Sonnet CXXXI

Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;
For well thou know'st to my dear doting heart
Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.
Yet, in good faith, some say that thee behold,
Thy face hath not the power to make love groan;
To say they err I dare not be so bold,
Although I swear it to myself alone.
And to be sure that is not false I swear,
A thousand groans, but thinking on thy face,
One on another's neck, do witness bear
Thy black is fairest in my judgment's place.
   In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds,
   And thence this slander, as I think, proceeds.

The 1609 Quarto Version

THou art as tiranous,ſo as thou art,
As thoſe whoſe beauties proudly make them                                                                                  cruell;
For well thou know'ſt to my deare doting hart
Thou art the faireſt and moſt precious Iewell.
Yet in good faith ſome ſay that thee behold,
Thy face hath not the power to make loue grone;
To ſay they erre,I dare not be ſo bold,
Although I ſweare it to my ſelfe alone.
And to be ſure that is not falſe I ſweare
A thouſand grones but thinking on thy face,
One on anothers necke do witneſſe beare
Thy blacke is faireſt in my iudgements place.
   In nothing art thou blacke ſaue in thy deeds,
   And thence this ſlaunder as I thinke proceeds.

Commentary

1. Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,

tyrannous = behaving like a tyrant, all powerful and merciless. The stony hearted and icy lover was the recurring element in all sonnet sequences. Petrarch's Laura was the archetype, who, although unmoved by his protestations, was still as adorable and and magical as on the day he first set eyes on her, despite her aloofness. Examples are also to be found in Sidney's Astrophel and Stella:
.........and now, like slave born Muscovite
I call it praise to suffer tyranny. 2
and
................or am I born a slave,
Whose neck becomes such yoke of tyranny? 47.
so as thou art = behaving as you do, taking you as you are. The phrase is more easily understood if taken with the next line: 'You are exactly as those beauties etc.' It links in with the other odd uses of 'so' in two nearly adjacent sonnets, 127 and 129:
Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem 127
and
Mad in pursuit, and in possession so. 129.
But perhaps just as telling is the link to the praise of the youth in 105, for the contrast is not flattering to the dark lady:
Since all alike my songs and praises be
To one, of one, still such, and ever so.
It is interesting to find this present sonnet concerning itself with the same concept of fairness as was explored in 105. Here the conclusion could not be more different.

2. As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;

those = those fair ones, those beautiful women.
proudly make them cruel = makes them behave with cruel arrogance. But, as SB points out, proudly also modifies those whose beauies suggesting that they are proud and aloof because they know that they are beautiful. Compare Sidney's
Are beauties there as proud as here they be? Ast. & S. 31.

3. For well thou know'st to my dear doting heart

For well thou know'st - an echo perhaps of All this the world well knows and yet well I know of the two previous sonnets. The combination of all these well known facts, known to all the world, contrasted with the helplessness of the individual when confronted with them, begins to set the scene for the portrayal of his total infatuation with his mistress.
dear = precious to myself; perhaps also precious to you; costly to itself.
doting = foolishly adoring. to dote is to love with foolish infatuation, and is most often used when criticism or ridicule of the person so afflicted is implied. Shakespeare uses it of himself again in 141:
But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise,
Who in despite of view is pleased to dote;
( i.e. his heart loves what his eyes despise). In Midsummer Night's Dream Lysander accuses Helena of foolishly loving Demetrius:
.........................and she, sweet lady, dotes,
Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry,
Upon this spotted and inconstant man. MND.I.1.108-9.
The model of love here typified is therefore somewhat removed from that traditionally associated with the writer of Petrarchan sonnets to his mistress, where the sacrifice and devotion is usually (but not always) betrayed as being more manly.

4. Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.

fairest = most beautiful, most noble and just, most light coloured, i.e. not black.
most precious jewel = most valued and desired object. Compare Othello's praise of Desdemona:
If heaven would make me such another world
Of one entire and perfect chrysolite,
I'ld not have sold her for it. OTH.V.2.146-8.
In the world of courtly love the beloved fair was always as bright as the sun and as rare as the most precious jewel. Sidney also uses the 'cruel' 'jewel' rhyme in praise of Stella:
Have I caught my heavenly jewel,
Teaching sleep most fair to be?
Now will I teach her that she,
When she wakes, is too too cruel. Ast & S. Second Song.

5. Yet, in good faith, some say that thee behold,

in good faith - a mild oath, similar to by heaven in the previous sonnet, and truly in the next one. The phrase could also be descriptive of what follows, i.e. 'It is reported also by some, (and they evidently believe what they say), that etc.'

If it is an oath, it might well come into the category of those ridiculed by Hotspur in Henry IV:
LADY PERCY Not mine, in good sooth.
HOTSPUR Not yours, in good sooth! Heart! you swear like a
comfit-maker's wife. 'Not you, in good sooth,' and
'as true as I live,' and 'as God shall mend me,' and
'as sure as day,'
And givest such sarcenet surety for thy oaths,
As if thou never walk'st further than Finsbury.
Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art,
A good mouth-filling oath, and leave 'in sooth,'
And such protest of pepper-gingerbread,
To velvet-guards and Sunday-citizens. 1H4.III.1.248-58.
Perhaps the paucity and femininity of the oath is meant to match the dotingness of the heart. Compare also 'to be sure' in line 9 below.
that thee behold = of those that have observed you.

6. Thy face hath not the power to make love groan;

Thy face hath not the power = your face is not of such beauty as to cause etc. This is the supposed reported speech of those who have observed her, and they have reported it 'in good faith'. They do not think she is a great beauty, sufficient enough to turn men's eyes.
to make love groan - sighs and groans were the inevitable accompaniment to being in love, or at least to loving in the way that the sonneteer loved his beloved. The word occurs again in 133
Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan
but it is apart from that rare in these sonnets. The thought is however implied in many other lines, and is traditional in sonnets, as for example in the following from Sidney to Stella:
As good to write, as for to lie and groan.
O Stella dear, how much thy power hath wrought!. A & S.40.
where clearly Stella does have the power to make love groan. (Strictly speaking it is the lover himself who groans, not love itself). See also the note to line 10.

7. To say they err I dare not be so bold,

To say they err = to say that those who claim your face does not have power to make me groan are wrong
I dare not be so bold = I dare not be so rash and audacious (as to contradict them). The suggestion here is that the world cannot be entirely wrong in saying that she cannot hold sway over men, or at least he is not prepared to openly contradict what seems to be an obvious fact. Nevertheless he has to reconcile this fact with the turmoil in his heart, and that is what he finds impossible. He is just as much racked with desire as if she were one of those of whom the world declared to be subduers of men's souls.

8. Although I swear it to myself alone.

Although I admit in the secrecy of my heart that you are as tyrannous and have just the power that those other beauties have to make lovers groan for you. You are just as fair (beautiful) as they are, and are just as cruel.

9. And to be sure that is not false I swear,

And to be sure = and to assure myself. Possibly the modern meaning of 'certainly, undoubtedly' is also present, although OED does not record that meaning before 1657, in the Book of Common Prayer.
that is not false I swear = that what I swear is not falsehood.

10. A thousand groans, but thinking on thy face,

A thousand groans. - Hamlet in writing to Ophelia speaks of his groans:
'O dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers;
I have not art to reckon my groans: but that
I love thee best, O most best, believe it. Adieu. HAM.II.2.119-121.
And Sidney, overcome by woe, seeks words to express his groans:
WOE, having made with many fights his own
Each sense of mine, each gift, each power of mind :
Grown now his slaves; he forced them out to find
The thoroughest words, fit for WOE's self to groan. A&S. 57.

but thinking on thy face = merely thinking about you. Ostensibly the thousand groans are doing the thinking, but one tends to read it as an amplification of how the thousand groans came about. It was the thinking on the beauty of her face that caused them.

11. One on another's neck, do witness bear

One on another's neck = thick and fast, in hot pursuit of each other. The imagery is identical to that used in The Unfortunate Traveller, by Thomas Nashe, (1594). 'Passion upon passion would throng one upon another's neck'. See the note by GBE, p.249. Shakespeare evidently knew the work, and he is likely to have known Nashe, who possibly had a hand in writing parts of Shakespeare's earlier plays.
do witness bear - the subject is 'a thousand groans'. They all testify to the fact that the oath he makes to himself (that she is fair) is not a false oath, and to the fact that, in his judgement, her darker colours are more beautiful than the fairness of a blonde beauty.

12. Thy black is fairest in my judgment's place.

Thy black is fairest = your beauty, though tinged with darker colours than those of the traditional fair woman, is still the most beautiful.
in my judgement's place = in my mind. The phrase is reminiscent of'the 'seat of judgement' and suggests a courtroom setting, a hint which is reinforced by do witness bear and the references to swearing in 8 and 9 above. His mistress is effectively being put on trial for her misdemeanours.

13. In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds,

nothing - the word had sexual connotations, as a slang word referring to female sexual parts. Compare Hamlet:
HAMLET Lady, shall I lie in your lap?
[Lying down at OPHELIA's feet]
OPHELIA No, my lord.
HAMLET I mean, my head upon your lap?
OPHELIA Ay, my lord.
HAMLET Do you think I meant country matters?
OPHELIA I think nothing, my lord.
HAMLET That's a fair thought to lie between maids' legs.
OPHELIA What is, my lord?
HAMLET Nothing. Ham.III.2.108-116.

black = dark coloured; morally blemished.
save in thy deeds = except in your actions. You are in fact a traditional 'fair' beauty, but your actions and behaviour contradict that fairness.

14. And thence this slander, as I think, proceeds.

thence = from your deeds, as a result of your deeds.
this slander = the accusation that you are not a fair beauty who causes men's hearts to groan.
as I think - the parenthetical comment helps to maintain the conversational tone. But, as many commentators note, the suggestion that she is morally degenerate is rather more damaging to her reputation than the original slander, which other observers have made, that she is not entirely beautiful, and against which he is supposedly defending her.
proceeds = results, derives from.