 bail] bale 12 jail] Iaile
381
134 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
134 This sonnet continues from the pre composition of compromising letters
ceding, with a further plea, couched in or love poems on the speaker's behalf.
legal metaphors, for the mistress to 8 Under under the terms of; at the end
release the friend from her keeping of, at the bottom of (the document)
into his. fast tightly, rigorously
1 now now that 9 'You will demand everything to which
2 And and that your beauty entitles you' (Booth, 465)
mortgaged pledged, legally bound 10 elaborating the notion of the woman
will desire, carnal appetite (cf. MM as covetous: suggests that in her sexu
2.4.164); sexual organ, as in the fol al voracity she is both miserly, like a
lowing sonnet. Booth ( 4 6 3 ^ ) observes usurer or money-lender, and over-
also that '7/^the speaker's friend is not lavish, in 'putting forth', or exposing
a literary fabrication, and / / h i s first for sale or exhibiting (OED put 43b),
name was William, then an informed all that she has for (sexual) use. Cf.
reader would have heard "your 20.14; and contrast sonnet 4, in which
William", "the William who is the fair youth is a Profitless usurer, who
thine".' has 'traffic with thyself alone'.
3 so on condition that 11 sue pursue (as if legally, for payment
that other m i n e that other 'self I of a debt); sue to, woo
possess; cf. PT 36, 'Either was the c a m e (who) came
other's mine'; in both cases with a sec 12 m y unkind abuse either, 'the unkind
ondary suggestion of a mine of pre mistreatment I have received (from
cious metal the woman)'; or, 'my own injury to my
5 But however (despite the entreaty I friend (whom I have allowed to
have just made) become embroiled on my behalf)'; or
7 He discovered how to sign his name both
on my behalf only as a guarantor or 14 He . . . whole He pays the entire
proxy-wooer (but surety-like): the 'debt' to the covetous woman - that is,
implication is that the friend became a satisfies her sexually, as in the notion
slave to the woman (as in 133.4) only of the conjugal debt, the obligation to
because he was kind, and was trying to sustain sexual relations in marriage:
help or liberate the speaker. It is cf. Chaucer, Wife of Bath's Prologue,
tempting to take write for me as sug 130,153-5; St Paul, 1 Corinthians, 7.4.
gesting not merely a signature at the free of debt, i.e. of sexual obligation
end of a legal agreement, but the or tie (RP)
382
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 134
134
383
135 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
135 This and the following elaborate the William) to your own sweet one
idea of the woman's sexual voracity by 5 whose . . . spacious suggests, offen
means of what Booth (466) calls 'fes sively, both that the addressee is gen
tivals of verbal ingenuity', playing on erous in her desires, and that her vagi
will as a word for sexual desire, a male na has been enlarged by promiscuity
Christian name, and a word for sexual 6 once just this once; once and for all
organs, male or female. Here the word 7 gracious graceful, attractive
occurs thirteen times (and wilt once), 8 in . . . shine In, or with reference to,
seven instances being italicized and my desire will no prospect of
capitalized in Q Since there is proba favourable reception be manifest?
bly a designed distinction between the 9 'The sea refuses no river (is never
two forms, capitalization has been full)', Tilley, S181; and cf. Orsino's
retained. comments on his love, whose capacity
1 suggests that while other women may 'Receiveth as the sea', TN 1.1.11, and
enjoy or nourish mere 'wishes', the in 2.4.101 is 'as hungry as the sea'.
woman addressed possesses the more 11 being . . . thy Will being already rich
sexually defined and/or humanly in desire (your own and/or that of
individuated Will: 'While other your lovers), and in a man or men
women may have (mere) wishes, your called William, nevertheless (I bid
sexual desires are fulfilled/you pos you) add to the Will you already have:
sess your William'. As in the preced according to Booth (468), 'the slipper-
ing (see 134.14n.) there may be an iness of the rhetorically calculated
allusion to Chaucer's Wife of Bath, ellipsis results in a parody of the devi-
whose Tale illustrates woman's desire ousness of an unscrupulous, unskill
for 'sovereynetee', along with the con ful, and unsucessful would-be seduc
nected adage that 'Women will have er'.
their wills', Tilley, W723; cf. also 12 one desire (sexual organ) of mine, to
Tilley, W715, 'Women must have enlarge your sexual capaciousness (cf.
their wills while they live because they 1. 5 and n.) yet further; there may be a
make none when they die.' further innuendo on tumescence: 'to
2 to boot into the bargain, in addition make the (male) sexual organ, already
(OED boot sb. 1). Q^s spelling 'too' enlarged by attraction to you, even
may perhaps reinforce the sense of bigger'.
excess. 13 possibly, 'Let no act of (uncharacter
in overplus in addition, in excess istic) unkindness (unkind as noun)
3 More than enough Playing with the frustrate any reasonable sexual
concepts of one and many, the speak entreaties'; or, if punctuated with a
er seems to brag that he can serve the comma after (Let no, unkind. . .) =
lady better than all her other lovers 'Stop saying "no", unkind mistress,
put together. and killing fair beseechers\
a m I probably quibbling on 'Will-l 14 Regard all your beseechers - lovers - as
am', as in 121.9 a single one, and treat me as your only
vex harass, torment, in this case with object of desire/man called William/
repeated sexual approaches occupant of your sexual space.
4 by vexing you (as above) adding
another will (sexual organ/man called
384
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 135
135
385
136 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
386
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 136
136
387
137 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
137 After eleven sonnets celebrating the ceit depends on a strained distinction
erotic power of the 'dark lady', the between eyes and heart, suggesting
speaker draws attention to his distort that, but for Cupid's mischievous
ed vision: his eyes have construed the manipulation, the speaker's eyes
'dark lady' as fair, leading his heart to might have been deceived, leaving his
believe, wrongly, that she is also virtu heart nevertheless untouched.
ous; yet he continues to be governed 9 think consider, believe
by blind love. a several plot a private, separate
1 blind fool love Cupid, traditionally area, such as a walled or fenced gar
represented as blind; cf. Tilley, L506, den-plot: see OED several 7a, 'of
'Love is blind.' Sidney called love a land, esp. of enclosed pasture'.
'fool' in AS, 11.14. 10 the . . . place the region where all
2 see . . . see do not correctly interpret people (at least, all male persons) go: a
what they see; cf. the account of the dry-land equivalent of 'the bay where
heathen in Psalms, 115.5, 'eyes have all men ride' in 1. 6
they, but they see not'. 11 Or m i n e eyes or (why do) my eyes?
3 where it lies where (true) beauty this . . . this this fact, that the woman
resides; perhaps with a subsidiary whose beauty I have praised is
sense of 'in what respect it is decep promiscuous
tive, lying' 12 with the consequence that my eyes
4 take suppose, esteem (OED 47) have projected sexual virtue, as well as
5 corrupt . . . looks whose judgement beauty (fair truth), on to such an unat
is distorted by looking with too much tractive exterior: like many characters
'partiality', particular favour in Shakespeare's plays, the speaker
6 the . . . ride the harbour (female has extrapolated from a fair appear
body) where all men find sexual ance (though in this case, paradoxical
release: ships were normally described ly, foul, but love is blind) a virtuous
as 'riding' at anchor (OED ride 7a). nature: cf. for instance Cym 5.5.62-6:
For the sexual application of a ship 'Mine eyes / Were not in fault, for she
coming in to harbour, cf. Oth was beautiful: / Mine ears that heard
2.1.76-80: 'Great Jove, Othello guard, her flattery, nor my heart / That
/ And swell his sail with thine own thought her like her seeming'.
powerful breath, / That he may bless 13 In with regard to; cf. 136.7.
this bay with his tall ship, / And swift 14 this false plague this 'affliction of
ly come to Desdemona's arms'. Note distorted perceptions' (Booth, 476);
also the more explicitly sexual elabo this false woman, who is a plague to
ration of the metaphor in Thomas me. There is no doubt an additional
Carew's A Rapture, 85ff.: 'Yet my tall suggestion that, because of her
Pine, shall in the Cyprian straight / promiscuity, the woman is infected
Ride safe at Anchor, and unlade her and infectious; cf. Lear's description
fraight'. of Goneril, KL 2.4.225-7, as 'a boil, /
7 Still addressing love, the speaker asks A plague-sore, or embossed carbuncle
'Why have you fashioned (or falsely / In my corrupted blood',
created) hooks out of the false judge transferred may be taken to suggest
ment, or unreliability, of (my) eyes?' that the speaker formerly loved a true
forged forged woman: the legal sense of 'transfer' as
8 judgement . . . heart inner judge 'convey, make over' (OED 2) is partly
ment, love: the octave's sustained con applicable.
388
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 137
137
389
138 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
138 This sonnet analyses the system of ton' in behaving as if he believes the
mutually dependent self-deception by woman's flattering words, the speaker
which the speaker pretends his mis colludes with her in refusing to
tress is chaste and she pretends he is acknowledge the truth which is simple
young. This and 144 were included in in the sense of self-evident, manifest.
The Passionate Pilgrim (1599); see 9 unjust incorrect; inaccurate (cf. OED
Introduction, pp. 1—3. 3, 4, with an example from John
1 m a d e o f truth composed of fidelity, Davies of Hereford's Mirum in
perhaps with a pun on 'maid' = virgin Modum (1602), 1.2212): suggests a
2 lies is lying; iies with' other men reference to the woman's untruthful
3 That so that ness in claiming to be made of truth, as
s o m e untutored youth some young in 1. 1, i.e. faithful, constant; and in
man inexperienced in love; cf. 'untu- her consequent flattering of her lover
tor'd churl', 2H6 3.2.213; 'Untutor'd as young
lad', 3H6 5.5.32. 11 best habit the best adornment (gar
4 Unlearned unlearned: almost syn ments); the best habitual demeanour
onymous with untutored in the preced or practice
ing line, yet elaborates the point: the s e e m i n g trust in appearing to trust,
speaker has neither been taught about or to be trustworthy, or both
the ways of the world, nor gained 12 age in love an old person when in
independent experience of them, love: for age as 'an aged person', cf.
the . . . subtleties the crafty and JfT4.4.750; also PP 12, 'Crabbed age
deceptive stratagems of the majority and youth'.
of humankind; cf. OED subtlety 3, 4; told recounted; enumerated
and VA 675, 'the fox which lives by 13 lie with collude in untruths with;
subtlety'. have sex with: cf. Othello's confused
5 vainly wrongly, falsely; prompted by railings, Oth 4.1.35-6: 'Lie with her?
my own vanity, self-conceit lie on her? We say lie on her when
7, 8 S i m p l y , s i m p l e truth Paradox they belie her. Lie with her, zounds,
ically, by pretending to be a 'simple that's fulsome!'
390
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 138
138
391
J
139 Shakespeare s Sonnets
139 The speaker elaborates the theme of that the woman is being quite overt in
the woman's lack of truth in an appeal making eyes at other men while she is
to her to be less open in her wander with the speaker; but he supposedly
ing glances, however unfaithful she implores her to be less subtle.
may be in actuality. 8 m y o'er-pressed defence presum
1 presumably alludes to the ingenious ably, 'my already worn-down resis
paradoxes of the two preceding son tance (to the onslaught of your attrac
nets, in which the speaker has tive looks)'
expounded and to some extent 'justi bide endure; withstand: cf. RJ
fied' his devotion to a promiscuous 1.1.211, 'Nor bide th'encounter of
woman assailing eyes'.
3 'Do not injure me by turning your eye 9 Let . . . thee Making a true volta in
elsewhere, but by speaking to me (of the sestet, the speaker attempts, after
your other lovers).' all, to justify, or excuse, the woman's
4 probably, 'deploy your power power wandering looks.
fully and/or overtly, and do not m y love the woman
destroy me by means of oblique or 10-12 elaborates the Petrarchan conceit
subtle stratagems'. of the woman's eyes as 'killing' the
5 T e l l . . . elsewhere primarily, 'tell me lover: since they have thus injured the
that you love someone else'; but with speaker, she supposedly spares him by
a suggestion also of 'choose another, turning their injurious force on oth
less public, place for telling me of ers.
your deviant affection'. 14 By turning her looks on him, rather
6 Dear heart a form of affectionate than others, the woman can free him
address to the woman, rather than an of pain by killing him outright: this
allusion to the speaker's own organ of suggests that the lady is like the
emotion: cf. the application of the basilisk, which could kill with its gaze
phrase to the fair youth in 95.13. (cf. 3H6 3.2.187, Cym 2.4.107 and
glance . . . aside make sidelong other examples), and may be read
glances away from me - by implica either as a plea for devoted affection,
tion, towards other lovers: for the or as a satirical death-wish. Monarchs,
metaphorical application of 'glance too, were thought of as having killing
aside', cf. 76.3. looks, as in R2 3.2.165. Like the refer
7 cunning . . . m i g h t Cunning and ences to groans in 131 and 133, the
might correspond with the distinction speaker's elaboration of looks can be
between art and power in 1. 4. The construed as savagely mocking rather
tone is probably sarcastic, for it seems than complimentary.
392
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 139
139
393
140 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
140 Building on the preceding sonnet, none but favourable bulletins, in order
the speaker implores the woman at to avoid exciting their wrath.'
least to behave and speak as if she 10 Though the speaker warns the woman
loves him, for fear of driving him mad that her cruel behaviour may provoke
and so provoking him to speak ill of him to speak ill of her in the future, it
her. could be argued, if the sonnets are
1 press subject to pressure, probably read sequentially, that he has already
with reference to executing 'the pun spoken ill of her in the preceding son
ishment of peine forte et dure upon a nets, in which she is depicted as ugly
person arraigned for felony who stood and promiscuous. Seven sonnets fur
mute', OED press la, b. Shakespeare ther on, in 147, the speaker's predic
elsewhere associates unpleasant sexual tion that he may grow mad, and conse
dealings with a woman with 'pressing quently speak in a mad, disordered
to death', as in MM 5.1.520; in TC way, is explicitly fulfilled.
3.2.217-18 the image immediately 11 Now now that; now (it is the case) that
precedes an allusion to 'tongue-tied this ill-wresting world this world
maidens'. (of rumour and false speech) which is
2 tongue-tied Like Sidney's Astrophil, so apt to twist ('wrest') the truth, or to
Shakespeare deploys the conceit of make the good seem bad
his own silence as a lover, despite the 12 m a d ears synecdoche for hearers, all
fact that the lover's voice alone is those madmen who either 'wrest' the
heard in his sonnets: cf. AS, 54.13. words they hear, or, conversely, fail to
4 pity-wanting pain 'pain caused by recognize them as slanderous
your lack of pity, and/or by my desire believed believed
for you to pity me' 13 belied lied about; Q]s 'be lyde' per
5 wit ingenuity, craftiness, perhaps with mits a suggestion also of 'be lain
reference to the sexual knowingness with', i.e. be spoken of as sleeping
that supposedly enables a woman to around; cf. Oth 4.1.35-6 (see 138.
get or keep a man: cf. the Nurse's hus 13n.)
band's remark to the toddler Juliet, 14 reverts to the more conventional allu
'Thou wilt fall backward when thou sion to a mistress's eyes, rather than
hast more wit', RJ1.3AI. eye: develops the Petrarchan and
5—6 'It would be better, though you are Sidneian conceit of her eyes shooting
unable or unwilling to love me, at least out beams of light like arrows from a
to take pleasure (to love) in telling me (or Cupid's) bow: cf. Sidney, AS, 47.2,
that you do.' 66.11. She is implored to aim them at
7 testy short-tempered, peevish (OED the speaker alone - straight - even
2a) though internally her proud heart car
8 'Doctors give (peevish) dying men ries her affections wide of the mark.
394
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 140
140
2 tongue-tied) toung tide 4 pity-wanting] pittie wanting 7 sick men} sick-men 8 physicians]
Phisitions 11 ill-wresting] ill wresting 13 belied] be lyde
395
141 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
141 Denying that he loves the woman final phrase makes the sexual applica
with any of his five senses, the speak tion clear: while a literal feast would
er claims somewhat sardonically to require the presence of many guests,
love her only with his heart, the site this is a private banquet with thee
both of sin and of the suffering which alone.
is the penalty for sin. 9 But m y but (neither) my
1 In faith perhaps sarcastic; cf. in good five wits . . . senses Shakespeare
faith, 131.5. consistently distinguishes the five wits
eyes Cf. 137 on the corruption of from the five senses: cf. RJ 1.4.47,
both eyes and heart. 3.4.78; MA 1.1.66; KL 3.4.58, 3.6.57.
2 errors primarily, 'deviations from For a detailed analysis of the five sens
beauty, i.e. uglinesses'; but following es and wits, cf. Sir John Davies, Nosce
allusions to the woman's promiscuity Teipsum (1599), 960-1171. But as
in the six preceding sonnets, there is Booth (487) observes, 'their juxtaposi
doubtless some suggestion also of tion is carefully calculated to confuse
'moral errors'. in the very act of distinguishing'.
note notice; enumerate: cf. 99.14, and 10 serving rendering obedience to you
Luc 208. as your lover, possibly with a sub
3 they my eyes sidiary sense of 'mate with' - the sec
4 in . . . view in spite of what my eyes ond application normally referring to
see: probably with a pun on 'in despite the copulation of animals (OED serve
of you' 8d, 52)
is . . . dote chooses to love excessive 11 unswayed unwielded; uncontrolled
ly or foolishly (cf. 'please' as imper (OED; and cf. RJ 4.4.470). Booth
sonal passive verb, OED 4b) (487) paraphrases: 'the speaker's body
6 Nor is my own delicate sense of touch is left unswayed - he is left a shell of a
eager for base touches, i.e. low-grade or man - because his heart has l e f t . . . to
unpleasing sexual encounters: cf. the live in his lady's bosom as a slave'.
Duke's references to the 'abominable 12 slave . . . wretch Cf. 57.1, where the
and beastly touches' which are the speaker was the young man's slave,
pimp's livelihood, MM 3.2.23. For and 58.4, where he was his vassal.
prone as 'eager', cf. Cym 5.4.205. 13-14 Samuel Butler aptly glossed, 'I
7 Nor taste nor (do) taste shall suffer less for my sin hereafter,
7-8 desire . . . alone The metaphor of for I get some of the punishment
sexual congress as a sensual feast, coincidentally with the offence' (quot
though found in Ficino and else ed in Booth, 488). The pain the
where, may here allude specifically to woman gives him may be either emo
George Chapman's Ovids Banquet of tional - caused by her unkindness, her
Sence (1595), which explores Ovid's open promiscuity - or physical: if she
attraction to Corynna bathing infects him with venereal disease she
through a celebration of each of the punishes him directly for his sexual
five senses, culminating in touch. The sin.
396
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 141
141
397
142 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
142 Continuing from the end of the pre 7 sealed . . . love bestowed kisses
ceding sonnet, the speaker elaborates which have offered false assurances of
a chiastic conceit of his own sexual sin commitment: Shakespeare often iden
and the woman's sexual virtue, or tifies kisses with seals, as in VA 511,
scornful treatment of him. TGV121, /yr5.3.114, A?2.1.20; the
1 The speaker sins in loving (wooing, or closest analogy is offered by the song
making love to) the woman, whereas sung to Mariana, MM 4.1.5-6: 'But
she, in scorning him, appears to man my kisses bring again, bring again;
ifest virtue: dear virtue suggests 'the /Seals of love, but seal'd in vain,
virtue you hold dear', but in context seal'd in vain'.
appears ironic. 8 others' . . . rents The distinction
2 suggests primarily that the woman between rents and revenues (pro
hates the speaker's sinful, because nounced revenues) is not a sharp one:
lustful, love of her; however, in the the general sense is that 'you and I
light of the next eight lines it seems have both (often) deprived our lawful
that the woman's hate is also 'ground partners of their sexual due, bestow
ed on sinful loving', i.e., derived from ing sexual favours elsewhere'. Cf.
her own uncontrolled sexual desire; Emilia's protest at straying husbands
the pot calls the kettle black. who 'pour our treasures into foreign
6 profaned . . . o r n a m e n t s treats laps', thus provoking their wives to do
promiscuity as a form of sacrilege, in likewise, Oth 4.3.88.
which the woman has dishonoured 9 Be it if it is
the holy redness of her lips by kissing lawful allowable that I . . .
too freely. Booth (491-2) suggests an 10 W h o m . . . woo whom you pursue
allusion to 'scarlet vestments', and so, with amorous looks, as in 139 and 140
by association with cardinals, to the importune importune
'cardinal virtues'; but the following 11 Root plant, establish
line invokes, rather, an association 13 w h a t . . . hide pity, here equated with
with red wax seals on legal docu sexual compliance: the notion seems
ments, which might bear the impress to recall the citation of those 'That do
of ecclesiastical or civic authority. not do the thing they most do show',
Shakespeare nowhere else describes 94.2: while those individuals are
lips as scarlet (though Sidney does, praised for moving others but being
identifying them with the scarlet themselves unmoved, this addressee is
robes of judges, AS, 73.11), and there implored, conversely, to release in
may be an ironical inversion of the herself the susceptibility to (sexual)
biblical associations of scarlet with sin feeling that she provokes in others.
in general and sinful women in partic 14 self-example the example of your
ular: cf. Isaiah, 1.18; Revelation, 17.3; self
and cf. Spenser, FQ, l.ii.13.2, denied denied (sexual favours)
l.viii.29.2.
398
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 142
142
399
143 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
143 An unusually extended simile is set 3 dispatch speed, haste {OED 6b)
up in the first eight lines: the woman 4 pursuit stress on the first syllable
is compared to one who, in running 5 holds . . . chase chases after her, gives
after a strayed fowl, abandons her chase; with an ironical contrast
babe-in-arms, which pursues her. The between the child's 'holding chase'
feathered creature is presumably to be and the woman's failure to 'hold' the
identified with the object or objects of child
the woman's amorous glances in 6 to catch her to capture her attention
139-40 and 142.9-10, and the speaker, bent directed, intent upon
as becomes apparent in the last three 7 flies . . . face exploits the coincidence
lines, identifies himself with the in meaning between 'fly' and 'flee',
neglected child. The sonnet plays on both to suggest biblical images such as
the traditional image of amorous pur those of the ungodly who 'flee before'
suit as a hunt, but in a scaled-down, the face of God (Psalms, 68.1), or of
unchivalric, domestic arena - not a Jacob, who 'fleddest from the face of
royal game forest, but a humble back Esau' (Genesis, 35.1), and to suggest
yard. It also recalls and reverses the that 'even as she is watching it, the
central thrust of VA: instead of show bird takes to its wings'
ing a woman in hot sexual pursuit of a 8 N o t prizing thinking nothing of, car
young boy who prefers hunting ani ing nothing for: see OED prize v. 3b,
mals, Shakespeare here shows a child with this example; and WT 4.4.386.
in desperate pursuit of a woman who discontent unhappiness, resentment;
prefers hunting for a chicken to caring cf. LC 56.
for her infant. 10 chase . . . behind pursue you from a
1 careful conscientious, painstaking; distant position to the rear: recalls two
full of cares or anxieties earlier unsuccessful lovers, Chaucer's
housewife pronounced 'hussif: 'a Pandarus, who remarks 'I hoppe
woman who manages or directs the alwey byhynde' ( Troilus and Criseyde,
affairs of her household . . . a woman 2.1107), and Wyatt's persona in the
who manages her household with skill sonnet 'Whoso list to hunt', who
and thrift' {OED 1; and cf. AYL claims 'I am of them that farthest
1.2.33) cometh behind' (Wyatt, 77)
2 feathered creatures primarily 11 thy hope that which you hope for: cf.
denotes chickens or other domestic Sidney's OA, 12, in which Pyrocles/
fowl, but there may also, as Booth Cleophila sings sapphics to Philoclea
(494-5) suggests, be a suggestion of 'speaking as it were to her own hope'
'the sort of dandified rivals - the 12 be kind behave with natural affec
"popinjays" - of which men in the tion, no doubt with a play on sexual
speaker's situation are traditionally 'kindness'
both jealous and scornful'. Also, since 13 thy Will equated with thy hope in
the woman gives priority to the feath 1. 11, as well as with 'that which all
ered creature over her child, there may women wish for', as in 135-6. If both
be a sidelong reference to the proverb pursuer and pursued are named
'Fair feathers make fair fowls', Tilley, William, there is a redoubled sugges
F163. tion that the speaker will pray for her
broke away (which has) broken away to possess both.
(from the flock) 14 still silence, pacify with kisses
400
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 143
143
401
144 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
144 The speaker describes his Two loves, loved and lovable, as in the expression
apparently the 'fair youth' and 'dark 'white boy', 'A favourite, pet or dar
lady', and his fears that the latter has ling boy' (OED 1): cf. A Yorkshire
inveigled the former into her sexual Tragedy (1608), Malone Society
space. He makes a sexual application (1973), 510-11.
of the medieval concept of the psy- 4 coloured ill of an unpleasing or ugly
chomachia, in which a good angel and complexion; but like the 'fairness' of
an evil one compete for possession of the man, the bad colouring of the
a man's soul. The sonnet's number in woman may be as much emotional as
the sequence, 12 x 12, known as a literal, especially given the sense of
'gross', may be especially appropriate coloured as 'specious' or 'falsely
to this enumeration of the speaker's glossed over' (OED 3a, b).
amorous possessions, which prove to 6 *side The better angel is identified
be 'gross' also in the sexual sense: cf. with the 'guardian angel' assigned to
Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, each human being, whose normal
3.1.81, where Lorenzo Junior pours position would be at the side of the
scorn on Stephen's supposed ability person protected, as in depictions of
to utter sonnets 'by the grosse'. Tobias and the Angel; or cf. Herbert's
With 138, this sonnet first 'The Pilgrimage', 16—18: 'Here I was
appeared in The Passionate Pilgrim robb'd of all my gold, / Save one good
(1599) (see Introduction, pp. 1-6). An'gell, which a friend had ti'd / Close
The PP text of 144 varies less radical to my side'. An even closer analogy is
ly from Q^than does that of 138, and Oth 5.2.207-10, Gratiano on Desde-
in 1. 6 offers a reading, side for jQs mona's father's death: 'did he live
'sight', which appears superior; see now, / This sight would make him do
below. a desperate turn, / Yea, curse his bet
1 Two loves two objects of love ter angel from his side, / And fall to
2 spirits incorporeal beings, often 'con reprobation'. There seems little doubt
ceived as troublesome, terrifying, or that PP*s side, rather than Q\s 'sight',
hostile to mankind' (OED spirit 3a): in is correct.
Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, for 8 foul pride pride and assurance which
instance, 'spirit' is used throughout to she manifests despite her foul appear
denote specifically an evil spirit or ance; reprehensible ostentation, mag
devil (Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, p. 10); nificence (for the latter, see OED pride
cf. also Lady Macbeth's invocation of 6a)
'you Spirits / That tend on mortal 9-11 fiend . . . friend evidently an
thoughts', Mac 1.5.39-40. acceptable rhyme in Elizabethan pro
suggest insinuate (to evil), prompt (to nunciation; cf. VA 638, 640.
good or evil action) (OED la, b); cf. 10 'I may be led to suspect, but cannot be
MW33.230, 'What spirit, what devil, sure by means of direct proof or
suggests this imagination?' sight': Shakespeare may be recalling
still continually the words scratched on a window of
3, 4 T h e better angel . . . T h e worser Woodstock Palace by the future
spirit separates off spirit, with its pre Elizabeth I when she was a prisoner
dominantly negative associations, there: 'Much suspected by me /
from angel, with its predominantly Nothing proved can be', as well as the
positive ones: cf. Doctor Faustus (B proverb 'Suspicion is no proof
text), where the first entry of the (Tilley, S1019); and cf. Oth 1.3.106.
Good and Bad Angels runs 'Enter the 11 being . . . friend both are out of my
Angel and Spirit '. company and in that of each other,
3 right fair As elsewhere,the /À/r youth and/or friendly towards each other:
may not be so much literally btond in for from as *away from* cf. OED 5h,
complexion as fair because intensely and Tim 4J.533, H5 1.1.212, Ham
402
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 144
144
1.2.168 and passim; for to as 'near to', er spirit in 11. 3-4, the primary sugges
'Expressing contiguity or close prox tion is that the man right fair sexually
imity', see OED 5b. But to each friend possesses the woman coloured ill; for
suggests also 'friendly towards each the equation of the female genitals
other'. Like Booth (498-9), 'I retain with hell cf. 129.14 and n., and KL
the (^punctuation because it includes 4.6.127-30. Booth's suggestion
the idea that the alliance of the two (499-500) that 'each is a punishment
beloveds occurred only because they to the other' may be an attempt to
were introduced by the mutual friend mitigate the misogyny of the image
they have betrayed.' by distributing culpability equally.
12 guess conjecture Though many commentators have
one . . . hell following the clear dis linked the phrase with the game of
tinction between better angel and wors barley-break, played by three couples,
403
144 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
404
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 144
144
405
145 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
145 This is a unique sonnet in octosyl eyes: 'What thou seest when thou dost
labic lines: it describes a lover suppos wake / D o it for thy true love take, /
edly devastated by his mistress's dec Love and languish for his sake'.
laration that she hates him, rescued 7 Was used was (wont to be) used, was
only by the favourable completion of habitually used
her utterance in the final line. Gurr gentle d o o m merciful judgement
has suggested that the sonnet is very 8 greet salute, offer words of address
early, belonging to the summer of (OED 3a, b; and cf. Tit I. 1.1.90)
1582, when the 18-year-old Shakes 9-14 Malone aptly compares Luc
peare was wooing Anne Hathaway: see 1534-40: '"It cannot be," quoth she,
1. 13n. Booth (500) calls it 'the slight "that so much guile," - / She would
1
est of sonnets', and Pooler (Ard ) said have said, - "can lurk in such a look."
'Perhaps not Shakespeare's'. / But Tarquin's shape came in her
1-5 m a k e . . . Straight The fivefold iter mind the while, / And from her
ation of similar sounds in make . . . tongue "can lurk" from "cannot"
hate . . . sake . . . state . . . Straight, in took: / "It cannot be" she in that
combination with short lines and a sense forsook, / And turn'd it thus:
predominance of monosyllables, cre "It cannot be, I find, / But such a face
ates a childish, tripping movement should bear a wicked mind." '
which seems tonally to make light of 10-11 as . . . night a tediously obvious
the speaker's claim that the woman analogy, as used in reverse form by
has the power of life and death over Polonius to Laertes, Ham 1.3.79: 'it
him; and note also used, anew, who, must follow as the night the day /
threw in 11. 7, 8, 12, 13. Thou canst not then be false to any
1 love's own hand the hand of Cupid, man'. The reminiscence of gentle
or of Venus: cf. the fair youth's doom (1. 7) also reinforces the idea that
woman's face, painted with nature's mercy is more natural to the woman
own hand, 20.1. than cruelty.
2 This periphrastic way of indicating who refers primarily to night, but also
that the woman's lips uttered the suggests the woman's rapidly dimin
phrase / hate suggests some play with ishing hatred
the puffing aspirate at the beginning 13 'hate' away Gurr suggests a pun on
of hate. 'Hathaway'.
3 languished . . . sake Cf. the octosyl 14 And Booth (501) suggests a play on
labic charm in MND 2.2.26-8, when 'Anne'.
Oberon squeezes love-juice on Titania's
406
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 145
145
1 love's] Loues 2 Breathed] Breath'd 3 languished] languisht 7 used] vsde doom] dome
9 altered] alterd 10 followed] follow'd 14 saved] sau'd
407
146 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
146 Addressing his soul, the speaker positor's repetition of My sinful earth.
questions the rich and expensive 3 pine starve, lack food; waste away or
adornments it bestows on the earth, or languish {OED 5a, b, c)
body, in which it is housed, exhorting 5 cost expense, expenditure; cf. 64.2
it to prepare for death by consuming so . . . lease such a brief period of
spiritual riches and repudiating earth legitimate residence: cf. 'leases of
ly ones. The sonnet has been very short-numbered hours', 124.10.
extensively discussed, both because of 6 fading m a n s i o n the ageing body,
its status as Shakespeare's only explic seen as a decaying house within which
itly religious poem, and because of the the soul's residence will be brief
unusually problematic textual crux in 8 charge expense, outlay {OED 10a)
1. 2: for some of the proposed emen Is . . . end Cf. 'Is this the promis'd
dations, see textual notes. As far as the end?', KL 5.3.263: suggests both 'Is
religious connotations go, the sonnet this all that your richly adorned body
is perhaps not quite so extraordinary has come to?' and 'Is this the purpose
as has been claimed, but can be linked for which your body was destined, or
with other sonnets on the speaker's at which it aimed?' (cf. OED end 13a,
ageing and impending death, such as 14a).
63, 71, 73-4 and 81; however, the 9 thy servant's loss the (impending)
absence of any explicit allusion to a loss of the body, which should proper
love-object is unusual. The problem ly be subordinate to the soul
of ageing is here approached in an 10 let . . . store allow the body to lan
individualistic way, posing the ques guish or waste away (cf. 1. 3) in order
tion of why an ageing body should be to increase your own abundance of
expensively dressed or generously fed. possessions: for aggravate as 'increase,
1 centre . . . earth The body, as a strengthen', see OED 5.
microcosm of the world, has the soul 11 t e r m s divine suggests both legal
as its centre. conditions or terms which are hea
2 *Feeding . . . array The suggestion venly, hence durable, in contrast to
is that the soul, of its essence a spiri the 'short lease' of 1. 5; and 'heavenly
tual entity, has been captured by periods of time' - times without limit,
greedy, fleshly forces, which array, or eternity
deck splendidly, its external sur hours o f dross combines a notion of
roundings {OED array 8a; there is wasted time and worthless material
probably a play also on OED 1, to possessions
draw up prepared for battle) and 12 Within inwardly
require, like hungry troops, to be without externally
Ted'. Maxwell points out that Daniel 13 feed . . . m e n Cf. Psalms, 49, com
used the phrase 'rebel powers' in menting on 'those that trust in their
Cleopatra (1594), where it is applied to wealth, and boast themselves in the
her own 'False flesh and blood' which multitude of their riches', in particu
threatens not to co-operate with her lar verse 14: 'like sheep they are laid in
mental determination to kill herself. the grave; death shall feed on them;
The similarity of application leaves and the upright shall have dominion
little doubt that this passage was over them in the morning; and their
Shakespeare's source. The emenda beauty shall consume in the grave
tion Feeding, which completes a four from their dwelling'.
fold pattern of aural and semantic 14 The notion, though not the specific
play on 'feed', with fading in 1. 6, be fed wording, recalls several passages in
in 12 and feed . . . feeds in 1. 13, has the Bible, such as Isaiah, 25.8, 'He will
been adopted on the advice of Helen swallow up death in victory; and the
Vendler. Presumably either eye-slip or Lord God will wipe away tears from
careless dictation led to the Q_ com all faces'; or two sentences included in
408
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 146
146
BCP, Burial of the Dead, T h e last image of 'feeding on' in the preceding
enemy that shall be destroyed is line. The sonnet may in turn have
death', and 'Death is swallowed up in contributed something to Donne's
victory' (1 Corinthians, 26.54). This Holy Sonnets, 10.14, 'Death thou shalt
last may have contributed to the die'.
1
2 Feeding] this edn; My sinfull earth j£), Benson; Fool'd by Malone; Foil'd by IR; [ . . . ] Ard
409
147 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
147 Identifying his passion for the ing appetite (desire) of a sick man
woman as a disease, the speaker shows 5 My reason Perhaps it was 'reason's'
himself abandoned by reason and in voice that we heard in the preceding
the grip of love-madness, which has sonnet, imploring the pining soul to
deranged his judgement. Gregor feed itself and not the body, or bodily
Sarrazin (Rollins, 1.379) aptly linked appetites.
it with Sidney's OA, 41, an 'octave' in 6 prescriptions 'doctor's orders', 'any
which the duchess Gynecia laments course of hygiene ordered by a physi
her unfulfilled and unfulfillable cian' (OED 2); limitations or restric
desires: 'Like those sick folks, in tions (OED 3)
whome strange humors flowe, / Can 7 desperate in despair; desperately sick
taste no sweetes, the sower onely approve discover by experience
please: / So to my minde, while pas (OED 9)
sions daylie growe, / Whose fyrie 8 'that (sexual) desire to which medical
chaines, uppon his freedome seaze, / advice took exception, or objected, is
Joie's strangers seeme, I cannot bide fatal or death-bringing': cf. OED
their showe, / Nor brooke ought els except 4; and R2 X.X.I2.
but well acquainted woe. / Bitter 9 reverses the proverb 'Past cure, past
griefe tastes me best, paine is my ease, care' (Tilley, C921): it is his lack of
/ Sicke to the death, still loving my care - heedfulness to reason - that
disease.' places him beyond hope of recoverv -
1-2 longing . . . longer Placed in such cure. OX. I L L 5.2.28.
close proximity, these words suggest 10 frantic m a d frantically mad: see
that longing still / For contains also a OED frantic 4, with this as the first
sense of 'desiring to prolong'. example
2 nurseth the disease cherishes and 11 discourse speech
sustains the illness, rather than the 12 At r a n d o m haphazardly, aimlessly:
individual who suffers from it see OED random 3a; cf. also 1H6
3 Feeding If the emendation Feeding is 5.3.84, 'He talks at random (F: randon):
accepted in 146.2, the word links these sure the man is mad'. Q]s spelling,
two sonnets, which both present the 'randon', is correct in the period,
speaker's helpless subjection to desire deriving from Old Fr. randon, force,
in terms of gluttony. rapid movement.
the ill the disease, sickness (OED ill 13 I . . . fair as in sonnets 127 and 130
sb. 6) 14 as black as hell proverbial: cf. Tilley,
4 uncertain sickly appetite the waver H397, and ELL 4.3.254.
410
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 147
147
411
148 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
148 This sonnet continues from the end blind' (Tilley, L506). For denote as
of the preceding, elaborating the 'indicate (outwardly)', cf. OED 3 and
theme of the speaker's love-madness #73.3.110.
and distorted judgement. 8-9 Love's eye . . . love's eye seems to
1 love Whereas in line 147.1 love conflate Cupid's eyes - which are, of
seemed to denote the emotion felt by course, blind - with the wearied eyes
the speaker, it seems here to be dis of the speaker, perhaps with a play on
placed into an external force, implicit 'love's I'
ly equated with Cupid. 10 vexed afflicted, troubled with pain or
4 censures . . . aright explores the pos distress {OED vex 2, 3a).
sibility that the error is not in his eyes, watching staying awake at night,
but in his capacity to judge or appraise keeping watch; cf. 61.13 and n.
correctly what his eyes see, censures 11 N o marvel It is not surprising, or
here having no sense of 'judge cause for amazement: cf. VA 390,
adversely': cf. OED censure 1, and JC 'Therefore no marvel though thy
3.2.16, 'Censure me in your wisdom'. horse be gone'.
5 both affirms and denies the validity of 12 The sun, as in 18.5, is treated as 'the
his appraisal of the love-object, by eye of heaven', which here cannot see
first raising the possibility that this (the earth) until the intervening heav
object is indeed - according to exter en is free of clouds.
nal criteria - fair, yet describing the 13 cunning skilful, ingenious; artful, sly
eyes that view her adoringly as false. {OED 2,5)
For dote cf. 141.4 and n. love seems here to conflate love =
6 the world people in general, general Cupid with love = the woman loved:
opinion {OED 15); and cf. 107.2 both keep the speaker blind with tears
7-8 love . . . m e n ' s 'The love (I have) so that the foulfaults (1. 14) of both are
indicates clearly that the vision of obscured. However, foul faults seems
those in love is not as accurate as that more aptly to apply to the woman, as
of everyone else': a circuitous way of in 138.14.
arriving at the truism that 'Love is 14 eyes well seeing eyes which see truly
4 2
Shakespeare s Sonnets 148
148
10 vexed] vext
413
149 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
414
y
Shakespeare s Sonnets 149
149
4 all, tyrant,] this edn. ; all tyrant, Malone; aH tirant £ 7 lour'st] Iowrst
415
150 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
150 The speaker ponders further on the second supported by OED become 9c;
woman's power to move him, through and cf. its paradoxical application in
her very weaknesses, to praise her for 7 5 1.2.252-3.
beauties that his rational self knows 5-7 The ill/skill rhyme here, combined
her to lack. The sonnet bears some with the picture of a blinded and
resemblance to Shakespeare's presen enslaved lover, recalls the couplet of
tation of Cleopatra, praised by 57: 'So true a fool is love, that in your
Antony even when she is quarrelsome will, / Though you do anything, he
{AC 1.1.48-51), and of whom thinks no ill'.
Enobarbus says 'vilest things / 6 refuse that which is cast aside as
Become themselves in her' worthless {OED 8. 1)
(2.3.238-9). 7 warrantise guarantee, surety
1 from what power suggests the oper 11 what . . . abhor that which others,
ation of an external, or supernatural, who are not so blinded, have a con
power, which gives the woman ventional distaste for (i.e. things ill)
strength in weakness, as well as or 12 With others along with others, align
instead of her own inner ability or ing yourself with the world in general
capacity abhor m y state hate or despise the
2 to move my heart (to love you), or condition I am in: recalls the speaker's
alter its direction, by means of inade outcast state in 29.2. The iteration of
quacy, incapacity: see OED insuffi abhor in 11. 11 and 12 suggests a play
ciency 2, la; and cf. MND 2.2.128, on 'whore': cf. Desdemona's 'I cannot
where Helena applies the word to her say "whore": / It does abhor me now
own supposed lack of beauty. I speak the word' {Oth 4.2.160-2),
3 give . . . sight tell my eyesight, which where 'abhor' suggests 'compromise
sees correctly, that it does not myself by appearing to name myself
4 brightness . . . day suggests a denial "whore"'; cf. also the executioner
of the propositions that brightness is 'Abhorson' (a 'whoreson' character) in
what defines day, distinguishing it MM.
from night, and that bright sunshine, 13-14 As Booth observes (525), this
rather than clouds or shadow, are what implies not only that 'my unselfish
grace an individual day, making it generosity has earned your love in
pleasing return', but also that 'since you are
5 this . . . ill this capacity to improve unworthy and I find unworthiness
bad things, to make them appear lovable, I am a fitting person for you to
pleasing; or to 'become' them by love'. When the following sonnet has
association with them. The first appli been read an innuendo may be discov
cation is elliptical and unusual; the ered in raised.
416
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 150
150
417
}
151 Shakespeare s Sonnets
151 This sonnet resumes (from 146) the but perhaps also suggesting 'it is pos
conflict between soul and body, but sible that he will'
with the body now unashamedly vic 8 T r i u m p h triumph: 'to prevail, gain
torious. The iteration of conscience in the mastery' {OED 2)
11. 1, 2 and 13 suggests a concealed flesh an unusual application of the
pun on the prick of conscience and word, often associated with female
the prick which has no conscience, as flesh as a sexual commodity, to the
in the proverb Penis erectus non habet male member
conscientiam (Booth cites Archer stays waits for, awaits {OED 19); cf.
Taylor, The Proverbs [Cambridge, MND 2.1.235, VA 894.
Mass., 1931], 171). no further reason no additional
1 Love here equated with the child cause or pretext; no longer (waits for)
Cupid the guidance of reason
conscience consciousness of right 9 point out show, direct attention to
and wrong; moral sense (OED II): {OED 10)
Booth (526) claims that 'here, and in 10 proud . . . pride an apparent tautol
lines 2, 11 and 13, "con-"' alludes to ogy; but there may be an allusion to
'the commonest name for the female animals who are 'in pride', or sexually
sex organ'. excited; cf. 'As salt as wolves in pride',
2 Though the who knows not . . . ? for Oth 3.3.410, and OED pride 11. The
mula implies that the proposition is speaker's flesh exults in, or brags of,
proverbial or familiar, it does not this tumescence.
appear to be so: indeed, the surpris- 12 stand a common pun on the military
ingness of a connection between erot and sexual applications of the word:
ic love and conscience is indicated in cf. Rjf 1.1.27-8, Sampson's obscene
Falstaff's remark {MW 5.5.28-9) threat to the maids, 'Me they shall feel
'Why, now is Cupid a child of con while I am able to stand, and 'tis
science: he makes restitution'. But known I am a pretty piece of flesh'.
there may be a saucily misapplied sug For the military application, 'to take
gestion that conscience, or the inward up an offensive position against an
prompting of a moral sense, is a prod enemy', see OED 10.
uct of the love of God. fall . . . side continues the metaphor
3 gentle cheater an oxymoron in of sexual congress as a military
which the moral condemnation of engagement, suggesting both 'endure
cheater is mitigated by the affectionate defeat while fighting on your behalf
epithet gentle; cf. tender churl, 1.12. and 'detumesce in proximity to you'
urge not do not charge me strongly 13 N o . . . it D o not reckon it to be a
with, or press a strong claim for: see defect of conscience: cf. 'For nothing
OED urge 3c, 9a. hold me', 136.11 and n.
4 prove turn out to be 14 rise and fall suggests, in addition to
5 thou betraying m e when, because, tumescence and detumescence, a blas
or since, you betray me phemous play on the Resurrection, as
6 My nobler part the soul, as in 1. 7; in Donne's 'The Canonization', 26-7:
and cf. 'nobler parts', A T / 3.1.217, and 'We die and rise the same, and prove /
'nobler reason', Tern 5.1.26. Mysterious by this love'. In the light
m y . . . treason the treason of my of the two final sonnets, the reader
body, which is gross - overfed and/or may discover also an implication that
vicious: cf. the rebel powers of the body the speaker has 'fallen' sexually
in 146.2. through infection; cf. OED fall 14a,
7 m a y primarily, 'has permission to', and 1H4 3.3.1-3.
418
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 151
151
2 born] borne
419
152 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
152 This sonnet describes sexual and 8 initially suggests, 'all my amorous
artistic betrayal. The blunt allusions trust of you is betrayed'; but the next
to double adultery grieved early com six lines indicate a more thorough
mentators, such as George Ross, who going compromise of the speaker's
claimed that Shakespeare's 'spirit was honest faith, in which he has told end
delicate and loved purity, yet it is less lies with reference to the woman.
obvious that it did not hinder him 9 deep oaths . . . kindness Deep oaths,
from lapsing into an unchaste life' or solemn, heartfelt, oaths, are con
(quoted in Rollins, 1.389). However, ventional: cf. ELL 1.1.23; or 'deep-
the poet's self-betrayal through false sworn', AT/ 3.1.231. The definition of
language is treated as worse even than oaths, in 11. 9-10, as oaths of - i.e.
sexual betrayal. 'concerning' - subtly shifts the issue
1 I a m forsworn I have broken an oath from one of fidelity to another person
or told a lie: may refer to the fact that to fidelity to truth itself. The repeti
the speaker, like Shakespeare, is mar tion of deep may introduce an innuen
ried; or to his claims in 1-126 of do on deep kindness as 'unlimited sex
exclusive devotion to the fair youth; or ual receptivity'.
to the breach of some other oath not 11 to enlighten thee to illuminate you,
apparent to the reader. or make you lighter in appearance
2 twice . . . swearing In your swearing {OED 2)
love to me you break two oaths (thus gave . . . blindness initially suggests
behaving twice as badly as me): the a reference to blind Cupid: cf. Sidney,
present participle effectively leaves NA, 5, 'Hath not she thrown reason
open the question of whether she upon our desires and, as it were, given
swears love to the speaker now, or has eyes unto Cupid?' However, the cou
done so in the past. plet makes it clear that the eyes are
3 In act in the act of sexual congress: those of the speaker, who has given
elsewhere more fully defined, as in (over) his eyes to blindness, in claim
'act of sport' or 'act of shame' (Oth ing to see merit and beauty in the
2.1.226, 5.2.212). In TC 3.2.81-2 it is woman.
used alone, as here: 'the desire is 12 swear against give contrary evidence
boundless, and the act a slave to limit'. to; set up in opposition to
3 ^ new . . . bearing may be read as sug the thing possibly with some play on
gesting that the woman (unlike the use of thing for 'genitals'; cf. 1H4
Shakespeare, married back in 1582) is 3.3.114-18, and 5™ 136.7, 11-12.
recently married, and already express 13 sworn thee fair sworn that you are
ing new hate for her husband, in beautiful; attempted to make you
favour of love for the speaker; or that beautiful by swearing that you are
she has betrayed both her husband eye often, since Malone, emended to
and the speaker in favour of some T ; yet eye continues logically from
third party, either, as in 133-4, the 1. 12, in which eyes are the subject of
speaker's friend, or yet another swear, while readily yielding an aural
7 to m i s u s e thee to treat you badly, by pun on T ; the word also yokes 152 to
deception or otherwise; to exploit you the last line of 153.
sexually; to lie about you, misrepre 14 foul plays paradoxically on the 'foul
sent you: for the first two senses of ness' of a false claim for the woman's
misuse, cf. OED 2 and 2b; the third is 'fairness'; and cf. the proverbial 'Fair
discovered in retrospect when 11. 9-12 without but foul within' (Tilley, F28).
have been read.
420
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 152
152
421
153 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
422
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 153
153
5 this . . . love the holy pre of Cupid's which bathers are 'seethed', or
torch, whose 'holiness' seems here stewed: see OED seethe 1.
rather suspect: it may hint, spooneris- prove discover to be: the allusion may
tically, at a 'fiery hole' (RP). be not so much to a specific therapeu
6 The tautology of this line matches the tic spring as to a therapeutic principle
tautology of the paired sonnets: the - 'Men find hot baths an effective
water's heat remains without 'date' or remedy.'
terminus (cf. dateless night, 30.6, and 8 strange m a l a d i e s suggests 'exotic'
'dateless bargain', Rjf 5.3.115), and maladies, diseases possibly contracted
has the capacity to remain so continu through contact with strange, or for
ally - still. eign, women. Syphilis, 'pox', or mor
7 grew was transformed into bus gallicus, was always viewed as an
a s e e t h i n g bath warm water in exotic disease, whether brought to
423
J
153 Shakespeare s Sonnets
424
}
Shakespeare s Sonnets 153
153
425
154 Shakespeare 's Sonnets
426
Shakespeare 's Sonnets 154
154
FINIS.
427
A LOVER'S
COMPLAINT
A LOVER'S COMPLAINT
From off a hill whose concave womb reworded
A plaintful story from a sist'ring vale,
My spirits t'attend this double voice accorded,
And down I laid to list the sad-tuned tale;
Ere long espied a fickle maid full pale, 5
Tearing of papers, breaking rings a-twain,
Storming her world with sorrow's wind and rain.
8 plaited] plattid 9 sun] Sunne 14 peeped] peept lattice] lettice seared] sear'd 15 napkin]
Napkin 20 undistinguished] vndistinguisht
432
A Lover's Complaint 35
22 levelled] leueld 24 tied] tide 27 fixed] fixt 28 commixed] commxit 29 tied] ti'd
30 Proclaimed] Proclaimd 31 untucked] vntuck'd sheaved] sheu'd
433
36 A Lover's Complaint
36 favours love tokens, in this instance none, but such, as had too much
made of semi-precious minerals: see before' (Songs and Sonnets, 54).
OED favour 7a, b; and cf. ELL 43 s c h e d u l e s pieces of paper, short
5.2.130-2. notes (OED 1)
m a u n d wicker basket with a handle 44 gave gave (to)
37 b e a d e d presumably, 'formed into 45 posied inscribed with posies or mot
beads'; another nonce word toes; nonce word in the period
39 margent edge, bank 48 sleided apparently for 'sleaved', =
40 The maid's barren usury, in which she separated into loose threads: cf. Per 4
adds coin-like tears to the stream which Prol. 21.
already has water in abundance, may be feat and affectedly neatly, becom
contrasted with the reproductive usury ingly (OED feat 6b); earnestly or
recommended to the youth in 6.5. affectionately (OED affectedly 1): the
41-2 lets . . . 'All!' For the unusual use of association of ajfectedly with falsity or
'let fall' as 'bestow (blessings or boun posing is not recorded before 1656.
ty)', cf. Tern 4.1.18; with the notion of 49 wrapped up (in frayed silk) and sealed
giving to those who already have too to achieve elaborate secrecy, or against
much, rather than to the needy, cf. those who are curious to penetrate
Son 135.9-10; also Donne's 'The their secrets
Will', in which the speaker promises 50 fluxive flowing, fluid
to give 'To women or the sea, my tears', 51 gave to tear gave herself up to tear
having been taught by love to 'give to ing: see OED give 64d.
37 beaded jet] Ard'; bedded let X) 41 monarch's] Monarches 44 perused] perus'd sighed] sighd
45 C r a c k e d ] C r a c k t posied] Posied 4 & sepulchres] sepulchers 47 m o e ] Ard , Riv; m o Q; m o r e
1
Malone penned] pend 49 Enswathed] Enswath'd sealed] seald 50 bathed] batli'd 51 kissed] kist
A Lover's Complaint 63
52 register of lies chronicle or record ple); the word was also associated with
of lies: cf. Lucrece's complaint quarrels and skirmishes; cf. Robert
against night as 'Dim register and Naunton, Fragmenta Regalia (1641),
notary of shame', Luc 765. 33, on Lord Hunsdon, patron of the
53 unapproved unapproved: = uncon Lord Chamberlain's Men, 'as he lived
firmed by trial, unproved (Glossary) in a Roughling time, so he loved
54 Black ink, manifestly sinister, would sword and Buckler men, and such as
have been more honest than seeming our Fathers were wont to call men of
ly heartfelt blood. their hands'.
d a m n e d damned 60 observed observed. In his 'bluster
55 rents rends, tears ing' days we might suppose, rather,
56 contents contents that the man would have passed his
57 reverend dignified, aged, with some hours 'unobserved'; but presumably
religious associations which make him the suggestion is that even in his
an apt confessor-figure (OED 1, 2); youth he was unusually reflective.
however, the stress on the man's age in 61 afflicted fancy unhappy apparition
62 and 70 make this the primary con (OED fancy 2), or victim of delusion
notation. The witnessing / of the (ibid. 3)
opening stanzas is presumably differ fastly firmly; speedily (OED 2, 4)
ent; see Introduction, p. 92. 63 grounds and m o t i v e s causes and
58 blusterer 'boaster, braggart' (OED, inward promptings or desires (OED
with this as the first example) motive 2a, 4a; and cf. Kerrigan,
ruffle ostentatious bustle, display Motives, vi).
(OED 3, with this as the first exam
54 seemed] seem'd 57 grazed] graz'd 59 court] Court city] Cittie 62 privileged] priuiledg'd
435
64 A Lover's Complaint
64 grained bat the object may be akin to Even so by Love the young and tender
Aufidius's 'grained ash', Cor 4.5.109, wit / Is turn'd to folly, blasting in the
apparently a stout wooden lance or cud bud, / Losing his verdure, even in the
gel. A 'bat' is normally a wooden walk prime'.
ing stick (OED 1): cf. Spenser, Mother 76 Fresh to m y s e l f Cf. 94. 9-10.
Hubberds Tale (1591), 215-18, in which 77 The maid has suffered for doing what
the ape pretends to be an old soldier: the youth is implored to do in sonnets
'But neither sword nor dagger did he 1-17: contrast especially sonnet 4.
beare... / In stead of them a handsome 78 attended initially suggests that, like
bat he held, / On which he leaned, as the reverend man when young, the
one farre in elde' (Shorter Poems, 342). maid attended at court; but the next
grained grained line indicates that it was to the youth
65 c o m e l y distant becomingly distant, ful suit that she paid heed (OED
at a discreet distance attend 7, 2).
67 divide share (OED 8b) 79 A youthful suit the request of a
68 applied offered as a remedy youthful suitor
72 blasting blighting (OED 1): cf. TGV 80 outwards exterior, outward appear
1.1.45-9: 'as the most forward bud / ance: see OED outward B2; and cf.
Is eaten by the canker ere it blow, / TC 3.2.169; Cym 1.1.23.
436
A Lover's Complaint 94
437
95 A Lover's Complaint
95 whose bareness was more tri 101-3 was . . . be His anger was at once
umphantly beautiful than the (rich) violent and sensuous, like the Rough
fabric it seemed to wear, the Sidneian winds which 'shake the darling buds of
conceit of some of the face being May' in 18.3.
bare, some hairy, recalls the descrip 104 rudeness . . . youth continues oxy-
tion of the maid's hair, some loose, moronic conceit: the young man's
some tied up, in 11. 29-35; out-bragged harshness (rudeness) combined with
recalls both outbraves, 94.12, and 'nor the youth which legitimated (autho
shall death brag', 18.11. rized) it to veil (his) deception behind
96 cost expensive ornament (OED 4); cf. a splendid appearance (pride) of sin
64.2. cerity
97-8 Cf. the passage from Sidney (NA, 106-12 Cf. Pamela's praise of Dorus's
68) quoted above, 11. 29-35n. riding (Sidney, NA, 153): 'he ever
97 nice fastidious, discriminating (OED going so just, either forthright or
12a, b) turning, that it seemed as he bor
98 If best were whether (the youth's rowed the horse's body, so he lent the
chin) were best horse his mind . . . sometimes making
100 m a i d e n - t o n g u e d with a soft, gentle him turn close to the ground like a cat
voice, like that of a maiden when scratchingly she wheels about
free generous, liberal (OED 21a, b) after a mouse, sometimes with a little
101 m o v e d provoked to anger: cf. more rising before, now like a raven,
Brutus' description of Martius leaping from ridge to ridge'.
(Coriolanus), Cor 1.1.255: 'Being 108 noble . . . sway ennobled by the
mov'd, he will not spare to gird the youth's sovereignty over him
gods'.
438
A Lover's Complaint 126
439
127 A Lover's Complaint
440
A Lover's Complaint 168
151 shielded.] sheelded, 153 new-bleeding] new bleeding remained] remaind 154 jewel] Iewell
155 shunned] shun'd 156 destined] destin'd 157 forced] forc'd 158 by-passed] by-past
164 forebode] forbod
441
169 A Lover's Complaint
171 his . . . grew implies that the youth that the maid has observed his decep
had made women pregnant: cf. the tion of other women. There may also
'many maiden gardens, yet unset' of be a sexual innuendo in holy - cf.
16.6-7. The use of orchards, rather 153.5 and AW 1.3.30 - in addition to
than 'gardens', activates also a sugges a suggestion of 'holey', or leaky, unre
tion of forbidden fruit, both stolen liable vows.
and planted. 180 What is (now) sworn to you was
173 vows . . . defiling (his) oaths were never said (previously) to anyone.
always agents of sexual/moral cor 181 feasts of love like the sensual feast of
ruption: cf. 'men's vows are women's 141.8, may recall the commanding
traitors', Cym 3.4.54. metaphor of Chapman's Ovids Ban
174 characters and words words and quet of Sence (1595)
letters: cf. the embroidered conceited 184 blood Cf. 1. 162 and n.
characters of 1. 16. 185 acture the process of acting; action
m e r e l y but art no more than artifice, (OED, this example only): the word
guile (OED art 14); cf. 1. 295. sounds quasi-legal, but is not easy to
176 city virginity, chastity: cf. 'this blem- explain in its context. Perhaps the sug
ish'd fort', Luc 1175. gestion is that 'acts of sex may be
179 holy vows sacred (seeming) oaths: engaged in (readily) in situations where
suggests that the youth is well aware neither party is faithful or loving'.
171 orchards] Orchards 174 characters] Characters 176 city] Citty 181 called] calPd 182 woo]
Capell; vow Q_, Riv
442
A Lover's Complaint 200
4
"Among the many that mine eyes have seen, 190
N o t one whose flame my heart so m u c h as warmed,
Or my affection p u t to t h ' smallest teen,
Or any of my leisures ever charmed:
H a r m have I done to them, b u t ne'er was harmed;
Kept hearts in liveries, b u t my own was free, 195
And reigned commanding in his monarchy.
c
"Look here what tributes wounded fancies sent me,
Of pallid pearls and rubies red as blood,
Figuring that they their passions likewise lent m e
Of grief and blushes, aptly understood, 200
187-9 The youth, as reported, seems to OED livery 3b, 'under livery'.
have befuddled the maid with quasi- 197 w o u n d e d fancies ellipsis for
legal quibbling on the word shame as, 'women wounded in their fancy': cf.
in its first occurrence, 'disgrace' the description of the fickle maid as an
(OED 3a); in its second, '(act of) afflicted fancy (1. 61 and n.)
shame' (OED 3b); and in its third 199-203 T h e pearl and ruby jewels,
'modesty, shamefastness' (OED 2). resembling the conceited and posied
The contorted reasoning of 188-9 love tokens of 11. 16 and 45, yield a
appears to be that, since his cast-off complex conceit of conflicting emo
mistresses are as guilty as he is, the tions, with the pale pearls suggesting
more they reproach him, the more he pain and chastity, the blood-red
is exonerated. rubies shame and rage (mood — anger,
191 Not one (there was) not one as in OED 2b); and the conflict
192 teen injury, damage (OED 1) between the two serving as external
194 h a r m e d heartbroken, or injured token of the opposing armies
emotionally: cf. MA 2.3.26-30, where Encamped within the girls' bosoms.
Benedick boasts of his heart-whole Cf. Sidney's description of
ness: 'One woman is fair, yet I am Amphialus visiting the girl with
well; another wise, yet I am well; whom he is painfully in love (NA,
another virtuous, yet I am well; but 321): 'About his neck, he wore a broad
till all graces be in one woman, one and gorgeous collar, whereof, the
woman shall not come in my grace'. pieces interchangeably answering, the
195 in liveries in service, as retainer; cf. one was of diamonds and pearl set
443
201 A Lover's Complaint
201 encrimsoned] encrimson'd 203 Encamped] Encampt 204 lo!] Lo talons] tallents hair] heir
205 metal . . . empleached] mettle . . . empleacht 206 received] receau'd 207 heseeched] beseecht
208 enriched] inricht 209 deep-brained] deepe brain'd 210 nature] Nature 211 diamond]
Diamond 212 invised] Oxf; inuis'd Q_ 213 emerald] Emrald
444
A Lover's Complaint 224
with other things, be they never so 220—1 Strongly echoes sonnet 1, with its
greene, it surpasseth them all in pleas account of the addressee as niggard
ant verdure . . . Nay, if the sight hath ing, as well as 126, with its anticipa
beene wearied and dimmed by inten- tion of the time when nature must
tive poring upon any thing else, the render the youth up to death; but what
beholding of this stone doth refresh is disconcertingly different here is
and restore it againe, which lapidaries that instead of making a gift of his
well know, that cut and engrave fine inherent gifts - youth, beauty, rank -
stones; for they have not a better the speaker is applying the argument
means to refresh their eyes than the against niggarding to gifts bestowed on
Emeraud, the mild greene that it hath him by others.
doth so comfort and revive their 222 origin and ender takes the deifica
wearines and lassitude'. tion of the mistress to the unusual
215-16 T h e . . . manifold Perhaps in extreme of identifying her with God
contrast to the single powerful prop himself, as 'Alpha and Omega, the
erties attributed to the diamond and beginning and the ending' (Reve
the emerald, the sapphire and opal are lation, 1.8)
linked with many other elements - 223 oblations offerings: another word
objects manifold - to yield a variety of with strong biblical associations; cf.
symbolism. Leviticus, 7.38.
217 The deep-brained sonnets accompany 224 Since I since I am
ing them, skilfully enumerating the empatron patronize; stand in the
jewels' attributes, caused them either relation of patron to {OED, this
to smile (attractively) or complain example only): the somewhat strained
(imploringly). argument seems to be that the maid is
219 pensived probably, rendered pen to the young man as an altar, or sub
sive or sad, saddened {OED, this ject of devotion, equivalent to what he
example only) is for all the other women, so the love-
tender offering, token; cf. 83.4, 'The gifts previously offered to him are
barren tender of a poet's debt'. now all due to her.
215 heaven-hued] Ard'; heauen hewd Q sapphire] Saphir opal] Opall 217 well-blazoned
smiled] well blazond smil'd 219 pensived] Oxf; pensiu'd subdued] subdew'd 220 charged]
chargd 224 altar] Aulter empatron] enpatrone
445
225 A Lover's Complaint
4
" O then advance of yours that phraseless hand, 225
W h o s e white weighs down the airy scale of praise;
Take all these similes to your own command,
Hallowed with sighs that b u r n i n g lungs did raise:
W h a t me, your minister for you, obeys,
Works under you; and to your audit comes 230
T h e i r distract parcels in combined sums.
225 of yours] (of yours) 228 Hallowed] Malone; Hollowed Q_ 232 nun] Nun 233 sister] Sister
446
A Lover's Complaint 252
4
"But O, my sweet, what labour is't to leave
T h e thing we have not, mast'ring what not strives, 240
Planing the place which did n o form receive,
Playing patient sports in unconstrained gyves;
She that her fame so to herself contrives
T h e scars of battle 'scapeth by t h e flight,
And makes her absence valiant, not her might. 245
4
" O pardon me, in that m y boast is true;
T h e accident which brought m e to her eye
U p o n the m o m e n t did her force subdue,
And now she would the caged cloister fly,
Religious love p u t out religion's eye; 250
N o t to be tempted would she be immured,
And now to tempt all liberty procured.
239-40 what . . . not How difficult it is tive, not positive: images perhaps
to relinquish (desire for) the thing we picked up by Milton in 'I cannot
do not have: presumably this applies praise a fugitive and cloister'd vertue,
to the sister sanctified, who finds it unexercis'd & unbreath'd, that never
hard to sustain her negative vow to sallies out and sees her adversary'
forswear earthly love, (Areopagitica, in Milton, Prose Works,
what not strives that which does not 2.515).
resist 246 m y boast the boast I am about to
241 *Planing CapelPs emendation of make
Q's 'Playing' has been adopted, on the 247 accident chance
presumption that the copy M S read 248 subdue brought it into (emotional)
'Playning' or 'Playing'. The sugges- subjection: see OED 2a, and cf. the
tion presumably is that a surface association of the word with erotic
already smooth, or paper empty of enchantment in Oth 1.3.112, 2.3.331,
signs, is pointlessly 'planed', or 3.4.57.
smoothed over (cf. OED plane v. la, 249 caged cagèd
b, c): the sister, already chaste, seeks to 250 'Quasi-religious erotic devotion
reinforce her chastity further. quenched her (previous) spiritual
242 playing at being patient in fetters vision.'
voluntarily adopted, not enforced by 251 would she be she wished to be
others 252 to . . . procured obtained full free-
243-5 A reputation for chastity based on dom in order to tempt (me)
the avoidance of temptation is nega-
447
253 A Lover's Complaint
255 fountains For the association of her, or 'regulated her food for the
'fountains' with female genitalia, cf. benefit of her health' {OED diet 2a),
VA 234, and Nashe's 'The Choise of by offering a favourable response to
Valentines', 112 (Nashe, 3.408). her love.
256 m i n e my (sexual) gifts donated by 263 giving place yielding, giving
the other women ground to {OED give 47a, d)
258 congest gather together, collect as a 264 potential powerful, commanding
mass (OED 1): the maid is to win the (OED l); cf. Oth 1.2.13.
collective amorous submissions of his 264—5 Vow . . . confine a slightly clumsy
previous mistresses to the young man, use of correlatio, in which the three
as well as those of the young man components vow, bond, space are defined
himself. as correspondingly transcending the
259 plays on the sense of compound as a restrictions of sting, knot or confine (here
compounded drug, medicine {OED a noun = limit or boundary: cf. KL
2a; and cf. Luc 531, Cym 1.1.58), 2.4 J 50): the whole is an elaborate way
which will heal, or mollify, the maid's of saying that 'Love overcomes all'
amorous coldness (Tilley, L527). 'Sting' does not apply
260 parts talents, attractions; cf. 17.4 well to 'vow', however; conceivably the
and n. word here should be 'strength' (RP).
261 continues medical metaphor: though 267 impressest enforce, urge; imprint
the nun had disciplined herself to idea (of love) on the mind (OED
remain chaste, the young man dieted impress v. 3)
256 ocean] Ocean 260 nun] Capell; Sunne £ 261 Who, disciplined,] Who discipline
262 Believed] Beleeu'd
448
A Lover's Complaint 283
273 aloes] Allocs 279 strong-bonded] strong bonded 282 levelled] leaueld
449
284 A Lover's Complaint
285-7 a mannered conceit of the youth's youth for his persistence - is coldly
tears as 'glazing', or glassing over, extinguished. Extincture, for 'extinc
forming a crystal gate over, the roses of tion', is yet another nonce word, and
his cheeks, seen also as a flame shining perhaps carries with it a sense of
through water 'tincture' in the sense of 'stain' or
290-1 But . . . wear? The reasoning is 'taint' (OED 3a, 5a), anticipating the
that if even one tear is irresistibly 'poisoning' of 1. 301.
powerful, containing a hell of witch 295 art o f craft (the product of) an art
craft (cf. the erotic witchcraft of of crafty deception
Katherine's lips, H5 5.2.301), no 296 resolved dissolved; transformed; cf.
heart can fail to be melted by an inun Ham 1.2.130; Tim 43Ml.
dation of tears. 297 white . . . chastity The image sug
292 w a r m e d warmed gests an imaginative conflation of the
293-4 Developing the oxymoronic con maid with the nun of 232ff.
ceit of flame through water from 1. 287, daffed took off, disrobed myself of;
the maid now expounds the cleft, or cf. AC 4.4.13.
divided, effect of the young man's 298 sober guards suggests both
tears: from the same source (hence), metaphorical guards, and sober
her modesty receives fire, and her hot clothes which had appeared to protect
wrath - presumably anger with the her
284 downward] downe-ward 286 glazed] glaz'd crystal] Christall roses] Roses 288 witchcraft]
witch-craft 293 OJ Malone; Or Q 296 resolved] resolu'd 297 daffed] Oxf; daft £
299 Appeared] this edn.; Appeare j£
A Lover's Complaint 315
All melting, though our drops this diff 'rence bore: 300
His poisoned me, and mine did him restore.
300 melting primarily, 'dissolving with appropriate measure (of emotion): the
tears'; but the word also has strong young man sounds like both the ideal
erotic associations, as in Song 10 of ly responsive auditor, and a consum
Sidney's AS: 'My life melts with too mately versatile actor, whose body,
much thinking', where 'melt' suggests like that of the First Player in Ham
'experience orgasm'; cf. also 2.2., can generate tears and physical
Partridge, 153. manifestations of passion at com
301 poisoned If the sexual application mand.
of melting, in the preceding line, is 309 level range (of his aim), reverting to
pursued, there is a suggestion of the military imagery of 281-2
venereal infection as well as moral 312 veiled in t h e m presumably, in a fair
corruption. appearance of natural kindness and
302 subtle matter delicate, malleable, gentleness
deceptive material (that of the human 314 heart-wished luxury lechery which
body) he desired in his heart
303 cautels wiles, deceptions; cf. Ham 315 preached pure m a i d preached as if
1.3.15. he were a pure maid; preached a doc
306 either's, aptness in either of these trine of maidenliness
moods, (he assumes and provokes) an
300 diff rence] diffrence 301 poisoned] poison'd 303 cautels] Cautills 305 swooning] Malone;
sounding Qj swounding Capell 306 either's, aptness,] eithers aptnesse 308 swoon] Malone;
sound Q 310 all-hurting] Malone; all hurting Q 311 nature] Nature 312 veiled] vaild
314 burned] burnt heart-wished] hart-wisht 315 preached] preacht praised] praisd
451
316 A Lover's Complaint
c
O, that infected moisture of his eye!
O, that false fire which in his cheek so glowed!
O, that forced t h u n d e r from his heart did fly! 325
O, that sad breath his spongy lungs bestowed!
O, all that borrowed motion, seeming owed,
Would yet again betray the fore-betrayed,
And new pervert a reconciled maid.'
317 covered] couerd 319 chérubin] Chérubin hovered] houerd 320 lovered] louerd 324
glowed] glowd 325 forced] forc'd 329 maid] Maide.
452
APPENDIX
MANUSCRIPT TEXTS
1 For a full list, see Beal, 2.449-63. Beal's system of reference, ShW + number, is
used.
2 7AC, 444.
453
Appendix
r
1 Westminster Abbey M S 4 ) , fol. 49 .
2 Taylor, 'Some M S S \ 220.
454
Appendix
1
1628. T h e suggestion transmitted by both Taylor and K e r r i g a n
2
that the version of 2 in S h W 1 8 could be as early as 1619 is most
unlikely to be correct. George Morley's commonplace book
takes its place alongside the ten other manuscripts in which a
text of 2 appears as an interesting and varied miscellany of the
Caroline period, with no special or i n d e p e n d e n t links with p r e -
1609 sources.
Taylor has also m a d e m u c h of the 'Shakespearian' deftness of
the title 'Spes Altera*, which is applied to sonnet 2 in four m a n
3
uscripts ( S h W 8 , S h W 9 , S h W I O , S h W 1 4 ) . H e traces it to its
source in Virgil's Aeneid, 12.168, where it refers to Aeneas' son
Ascanius, 'second hope of great R o m e ' . Yet the deployment of a
Latin title seems most uncharacteristic of Shakespeare, and
much more typical of the university and I n n s of C o u r t environ
ment to which so many of the Jacobean and Caroline
4
miscellanies belong. Also, by labelling the seventeenth-century
collectors of 2 'copyists' Taylor suggests that they were u n t h i n k
ing and unlearned scribes, who might accidentally and
unconsciously transmit an early variant version of a Shakespeare
sonnet derived from a text produced several decades before. Yet
many of the compilers of these miscellanies can be identified as
individuals who had enjoyed considerably m o r e formal educa
tion and social advantages than Shakespeare had done. George
Morley, for instance, was educated at Westminster and Christ
C h u r c h , and was to end his life as Bishop of Winchester. H o r a t i o
5
Carey, shown by Taylor to be the compiler of S h W 2 6 , was a
great-grandson of Shakespeare's p a t r o n the first L o r d
H u n s d o n . Margaret Bellasys, owner of the manuscript contain
6
ing S h W 8 , seems to have been the daughter of T h o m a s Bellasys
(1577-1653), who was created Baron F a u c o n b e r g by Charles I
1 Whitlock, 283-95.
2 Kerrigan, 441.
3 Taylor, 'Some MSS', 233-6.
4 For a general survey of these, see Marotti, 31-7.
5 Rosenbach MS 1083/17, fols 132 -133.
6 BL MS 10309, fol. 143.
455
Appendix
456
Appendix
of
457
Appendix
14 a Early transcription of sonnet 128. From Bodleian MS Rawl. poet 152, fol. 34'
458
Appendix
459
Appendix
3
1 Cam , 289; cf. Evans, 'Lawes'; also the entry on Lawes in New Grove Dictionary of
Music.
r
2 Bodleian MS Rawl. poet 152, fol. 34 .
3 Perhaps misled by a line drawn across the page in the Dowland stanza, Robbins
claimed that there are 'five pieces of verse'.
460
Appendix
1
some manuscript circulation elsewhere, the source is most p r o b
ably the printed text. Likewise, the fourth and final poem, 'I
bend my wits and beate my werye breene', derives from a
printed source, being Francis Davison's S o n n e t II in Davison's
A Poetical Rhapsody, published in 1602, 1608 and 1611. It seems,
then, that this writer was collecting love lyrics from printed
sources, and transcribing t h e m , rather inaccurately, some time in
or after 1613. Some readings are nonsensical, such as 'of loues
despight' for 'of my delight' in line 3 of the Dowland poem.
Others are clumsy or careless, such as the n o n - r h y m i n g ' r e p e d '
for 'reape' in 128.7, or 'to imprinsen' for ' T ' i m p r i s o n ' in the
Davison sonnet. O n e reading points to a faithful b u t unintelli
gent response to the printed original, suggesting that these texts
derive directly, and not through a manuscript intermediary, from
their printed sources. William Browne's 'Love's L a b y r i n t h ' is
presented emblematically in the printed text as an inscription on
a continuous interlaced ribbon, with shading to indicate d e p t h at
points where the ribbon crosses over. T h e nonsensical m a n u
script reading 'in a r o u n d e shuts u p all quaringe' reflects its
writer's failure to notice a partly shaded initial V , the correct
word being, of course, 'squaring'. In the light of this contextual
evidence, Taylor's suggestion that S h W 2 9 'may represent an
2
earlier draft of the p o e m ' can be rejected, as can his and Beal's
proposed dating, circa 1625-40s. A more plausible date would be
1613-20.
W h a t is remarkable about this manuscript is not its status as
an independent witness to the text of a Shakespeare sonnet - it
is simplified and inaccurate - b u t its testimony to some interest
in and appreciation of Shakespeare s Sonnets in the years i m m e
diately after 1609. While the location of sonnet 2 a m o n g lyrics
by Carew, Suckling and Herrick, combined, usually, with the
omission of Shakespeare's name, gives the manuscript version of
v
1 Cf. Bodleian MS Rawl. poet 160, fol. 102 .
2 7>C, 446.
461
Appendix
462
Appendix
[2]
Spes Altera
r
From BL M S Add. 10309, fol. 143 (Margaret Bellasys's commonplace book,
c. 1630).
1 thre score] fortie Q 2 trench deepe furrowes] digge deep trenches Q 3 faire] proud
Q accounted] gaz'd on Q 4 Shall] Wil Q_ like rotten weeds,] a totter'd weed Q no]
small Q_ 6 Where's] Where Q that] the Q_ Lustre] treasure Q youthfull] lusty Q
7 these hollow-suncken] thine owne deepe sunken Q 8 all-eaten truth] all-eating shame
Q worthlesse] thriftlesse Q 9 O how much better were] How much more praise deseru'd
Q 10 say] answere Q pretty] faire Q 11 Saues my account] Shall sum my count Q
makes] make Q 12 Making] Proouing Q 13 borne] made Q
463
Appendix
[8]
W. Shakspeare.
v
From BL M S Add. 15226, fol. 4 (r. 1630-50).
464
Appendix
From MS Drexel 4257, No. 33 (New York Public Library, Music Division)
(c. 1630-50).
465
Appendix
[128]
v
From Bodleian M S Rawl. poet 152, fol. 34 . (A single leaf, c. 1613-20.)
466
Abbreviations
ABBREVIATIONS AND
REFERENCES
Unless otherwise specified, the edition of Shakespeare used for references and
quotations from works other than Sonnets is Arden 2. The Bible used for scrip
tural references and quotations is A.W.Pollard's edition (Oxford, 1911) of the
Authorized Version. All quotations and translations from classical authors are
taken from the Loeb Classical Library, unless another source is indicated. In all
references, the place of publication is London unless otherwise stated.
ABBREVIATIONS
ABBREVIATIONS U S E D IN T H E NOTES
this edn a reading adopted for the first time in this edition
W O R K S BY A N D P A R T L Y BY S H A K E S P E A R E
AC Antony and Cleopatra
AW All's Well That Ends Well
AYL As You Like It
CE The Comedy of Errors
Cor Coriolanus
Cym Cymbeline
Ham Hamlet
1H4 Henry IK Part 1
2H4 Henry IV, Part 2
H5 Henry V
1H6 Henry Vf Part 1
2H6 Henry VI, Part 2
3H6 Henry VI, Part 3
H8 Henry VIII
jfC Julius Caesar
King John
467
Abbreviations
KL King Lear
LC A Lover's Complaint
LLL Love's Labour's Lost
Luc The Rape of Lucrèce
MA Much Ado About Nothing
Mac Macbeth
MM Measure for Measure
MND A Midsummer Night's Dream
MV The Merchant of Venice
MW The Merry Wives of Windsor
Oth Othello
Per Pericles
PP The Passionate Pilgrim
PT The Phoenix and the Turtle
R2 Richard II
R3 Richard III
RJ Romeo and Juliet
Son Shakespeare's Sonnets
TC Troilus and Cressida
Tern The Tempest
TGV The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Tim Timon of Athens
Tit Titus Andronicus
TN Twelfth Night
TNK The Two Noble Kinsmen
TS The Taming of the Shrew
VA Venus and Adonis
WT The Winter's Tale
468
References
REFERENCES
469
References
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Elizabethan Prayer Book (Charlottesville, Va., 1976)
Beal Peter Beal, Index of Literary Manuscripts 1450-1625, 2 vols
(New York, 1980)
Bearman Robert Bearman, Shakespeare in the Stratford Records
(1994)
Bentley G.E.Bentley, The Jacobean and Caroline Stage, 7 vols
(1968)
BL M S British Library Manuscript
Bloom Harold Bloom, ed., Critical Interpretations: Shakespeare's
Sonnets (New York, 1987)
Bradbrook M.C.Bradbrook, The School of Night (1936)
Brennan Michael Brennan, Literary Patronage in the English
Renaissance (1988)
Brown & Feavor Ivor Brown & G.Feavor, Amazing Monument (1939)
Burrow J.A.W.Burrow, The Ages of Man (1986)
Cameron Alan Cameron, The Greek Anthology from Meleager to
Planudes (1993)
Castiglione Baldassare Castiglione, The Booke of the Courtier, trans. Sir
Thomas Hoby (1561), The Tudor Translations, 23 (1900)
Chambers, E.K.Chambers, William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts
Shakespeare and Problems, 2 vols (Oxford, 1930)
Chambers, Stage E.K.Chambers, The Elizabethan Stage, 4 vols (1923)
Chaucer The Riverside Chaucer, ed. F.N.Robinson, rev. L.D.Benson
(1987)
Chedgzoy Kate Chedgzoy, Shakespeare's Queer Children: Sexual
Politics and Contemporary Culture (Manchester and New
York, 1995)
Cheney C.R.Cheney, Handbook of Dates for Students of English
History (1970)
Coleridge T.M.Raysor, ed., Coleridge's Shakespearean Criticism (1930)
Colie Rosalie Colie, Shakespeare's Living Art (1974)
Colie, Resources Rosalie Colie, The Resources of Kind: Genre-Theory in the
Renaissance (Los Angeles and London, 1973)
CSP Calendars of State Papers
Davies Robert Krueger, ed., Poems of Sir John Davies (1975)
DNB Sir Leslie Stephen & Sir Sidney Lee, eds, Dictionary of
National Biography (1885-1901)
Dobson Eric Dobson, English Pronunciation 1500-1700, 2 vols (1968)
Donne A.J.Smith, ed., The Complete English Poems of John Donne
(1971)
Drayton J.W.Hebel, Kathleen Tillotson, Bernard Newdigate et al.,
eds, The Works of Michael Drayton, 6 vols (1961)
Dubrow Heather Dubrow, Captive Victors: Shakespeare's Narrative
Poems and Sonnets (1987)
470
References
471
References
472
References
473
References
Milton, Prose Works Douglas Bush et ai, eds, Complete Prose Works of John
Milton, 8 vols (New Haven and London, 1953-82)
4
Morgan Paul Morgan, "Our Will Shakespeare" and Lope de
Vega: an unrecorded contemporary document', Shake
speare Survey, 16 (1963), 118-20
Moryson Fynes Moryson, An Itinerary (1617; Glasgow, 1907)
Muir Kenneth Muir, Shakespeare as Collaborator (1960)
Murray Peter B.Murray, 'The authorship of The Revenger's
Tragedy', Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America,
56(1962), 195-218
Notes and Queries
Nashe R.B.McKerrow, ed., The Works of Thomas Nashe, 5 vols,
2nd edn, e d , EP.Wilson (1958)
Nosworthy J.M.Nosworthy, 'All too short a date: internal evidence in
Shakespeare's Sonnets', EC, 2 (1952), 311-24
Nowottny Winifred Nowottny, The Language Poets Use (1962)
ODQ The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, 3rd edn (Oxford,
1979)
OED The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edn (Oxford, 1989)
Ovid, Met. Ovid, Metamorphoses
Partridge, Bawdy Eric Partridge, Shakespeare's Bawdy: A Literary and
Psychological Essay and a Comprehensive Glossary, rev. edn
(1955)
Partridge, Grammar A.C.Partridge, A Substantive Grammar of Shakespeare's
Nondramatic Texts (Virginia, 1976)
Partridge, A.C.Partridge, Orthography in Shakespeare and Elizabethan
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Peck DC.Peck, ' "News from Heaven and Hell": a defamatory
narrative of the Earl of Leicester', ELR, 8 (1978), 141—58
Pequigney Joseph Pequigney, Such Is My Love: A Study of
Shakespeare's Sonnets (Chicago and London, 1985)
PMLA Publications of the Modern Language Association ofAmerica
Proudfoot Richard Proudfoot, 'The Reign of King Edward the Third
(1596) and Shakespeare', Proceedings of the British
Academy, 71 (1985), 159-85
Race Sidney Race, 'J.P.Collier and the Dulwich Papers
(cxv.33)', N&Q, 195 (1950), 112-47
Ralegh A.M.C.Latham, e d . The Poems ofSir Walter Ralegh (1951)
RES Review of English Studies
Robbins R.H.Robbins, 'A seventeenth-century manuscript of
Shakespeare's Sonnet 128', N&Q, 212 (1967), 137-8
Roche T.P.Roche, Petrarch and the English Sonnet Sequences (New
York, 1989)
Rollins H.E.Rollins, e d , A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare:
The Sonnets, 2 vols (Philadelphia and London, 1944)
474
References
475
References
476
INDEX
477
Index
Carew, Thomas 453, 461 Daniel, Samuel 21, 34, 35, 46, 56, 65,
Rapture, A 388» 318»
Carey, Elizabeth 55 Cleopatra 408»
Carey, Sir George (later Lord Hunsdon) Complaint of Rosamund, The 15, 44,
55, 462 64, 89, 431»
Carey, Horatio 455 Delia 15, 20, 44, 88-9, 262», 270»,
Carey, Lady 60 322»
Castiglione, Baldassare, Booke of the 'dark lady'
Courtier, The 296» identity of 50-5
Caxton, William, Jacobus de Cessolis: The sonnets on 6, 47, 49, 80, 99-100,
Game of Chess Win 368», 388»
Cecil, Robert 4 dating xv, 1-28
Chambers, E.K. 39, 52-3, 234», 252» Davies, Sir John
Channel 4 series of readings 84, 87 Epigrammes 4
Chapman, George 65, 282» 'Gullinge Sonnets' 15,264»
Conspiracie and Tragédie of Byron 36 Nosce Teipsum 396»
Eastward Ho! (with Jonson and Davies, John, of Hereford 4, 65, 284»,
Marston) 36 332»
Hero and Leander (with Marlowe) Mirum in Modum 390»
282» Wittes Pilgrimage 19, 30, 65, 98
Ovids Banquet of Sence 396M, 442» Davison, Francis, Poetical Rhapsody, A
Charles I, King 455 64-5,461,462
Chaucer, Geoffrey Davison, Walter 65
Knight's Tale, The 306» Davison, William 65
Miller's Tale, The 414n dedications 31, 58-64, 66
Troilus and Criseyde 400» of 1609 Quarto 62, 109
Wife of Bath's Prologue, The Win, of Jonson's Volpone 63
382» Dekker, Thomas 26
Wife of Bath's Tale 384» Dead Te arme, The 10
Cheapside Hoard 93 Double PP, The 5
Chedgzoy, Kate 83-5 Ravens Almanacke, The 10
Chettle, Henry 26 Wonderful Ye are, The 9
Englands Mourning Garment 24 Worke for Armorours 10-11
Cicero 112» Delius, Nikolaus 336»
Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl of 55, 58 Derby, William Stanley, Earl of 91
close reading techniques 83 Desportes, Philippe 21, 318»
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 77-8, 79, 80 Dickenson, John 4, 348»
Colie, Rosalie 85, 101-2 Digges, Leonard 71-2
Collier, John Payne 7-8 Dobson, Eric 138»
Condell, Henry 17,60 Doncaster, Viscount 67, 68
Congreve, William 43 Donne, John 4 , 2 3 , 7 0 , 7 7
Conrad, Hermann 19 Anatomy of the World, An llOn
context and allusion 45-69 'Canonization, The' 418»
Corbett, Richard 453 Holy Sonnets 409»
Cory, W.J. 66 'Loves Growth' 340»
Coryate, Thomas, Coryates Crudities 86 Second Anniversarie 431n
Cotton, Sir Robert 12» Songs and Sonnets 174», 434»
courtly love tradition 49, 50 Valediction, A: Of Weeping 172»
Craig, Alexander 'Will, The' 434»
Amorose Songes, Sonets and Elegies 30-1 Donne, John, the younger 460
Poeticall Essays, The 30 Douglas, Lord Alfred 32
criticism of sonnets 82-5 Dover Wilson, J. 56
Cunningham, Peter 7-8 Dowden, Edward 61
478
Index
479
Index
480
Index
481
Index
Passionate Pilgrim, The 1-6, 8, 13, 36, 42, Quarto (1609) 104
44, 47, 218», 334», 390», 402», 462
Paul, St Ralegh, Sir Walter 35, 138», 282»
1st Epistle to the Corinthians 116», reception of sonnets 69-81
382», 409» religious themes 49, 98
2nd Epistle to the Corinthians 292», Revelation, Book of 242», 362», 364»,
332» 398»
Epistle to the Romans 298» revision 13-17, 19
Peacham, Henry 31 rhyme scheme 96
Peck, D.C. 404» Rich, Penelope 142»
Pembroke, Mary Herbert, Countess of 'rival poet' 65-6, 270», 282»
56, 66, 89,91, 116» Robbins,R.H. 460»
Pembroke, Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Roche, T.P. 88», 97-8, 101
53,60 Rollins, H.E. xvi, 3-4, 7, 19, 38, 52, 73,
Pembroke, William Herbert, 3rd Earl of 83, 134», 138», 150», 160», 172»,
xv, 22, 33, 50, 53, 54, 55-69, 85, 116», 202», 264», 326», 334», 348», 364»,
266», 324», 459-60, 462 370», 374», 420»
Pembroke's Men 17 Romance of the Rose, The 112»
Pepys, Samuel 74, 118» Rome, Egyptian obelisks in 22
Pequigney, Joseph, Such Is My Love 81 Ronsard, Pierre de 21, 318»
Perez, Antonio 142» Sonnets pour Hélène 14
Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) 29, 31, 46, Ross, George 420»
47, 49, 50, 138», 164», 166», 380», Rossetti, Christina, 'Remember' 252»
392», 394» Rowlands, Samuel 31
Canzoniere and Trionfi 88» Letting of Humours Blood, The 404»
Phillips, Edward, Perswasive Letter to his Rowse, A.L. 50, 51-2, 53
Mistress, A 74 Shakespeare's Sonnets: The Problems
Philojudaeus 364» Solved 50
plague outbreaks 8-11, 12,13,23, 30, 37, 57 Rudyerd, Benjamin 68
Plato 216», 310» Russell, Thomas 72
Platonic Great Year 228»
Pléiade movement 34, 88» Sarrazin, Gregor 19, 410», 422»
Pliny, Historié of the Worlde, The Scaramelli, Giovanni 66-7
(xx. Holland) 444» Schaar, Claes 19
Plumptre, E.H. 422» Schoenbaum, Samuel 4, 33, 52, 246»,
Poems, Written by the... Earl of Pembroke 252», 282»
314n School of Night 282»
Poole, Joshua 74 Sedgwick, Eve 83
Pooler, C. Knox 44-5, 83, 280», 314», self-quotation 17-18
340», 406» Sewell, George 103, 202»
Pope, Alexander, Rape of the Lock, The xiv Shakespeare, Edmund (WS's brother)
Priapus 142» 252»
printing defects 38-9 Shakespeare, Mary (WS's mother) 12
Proudfoot, Richard 299» Shakespeare, William
Psalms, Book of 146», 172», 272», 292», burial 272»
332», 372», 388», 400», 408» coat of arms 24, 26
publishing history 29-45 references to sonnets in plays 45-6
Puttenham, George 35 AW s Well that Ends Well 45, 102,
Pygmalion 151» 118», 192», 202», 342», 348», 442»
pyramids 22, 26, 70 Antony and Cleopatra 102, 116», 164»,
triumphal arch with, Cheapside, 217», 236», 252», 270», 284», 300»,
London 25 314», 324», 356», 372», 416», 426»,
Pythagoras 228» 433»
482
Index
As You Like It 18, 42, 46, 48, 140», Merry Wives of Windsor, The 46,402»,
144», 170», 226», 234», 258», 272», 418»
282», 284», 320», 368», 374», 400», Midsummer Night's Dream, A 55,
439» 152», 196», 208», 236», 288», 302»,
Comedy of Errors, The 2X1 n 363», 370», 406», 416», 418»
Coriolanus 342», 374», 436», 438» Much Ado about Nothing 45, 132»,
Cymbeline 18, 112», 146», 160», 168», 242», 306», 396», 443», 444»
192», 196», 248», 310», 374», 386», Othello 122», 130», 150», 170», 174»,
388», 392», 396», 422», 436», 442», 192, 222», 242», 258», 284», 286»,
444», 448» 296», 300», 306», 328», 332», 338»,
Hamlet 46, 134», 144», 172», 176», 342», 348», 365», 368», 370», 376»,
182», 194», 202», 210», 228», 232», 380», 386», 388», 390», 394», 398»,
234», 236», 242», 248», 250», 300», 402», 416», 420», 426», 447», 448»
320», 324», 326», 328», 330», 332», Pericles 55, 68, 242», 270», 440»
340», 346», 354», 356», 358», 366», Phoenix and the Turtle, The 42, 44,
386», 402», 406», 426», 431», 449», 138», 312», 382»
450», 451», 452» Rape of Lucrèce, The 1, 8, 12, 34,
Henry IV, Part 1 178», 188», 192», 89-91, 132», 148», 158», 160»,
198», 210», 214», 220», 306», 310», 178», 180», 188», 198», 206», 222»,
342», 366», 374», 386», 418» 264», 274», 302», 316», 372», 374»,
Henry IV, Part 2 151», 160», 192», 396», 406», 435», 442», 448»
208», 242», 264», 288», 324», 326», Richard II 56, 112», 160», 162», 180»,
334», 352», 354» 304», 308», 334», 386», 392», 410»
Henry V 17, 45-6, 160», 166», 192», Richard III 116», 152», 180», 238»,
202», 212», 226», 284», 296», 328», 270», 334», 352»
368», 402», 439», 450» Romeo and Juliet 113», 210», 224»,
Henry VI, Part I 55, 276», 410», 420» 318», 356», 362», 372», 376», 386»,
Henry VI, Part 2 55, 64, 160», 192», 392», 394», 396», 398», 418», 432»
252», 302», 324», 348», 354», 390» Taming of the Shrew, The 7, 166»,
Henry VI, Part 3 112», 362», 390», 374», 416»
392» Tempest, The 283», 324», 332», 334»,
Julius Caesar 61, 158», 180», 220», 418», 434»
412» Timon of Athens 18, 102, 324», 359»,
King John 168», 180», 208», 220», 402», 424», 437», 450»
334», 398», 418», 420», 424» Titus Andronicus 162», 164», 172»,
King Lear 32, 101, 124», 140», 184», 192», 228», 306», 372»
190», 220», 234», 242», 258», 272», Troilus and Cressida 8, 102, 206»,
278», 280», 286», 292», 343», 344», 216», 236», 272», 348», 394», 420»,
358», 372», 373», 388», 396», 408», 432», 436», 439»
432» Twelfth Night 148», 152», 192», 217»,
Lover's Complaint, A xv-xvi, 10, 13, 18, 228», 283», 298», 330», 354», 384»,
19-20, 35, 38, 42, 44, 47, 73, 86-8, 432»
90, 92-5, 98, 190», 300», 356», 426» Two Gentlemen of Verona 45, 274»,
Love's Labour's Lost 1, 6, 45, 124», 296», 314», 350», 358», 386», 414»
144», 152», 218», 224», 266», 276», Venus and Adonis 1, 3, 4, 8, 12, 34, 71,
354», 378», 410», 420», 434», 444» 113», 138», 170», 192», 200», 206»,
Macbeth 150», 160», 196», 198», 216», 222», 236», 258», 264», 276»,
258», 260», 290», 306», 336», 402» 284», 298», 300», 308», 334», 363»,
Measure for Measure 17, 116», 192», 374», 390», 398», 400», 402», 412»,
204», 250», 280», 300», 356», 386», 418», 422», 446», 448»
394», 396», 398», 416», 439», 441» Winter's Tale, The X24n, 132», 160»,
Merchant of Venice, The 126», 172», 242», 300», 306», 312», 314», 390»,
174», 246», 252», 296», 433» 400»
483
Index
484
Index
ULYSSES upon A tax 310» Wilde, Oscar xiv, 79-80, 85, 134», 150»
letter to Lord Alfred Douglas 32
Vauquelin de la Fresnaie, Jean 21, 318» Portrait of Master W.H., The 32
Vega, Lope de, Rimas 71-2 'Portrait of Mr. W.H., The' 79
Vendler, Helen 85, 408» trial of 32-3
venereal disease 100 Wiles, David 55
Vere, Bridget 55 Wilson, Emily 422»
Virgil, Aeneid 455 Wisdom of Solomon 170»
words, rare 16, 18, 20
Walsingham, Sir Francis 65 Wordsworth, William 75-7
Watson, Thomas 75 Wright, John 37
Hekatompathia 14 Wyatt, Sir Thomas 35
Weever, John 2 'My lute awake' 118»
West, Richard 31 'Whoso list to hunt' 400»
'W.H., Mr.', identity of 52-64, 66-9, Wyndham, George 40
108», 266», 282»
Yeats, W.B. 51
Why te, Rowland 55
Yorkshire Tragedy, A 402»
485
Index
486
Index
487
Index
Those parts of thee that the world's eye doth view 249
Those pretty wrongs that liberty commits 193
Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art 377
Thou blind fool love, what dost thou to mine eyes 389
T h u s can my love excuse the slow offence 213
T h u s is his cheek the map of days outworn 247
Thy bosom is endeared with all hearts 173
Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain 355
Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear 265
Tired with all these, for restful death I cry 243
'Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed 353
To me, fair friend, you never can be old 319
Two loves I have, of comfort and despair 403
Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend 119
Was it the proud full sail of his great verse 283
Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed 165
Were't ought to me I bore the canopy 363
What is your substance, whereof are you made 217
What potions have I drunk of siren tears 349
What's in the brain that ink may character 327
When forty winters shall besiege thy brow 115
When I consider everything that grows 141
When I do count the clock that tells the time 135
When I have seen by time's fell hand defaced 239
When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes 169
When in the chronicle of wasted time 323
When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see 197
When my love swears that she is made of truth 391
When thou shalt be disposed to set me light 287
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought 171
Where art thou, Muse, that thou forget'st so long 311
Whilst I alone did call upon thy aid 269
Who is it that says most? Which can say more 279
Who will believe my verse in time to come 145
Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will 385
Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day 179
Why is my verse so barren of new pride 263
Your love and pity doth th'impression fill 335
488