Sonnet I

From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty's rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory:
But thou contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel:
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament,
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content,
And, tender churl, mak'st waste in niggarding:
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.
When forty winters shall besiege thy brow,
And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field,
Thy youth's proud livery so gazed on now,
Will be a totter'd weed of small worth held:
Then being asked, where all thy beauty lies,
Where all the treasure of thy lusty days;
To say, within thine own deep sunken eyes,
Were an all-eating shame, and thriftless praise.
How much more praise deserv'd thy beauty's use,
If thou couldst answer 'This fair child of mine
Shall sum my count, and make my old excuse,'
Proving his beauty by succession thine!
This were to be new made when thou art old,
And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold.
Look in thy glass and tell the face thou viewest
Now is the time that face should form another;
Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest,
Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother.
For where is she so fair whose uneared womb
Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry?
Or who is he so fond will be the tomb
Of his self-love, to stop posterity?
Thou art thy mother's glass and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime;
So thou through windows of thine age shalt see,
Despite of wrinkles, this thy golden time.
But if thou live, remembered not to be,
Die single and thine image dies with thee.
Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend
Upon thy self thy beauty's legacy?
Nature's bequest gives nothing, but doth lend,
And being frank she lends to those are free:
Then, beauteous niggard, why dost thou abuse
The bounteous largess given thee to give?
Profitless usurer, why dost thou use
So great a sum of sums, yet canst not live?
For having traffic with thy self alone,
Thou of thy self thy sweet self dost deceive:
Then how when nature calls thee to be gone,
What acceptable audit canst thou leave?
Thy unused beauty must be tombed with thee,
Which, used, lives th' executor to be.
Those hours, that with gentle work did frame
The lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell,
Will play the tyrants to the very same
And that unfair which fairly doth excel;
For never-resting time leads summer on
To hideous winter, and confounds him there;
Sap checked with frost, and lusty leaves quite gone,
Beauty o'er-snowed and bareness every where:
Then were not summer's distillation left,
A liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass,
Beauty's effect with beauty were bereft,
Nor it, nor no remembrance what it was:
But flowers distilled, though they with winter meet,
Leese but their show; their substance still lives sweet.
Then let not winter's ragged hand deface,
In thee thy summer, ere thou be distilled:
Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place
With beauty's treasure ere it be self-killed.
That use is not forbidden usury,
Which happies those that pay the willing loan;
That's for thy self to breed another thee,
Or ten times happier, be it ten for one;
Ten times thy self were happier than thou art,
If ten of thine ten times refigured thee:
Then what could death do if thou shouldst depart,
Leaving thee living in posterity?
Be not self-willed, for thou art much too fair
To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir.
Lo! in the orient when the gracious light
Lifts up his burning head, each under eye
Doth homage to his new-appearing sight,
Serving with looks his sacred majesty;
And having climbed the steep-up heavenly hill,
Resembling strong youth in his middle age,
Yet mortal looks adore his beauty still,
Attending on his golden pilgrimage:
But when from highmost pitch, with weary car,
Like feeble age, he reeleth from the day,
The eyes, 'fore duteous, now converted are
From his low tract, and look another way:
So thou, thyself outgoing in thy noon
Unlooked on diest unless thou get a son.
Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly?
Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy:
Why lov'st thou that which thou receiv'st not gladly,
Or else receiv'st with pleasure thine annoy?
If the true concord of well-tuned sounds,
By unions married, do offend thine ear,
They do but sweetly chide thee, who confounds
In singleness the parts that thou shouldst bear.
Mark how one string, sweet husband to another,
Strikes each in each by mutual ordering;
Resembling sire and child and happy mother,
Who, all in one, one pleasing note do sing:
Whose speechless song being many, seeming one,
Sings this to thee: 'Thou single wilt prove none.'
Is it for fear to wet a widow's eye,
That thou consum'st thy self in single life?
Ah! if thou issueless shalt hap to die,
The world will wail thee like a makeless wife;
The world will be thy widow and still weep
That thou no form of thee hast left behind,
When every private widow well may keep
By children's eyes, her husband's shape in mind:
Look what an unthrift in the world doth spend
Shifts but his place, for still the world enjoys it;
But beauty's waste hath in the world an end,
And kept unused the user so destroys it.
No love toward others in that bosom sits
That on himself such murd'rous shame commits.
For shame deny that thou bear'st love to any,
Who for thy self art so unprovident.
Grant, if thou wilt, thou art beloved of many,
But that thou none lov'st is most evident:
For thou art so possessed with murderous hate,
That 'gainst thy self thou stick'st not to conspire,
Seeking that beauteous roof to ruinate
Which to repair should be thy chief desire.
O! change thy thought, that I may change my mind:
Shall hate be fairer lodged than gentle love?
Be, as thy presence is, gracious and kind,
Or to thyself at least kind-hearted prove:
Make thee another self for love of me,
That beauty still may live in thine or thee.
As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow'st
In one of thine, from that which thou departest;
And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow'st,
Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest.
Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase;
Without this folly, age, and cold decay:
If all were minded so, the times should cease
And threescore year would make the world away.
Let those whom nature hath not made for store,
Harsh, featureless, and rude, barrenly perish:
Look whom she best endowed, she gave the more;
Which bounteous gift thou shouldst in bounty cherish:
She carved thee for her seal, and meant thereby,
Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die.
When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls, all silvered o'er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer's green all girded up in sheaves,
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
  And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence
  Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.
O! that you were your self; but, love, you are
No longer yours, than you your self here live:
Against this coming end you should prepare,
And your sweet semblance to some other give:
So should that beauty which you hold in lease
Find no determination; then you were
Yourself again, after yourself's decease,
When your sweet issue your sweet form should bear.
Who lets so fair a house fall to decay,
Which husbandry in honour might uphold,
Against the stormy gusts of winter's day
And barren rage of death's eternal cold?
O! none but unthrifts. Dear my love, you know,
You had a father: let your son say so.
Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck;
And yet methinks I have Astronomy,
But not to tell of good or evil luck,
Of plagues, of dearths, or seasons' quality;
Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell,
Pointing to each his thunder, rain and wind,
Or say with princes if it shall go well
By oft predict that I in heaven find:
But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive,
And, constant stars, in them I read such art
As truth and beauty shall together thrive,
If from thyself, to store thou wouldst convert;
Or else of thee this I prognosticate:
Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date.
When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.
But wherefore do not you a mightier way
Make war upon this bloody tyrant, Time?
And fortify your self in your decay
With means more blessed than my barren rhyme?
Now stand you on the top of happy hours,
And many maiden gardens, yet unset,
With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers,
Much liker than your painted counterfeit:
So should the lines of life that life repair,
Which this, Time's pencil, or my pupil pen,
Neither in inward worth nor outward fair,
Can make you live your self in eyes of men.
To give away yourself, keeps yourself still,
And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill.
Who will believe my verse in time to come,
If it were filled with your most high deserts?
Though yet heaven knows it is but as a tomb
Which hides your life, and shows not half your parts.
If I could write the beauty of your eyes,
And in fresh numbers number all your graces,
The age to come would say 'This poet lies;
Such heavenly touches ne'er touched earthly faces.'
So should my papers, yellowed with their age,
Be scorned, like old men of less truth than tongue,
And your true rights be termed a poet's rage
And stretched metre of an antique song:
But were some child of yours alive that time,
You should live twice, in it, and in my rhyme.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
So is it not with me as with that Muse,
Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse,
Who heaven itself for ornament doth use
And every fair with his fair doth rehearse,
Making a couplement of proud compare
With sun and moon, with earth and sea's rich gems,
With April's first-born flowers, and all things rare,
That heaven's air in this huge rondure hems.
O! let me, true in love, but truly write,
And then believe me, my love is as fair
As any mother's child, though not so bright
As those gold candles fixed in heaven's air:
Let them say more that like of hearsay well;
I will not praise that purpose not to sell.
Mine eye hath played the painter and hath steeled,
Thy beauty's form in table of my heart;
My body is the frame wherein 'tis held,
And perspective that is best painter's art.
For through the painter must you see his skill,
To find where your true image pictured lies,
Which in my bosom's shop is hanging still,
That hath his windows glazed with thine eyes.
Now see what good turns eyes for eyes have done:
Mine eyes have drawn thy shape, and thine for me
Are windows to my breast, where-through the sun
Delights to peep, to gaze therein on thee;
Yet eyes this cunning want to grace their art,
They draw but what they see, know not the heart.
Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage
Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit,
To thee I send this written embassage,
To witness duty, not to show my wit:
Duty so great, which wit so poor as mine
May make seem bare, in wanting words to show it,
But that I hope some good conceit of thine
In thy soul's thought, all naked, will bestow it:
Till whatsoever star that guides my moving,
Points on me graciously with fair aspect,
And puts apparel on my tottered loving,
To show me worthy of thy sweet respect:
Then may I dare to boast how I do love thee;
Till then, not show my head where thou mayst prove me.
Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
But then begins a journey in my head
To work my mind, when body's work's expired:
For then my thoughts--from far where I abide--
Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,
And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,
Looking on darkness which the blind do see:
Save that my soul's imaginary sight
Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,
Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,
Makes black night beauteous, and her old face new.
Lo! thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,
For thee, and for myself, no quiet find.
How can I then return in happy plight,
That am debarred the benefit of rest?
When day's oppression is not eas'd by night,
But day by night and night by day oppressed,
And each, though enemies to either's reign,
Do in consent shake hands to torture me,
The one by toil, the other to complain
How far I toil, still farther off from thee.
I tell the day, to please him thou art bright,
And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven:
So flatter I the swart-complexion'd night,
When sparkling stars twire not thou gild'st the even.
But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer,
And night doth nightly make grief's length seem stronger.
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancelled woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor'd and sorrows end.
Full many a glorious morning have I seen
Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye,
Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy;
Anon permit the basest clouds to ride
With ugly rack on his celestial face,
And from the forlorn world his visage hide,
Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace:
Even so my sun one early morn did shine,
With all triumphant splendour on my brow;
But out, alack, he was but one hour mine,
The region cloud hath mask'd him from me now.
Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth;
Suns of the world may stain when heaven's sun staineth.
Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day,
And make me travel forth without my cloak,
To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way,
Hiding thy bravery in their rotten smoke?
'Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break,
To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face,
For no man well of such a salve can speak,
That heals the wound, and cures not the disgrace:
Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief;
Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss:
The offender's sorrow lends but weak relief
To him that bears the strong offence's cross.
Ah! but those tears are pearl which thy love sheds,
And they are rich and ransom all ill deeds.
No more be grieved atthat which thou hast done:
Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud:
Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,
And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.
All men make faults, and even I in this,
Authorizing thy trespass with compare,
Myself corrupting, salving thy amiss,
Excusing thy sins more than thy sins are;
For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense,
Thy adverse party is thy advocate,
And 'gainst myself a lawful plea commence:
Such civil war is in my love and hate,
That I an accessary needs must be,
To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me.
Let me confess that we two must be twain,
Although our undivided loves are one:
So shall those blots that do with me remain,
Without thy help, by me be borne alone.
In our two loves there is but one respect,
Though in our lives a separable spite,
Which though it alter not love's sole effect,
Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love's delight.
I may not evermore acknowledge thee,
Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame,
Nor thou with public kindness honour me,
Unless thou take that honour from thy name:
But do not so, I love thee in such sort,
As thou being mine, mine is thy good report.
As a decrepit father takes delight
To see his active child do deeds of youth,
So I, made lame by Fortune's dearest spite,
Take all my comfort of thy worth and truth;
For whether beauty, birth, or wealth, or wit,
Or any of these all, or all, or more,
Entitled in thy parts, do crowned sit,
I make my love engrafted to this store:
So then I am not lame, poor, nor despised,
Whilst that this shadow doth such substance give
That I in thy abundance am sufficed,
And by a part of all thy glory live.
Look what is best, that best I wish in thee:
This wish I have; then ten times happy me!
O! how thy worth with manners may I sing,
When thou art all the better part of me?
What can mine own praise to mine own self bring?
And what is't but mine own when I praise thee?
Even for this, let us divided live,
And our dear love lose name of single one,
That by this separation I may give
That due to thee which thou deserv'st alone.
O absence! what a torment wouldst thou prove,
Were it not thy sour leisure gave sweet leave,
To entertain the time with thoughts of love,
Which time and thoughts so sweetly doth deceive,
And that thou teachest how to make one twain,
By praising him here who doth hence remain.
Take all my loves, my love, yea take them all;
What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?
No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call;
All mine was thine, before thou hadst this more.
Then, if for my love, thou my love receivest,
I cannot blame thee, for my love thou usest;
But yet be blam'd, if thou thy self deceivest
By wilful taste of what thyself refusest.
I do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief,
Although thou steal thee all my poverty:
And yet, love knows it is a greater grief
To bear love's wrong, than hate's known injury.
Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows,
Kill me with spites yet we must not be foes.
Those pretty wrongs that liberty commits,
When I am sometime absent from thy heart,
Thy beauty, and thy years full well befits,
For still temptation follows where thou art.
Gentle thou art, and therefore to be won,
Beauteous thou art, therefore to be assailed;
And when a woman woos, what woman's son
Will sourly leave her till he have prevailed?
Ay me! but yet thou mightst my seat forbear,
And chide thy beauty and thy straying youth,
Who lead thee in their riot even there
Where thou art forced to break a twofold truth:
  Hers by thy beauty tempting her to thee,
  Thine by thy beauty being false to me.
That thou hast her it is not all my grief,
And yet it may be said I loved her dearly;
That she hath thee is of my wailing chief,
A loss in love that touches me more nearly.
Loving offenders thus I will excuse ye:
Thou dost love her, because thou know'st I love her;
And for my sake even so doth she abuse me,
Suffering my friend for my sake to approve her.
If I lose thee, my loss is my love's gain,
And losing her, my friend hath found that loss;
Both find each other, and I lose both twain,
And both for my sake lay on me this cross:
But here's the joy; my friend and I are one;
Sweet flattery! then she loves but me alone.
How careful was I when I took my way,
Each trifle under truest bars to thrust,
That to my use it might unused stay
From hands of falsehood, in sure wards of trust!
But thou, to whom my jewels trifles are,
Most worthy comfort, now my greatest grief,
Thou best of dearest, and mine only care,
Art left the prey of every vulgar thief.
Thee have I not locked up in any chest,
Save where thou art not, though I feel thou art,
Within the gentle closure of my breast,
From whence at pleasure thou mayst come and part;
  And even thence thou wilt be stol'n I fear,
  For truth proves thievish for a prize so dear.
So am I as the rich, whose blessed key,
Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure,
The which he will not every hour survey,
For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure.
Therefore are feasts so solemn and so rare,
Since, seldom coming in the long year set,
Like stones of worth they thinly placed are,
Or captain jewels in the carcanet.
So is the time that keeps you as my chest,
Or as the wardrobe which the robe doth hide,
To make some special instant special-blest,
By new unfolding his imprisoned pride.
Blessed are you whose worthiness gives scope,
Being had, to triumph, being lacked, to hope.
What is your substance, whereof are you made,
That millions of strange shadows on you tend?
Since every one hath, every one, one shade,
And you but one, can every shadow lend.
Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit
Is poorly imitated after you;
On Helen's cheek all art of beauty set,
And you in Grecian tires are painted new:
Speak of the spring, and foison of the year,
The one doth shadow of your beauty show,
The other as your bounty doth appear;
And you in every blessed shape we know.
In all external grace you have some part,
But you like none, none you, for constant heart.
O! how much more doth beauty beauteous seem
By that sweet ornament which truth doth give.
The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem
For that sweet odour, which doth in it live.
The canker blooms have full as deep a dye
As the perfumed tincture of the roses,
Hang on such thorns, and play as wantonly
When summer's breath their masked buds discloses:
But, for their virtue only is their show,
They live unwoo'd, and unrespected fade;
Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so;
Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odours made:
And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth,
When that shall vade, my verse distills your truth.
Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword, nor war's quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
'Gainst death, and all oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes.
Sweet love, renew thy force; be it not said
Thy edge should blunter be than appetite,
Which but to-day by feeding is allayed,
To-morrow sharpened in his former might:
So, love, be thou, although to-day thou fill
Thy hungry eyes, even till they wink with fulness,
To-morrow see again, and do not kill
The spirit of love, with a perpetual dulness.
Let this sad interim like the ocean be
Which parts the shore, where two contracted new
Come daily to the banks, that when they see
Return of love, more blest may be the view;
As call it winter, which being full of care,
Makes summer's welcome, thrice more wished, more rare.
Being your slave what should I do but tend
Upon the hours, and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend;
Nor services to do, till you require.
Nor dare I chide the world without end hour,
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,
Nor think the bitterness of absence sour,
When you have bid your servant once adieu;
Nor dare I question with my jealous thought
Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,
But, like a sad slave, stay and think of nought
Save, where you are, how happy you make those.
So true a fool is love, that in your will,
Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.
That god forbid, that made me first your slave,
I should in thought control your times of pleasure,
Or at your hand the account of hours to crave,
Being your vassal, bound to stay your leisure!
O! let me suffer, being at your beck,
The imprison'd absence of your liberty;
And patience, tame to sufferance, bide each check,
Without accusing you of injury.
Be where you list, your charter is so strong
That you yourself may privilege your time
To what you will; to you it doth belong
Yourself to pardon of self-doing crime.
I am to wait, though waiting so be hell,
Not blame your pleasure be it ill or well.
If there be nothing new, but that which is
Hath been before, how are our brains beguil'd,
Which labouring for invention bear amiss
The second burthen of a former child.
Oh that record could with a backward look,
Even of five hundred courses of the sun,
Show me your image in some antique book,
Since mind at first in character was done,
That I might see what the old world could say
To this composed wonder of your frame;
Whether we are mended, or where better they,
Or whether revolution be the same.
Oh sure I am the wits of former days,
To subjects worse have given admiring praise.
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.
Is it thy will, thy image should keep open
My heavy eyelids to the weary night?
Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken,
While shadows like to thee do mock my sight?
Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee
So far from home into my deeds to pry,
To find out shames and idle hours in me,
The scope and tenor of thy jealousy?
O, no! thy love, though much, is not so great:
It is my love that keeps mine eye awake:
Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,
To play the watchman ever for thy sake:
For thee watch I, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere,
From me far off, with others all too near.
Sin of self-love possesseth all mine eye
And all my soul, and all my every part;
And for this sin there is no remedy,
It is so grounded inward in my heart.
Methinks no face so gracious is as mine,
No shape so true, no truth of such account;
And for myself mine own worth do define,
As I all other in all worths surmount.
But when my glass shows me myself indeed
Beated and chopp'd with tanned antiquity,
Mine own self-love quite contrary I read;
Self so self-loving were iniquity.
'Tis thee, myself, that for myself I praise,
Painting my age with beauty of thy days.
Against my love shall be as I am now,
With Time's injurious hand crushed and o'erworn;
When hours have drained his blood and filled his brow
With lines and wrinkles; when his youthful morn
Hath travelled on to age's steepy night;
And all those beauties whereof now he's king
Are vanishing, or vanished out of sight,
Stealing away the treasure of his spring;
For such a time do I now fortify
Against confounding age's cruel knife,
That he shall never cut from memory
My sweet love's beauty, though my lover's life:
His beauty shall in these black lines be seen,
And they shall live, and he in them still green.
When I have seen by Time's fell hand defaced
The rich proud cost of outworn buried age;
When sometime lofty towers I see down-razed,
And brass eternal slave to mortal rage;
When I have seen the hungry ocean gain
Advantage on the kingdom of the shore,
And the firm soil win of the watery main,
Increasing store with loss, and loss with store;
When I have seen such interchange of state,
Or state itself confounded to decay;
Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate
That Time will come and take my love away.
This thought is as a death which cannot choose
But weep to have that which it fears to lose.
Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,
But sad mortality o'ersways their power,
How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower?
O! how shall summer's honey breath hold out,
Against the wrackful siege of battering days,
When rocks impregnable are not so stout,
Nor gates of steel so strong but Time decays?
O fearful meditation! where, alack,
Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?
O! none, unless this miracle have might,
That in black ink my love may still shine bright.
Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,
As to behold desert a beggar born,
And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity,
And purest faith unhappily forsworn,
And gilded honour shamefully misplaced,
And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,
And right perfection wrongfully disgraced,
And strength by limping sway disabled
And art made tongue-tied by authority,
And folly, doctor-like, controlling skill,
And simple truth miscalled simplicity,
And captive good attending captain ill:
Tired with all these, from these would I be gone,
Save that, to die, I leave my love alone.
Ah! wherefore with infection should he live,
And with his presence grace impiety,
That sin by him advantage should achieve,
And lace itself with his society?
Why should false painting imitate his cheek,
And steal dead seeming of his living hue?
Why should poor beauty indirectly seek
Roses of shadow, since his rose is true?
Why should he live, now Nature bankrupt is,
Beggared of blood to blush through lively veins?
For she hath no exchequer now but his,
And proud of many, lives upon his gains.
O! him she stores, to show what wealth she had
In days long since, before these last so bad.
Thus is his cheek the map of days outworn,
When beauty lived and died as flowers do now,
Before these bastard signs of fair were born,
Or durst inhabit on a living brow;
Before the golden tresses of the dead,
The right of sepulchres, were shorn away,
To live a second life on second head;
Ere beauty's dead fleece made another gay:
In him those holy antique hours are seen,
Without all ornament, itself and true,
Making no summer of another's green,
Robbing no old to dress his beauty new;
And him as for a map doth Nature store,
To show false Art what beauty was of yore.
Those parts of thee that the world's eye doth view
Want nothing that the thought of hearts can mend;
All tongues, the voice of souls, give thee that due,
Uttering bare truth, even so as foes commend.
Thy outward thus with outward praise is crown'd;
But those same tongues, that give thee so thine own,
In other accents do this praise confound
By seeing farther than the eye hath shown.
They look into the beauty of thy mind,
And that in guess they measure by thy deeds;
Then, churls, their thoughts, although their eyes were kind,
To thy fair flower add the rank smell of weeds:
But why thy odour matcheth not thy show,
The soil is this, that thou dost common grow.
That thou art blamed shall not be thy defect,
For slander's mark was ever yet the fair;
The ornament of beauty is suspect,
A crow that flies in heaven's sweetest air.
So thou be good, slander doth but approve
Thy worth the greater, being wooed of time;
For canker vice the sweetest buds doth love,
And thou present'st a pure unstained prime.
Thou hast passed by the ambush of young days
Either not assailed, or victor being charged;
Yet this thy praise cannot be so thy praise,
To tie up envy, evermore enlarged,
If some suspect of ill masked not thy show,
Then thou alone kingdoms of hearts shouldst owe.
No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it, for I love you so,
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot,
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O! if, I say, you look upon this verse,
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse;
But let your love even with my life decay;
Lest the wise world should look into your moan,
And mock you with me after I am gone.
O! lest the world should task you to recite
What merit lived in me, that you should love
After my death,--dear love, forget me quite,
For you in me can nothing worthy prove.
Unless you would devise some virtuous lie,
To do more for me than mine own desert,
And hang more praise upon deceased I
Than niggard truth would willingly impart:
O! lest your true love may seem false in this
That you for love speak well of me untrue,
My name be buried where my body is,
And live no more to shame nor me nor you.
For I am shamed by that which I bring forth,
And so should you, to love things nothing worth.
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see'st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed, whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.
But be contented when that fell arrest
Without all bail shall carry me away,
My life hath in this line some interest,
Which for memorial still with thee shall stay.
When thou reviewest this, thou dost review
The very part was consecrate to thee:
The earth can have but earth, which is his due;
My spirit is thine, the better part of me:
So then thou hast but lost the dregs of life,
The prey of worms, my body being dead;
The coward conquest of a wretch's knife,
Too base of thee to be remembered.
The worth of that is that which it contains,
And that is this, and this with thee remains.
So are you to my thoughts as food to life,
Or as sweet-season'd showers are to the ground;
And for the peace of you I hold such strife
As 'twixt a miser and his wealth is found.
Now proud as an enjoyer, and anon
Doubting the filching age will steal his treasure;
Now counting best to be with you alone,
Then better'd that the world may see my pleasure:
Sometime all full with feasting on your sight,
And by and by clean starved for a look;
Possessing or pursuing no delight
Save what is had, or must from you be took.
Thus do I pine and surfeit day by day,
Or gluttoning on all, or all away.
Why is my verse so barren of new pride,
So far from variation or quick change?
Why with the time do I not glance aside
To new-found methods, and to compounds strange?
Why write I still all one, ever the same,
And keep invention in a noted weed,
That every word doth almost tell my name,
Showing their birth, and where they did proceed?
O! know sweet love I always write of you,
And you and love are still my argument;
So all my best is dressing old words new,
Spending again what is already spent:
For as the sun is daily new and old,
So is my love still telling what is told.
Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear,
Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste;
The vacant leaves thy mind's imprint will bear,
And of this book, this learning mayst thou taste.
The wrinkles which thy glass will truly show
Of mouthed graves will give thee memory;
Thou by thy dial's shady stealth mayst know
Time's thievish progress to eternity.
Look what thy memory cannot contain,
Commit to these waste blanks, and thou shalt find
Those children nursed, delivered from thy brain,
To take a new acquaintance of thy mind.
These offices, so oft as thou wilt look,
Shall profit thee and much enrich thy book.
So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse,
And found such fair assistance in my verse
As every alien pen hath got my use
And under thee their poesy disperse.
Thine eyes, that taught the dumb on high to sing
And heavy ignorance aloft to fly,
Have added feathers to the learned's wing
And given grace a double majesty.
Yet be most proud of that which I compile,
Whose influence is thine, and born of thee:
In others' works thou dost but mend the style,
And arts with thy sweet graces graced be;
But thou art all my art, and dost advance
As high as learning, my rude ignorance.
Whilst I alone did call upon thy aid,
My verse alone had all thy gentle grace;
But now my gracious numbers are decayed,
And my sick Muse doth give an other place.
I grant, sweet love, thy lovely argument
Deserves the travail of a worthier pen;
Yet what of thee thy poet doth invent
He robs thee of, and pays it thee again.
He lends thee virtue, and he stole that word
From thy behaviour; beauty doth he give,
And found it in thy cheek: he can afford
No praise to thee, but what in thee doth live.
Then thank him not for that which he doth say,
Since what he owes thee, thou thyself dost pay.
O! how I faint when I of you do write,
Knowing a better spirit doth use your name,
And in the praise thereof spends all his might,
To make me tongue-tied speaking of your fame.
But since your worth, wide as the ocean is,
The humble as the proudest sail doth bear,
My saucy bark, inferior far to his,
On your broad main doth wilfully appear.
Your shallowest help will hold me up afloat,
Whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride;
Or, being wracked, I am a worthless boat,
He of tall building, and of goodly pride:
Then if he thrive and I be cast away,
The worst was this, my love was my decay.
Or I shall live your epitaph to make,
Or you survive when I in earth am rotten,
From hence your memory death cannot take,
Although in me each part will be forgotten.
Your name from hence immortal life shall have,
Though I, once gone, to all the world must die:
The earth can yield me but a common grave,
When you entombed in men's eyes shall lie.
Your monument shall be my gentle verse,
Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read;
And tongues to be your being shall rehearse,
When all the breathers of this world are dead;
You still shall live, such virtue hath my pen,
Where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men.
I grant thou wert not married to my Muse,
And therefore mayst without attaint o'erlook
The dedicated words which writers use
Of their fair subject, blessing every book.
Thou art as fair in knowledge as in hue,
Finding thy worth a limit past my praise;
And therefore art enforced to seek anew
Some fresher stamp of the time-bettering days.
And do so, love; yet when they have devised,
What strained touches rhetoric can lend,
Thou truly fair, wert truly sympathized
In true plain words, by thy true-telling friend;
And their gross painting might be better used
Where cheeks need blood; in thee it is abused.
I never saw that you did painting need,
And therefore to your fair no painting set;
I found, or thought I found, you did exceed
The barren tender of a poet's debt:
And therefore have I slept in your report,
That you yourself, being extant, well might show
How far a modern quill doth come too short,
Speaking of worth, what worth in you doth grow.
This silence for my sin you did impute,
Which shall be most my glory being dumb;
For I impair not beauty being mute,
When others would give life, and bring a tomb.
There lives more life in one of your fair eyes
Than both your poets can in praise devise.
Who is it that says most, which can say more,
Than this rich praise, that you alone, are you,
In whose confine immured is the store
Which should example where your equal grew?
Lean penury within that pen doth dwell
That to his subject lends not some small glory;
But he that writes of you, if he can tell
That you are you, so dignifies his story.
Let him but copy what in you is writ,
Not making worse what nature made so clear,
And such a counterpart shall fame his wit,
Making his style admired every where.
You to your beauteous blessings add a curse,
Being fond on praise, which makes your praises worse.
My tongue-tied Muse in manners holds her still,
While comments of your praise richly compiled,
Reserve thy character with golden quill,
And precious phrase by all the Muses filed.
I think good thoughts, whilst others write good words,
And like unlettered clerk still cry 'Amen'
To every hymn that able spirit affords,
In polished form of well-refined pen.
Hearing you praised, I say ''tis so, 'tis true,'
And to the most of praise add something more;
But that is in my thought, whose love to you,
Though words come hindmost, holds his rank before.
Then others, for the breath of words respect,
Me for my dumb thoughts, speaking in effect.
Was it the proud full sail of his great verse,
Bound for the prize of all too precious you,
That did my ripe thoughts in my brain inhearse,
Making their tomb the womb wherein they grew?
Was it his spirit, by spirits taught to write
Above a mortal pitch, that struck me dead?
No, neither he, nor his compeers by night
Giving him aid, my verse astonished.
He, nor that affable familiar ghost
Which nightly gulls him with intelligence,
As victors of my silence cannot boast;
I was not sick of any fear from thence:
But when your countenance filled up his line,
Then lacked I matter; that enfeebled mine.
Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing,
And like enough thou know'st thy estimate,
The charter of thy worth gives thee releasing;
My bonds in thee are all determinate.
For how do I hold thee but by thy granting?
And for that riches where is my deserving?
The cause of this fair gift in me is wanting,
And so my patent back again is swerving.
Thy self thou gavest, thy own worth then not knowing,
Or me to whom thou gav'st it else mistaking;
So thy great gift, upon misprision growing,
Comes home again, on better judgement making.
Thus have I had thee, as a dream doth flatter,
In sleep a king, but waking no such matter.
When thou shalt be disposed to set me light,
And place my merit in the eye of scorn,
Upon thy side, against myself I'll fight,
And prove thee virtuous, though thou art forsworn.
With mine own weakness being best acquainted,
Upon thy part I can set down a story
Of faults concealed, wherein I am attainted;
That thou in losing me shalt win much glory:
And I by this will be a gainer too;
For bending all my loving thoughts on thee,
The injuries that to myself I do,
Doing thee vantage, double-vantage me.
Such is my love, to thee I so belong,
That for thy right, myself will bear all wrong.
Say that thou didst forsake me for some fault,
And I will comment upon that offence:
Speak of my lameness, and I straight will halt,
Against thy reasons making no defence.
Thou canst not, love, disgrace me half so ill,
To set a form upon desired change,
As I'll myself disgrace; knowing thy will,
I will acquaintance strangle, and look strange;
Be absent from thy walks; and in my tongue
Thy sweet beloved name no more shall dwell,
Lest I, too much profane, should do it wrong,
And haply of our old acquaintance tell.
For thee, against my self I'll vow debate,
For I must ne'er love him whom thou dost hate.
Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now;
Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross,
Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,
And do not drop in for an after-loss:
Ah! do not, when my heart hath 'scaped this sorrow,
Come in the rearward of a conquered woe;
Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,
To linger out a purposed overthrow.
If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,
When other petty griefs have done their spite,
But in the onset come: so shall I taste
At first the very worst of fortune's might;
And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Compared with loss of thee, will not seem so.
Some glory in their birth, some in their skill,
Some in their wealth, some in their body's force,
Some in their garments though new-fangled ill;
Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse;
And every humour hath his adjunct pleasure,
Wherein it finds a joy above the rest:
But these particulars are not my measure,
All these I better in one general best.
Thy love is better than high birth to me,
Richer than wealth, prouder than garments' cost,
Of more delight than hawks and horses be;
And having thee, of all men's pride I boast:
Wretched in this alone, that thou mayst take
All this away, and me most wretched make.
But do thy worst to steal thyself away,
For term of life thou art assured mine;
And life no longer than thy love will stay,
For it depends upon that love of thine.
Then need I not to fear the worst of wrongs,
When in the least of them my life hath end.
I see a better state to me belongs
Than that which on thy humour doth depend:
Thou canst not vex me with inconstant mind,
Since that my life on thy revolt doth lie.
O what a happy title do I find,
Happy to have thy love, happy to die!
But what's so blessed-fair that fears no blot?
Thou mayst be false, and yet I know it not.
So shall I live, supposing thou art true,
Like a deceived husband; so love's face
May still seem love to me, though altered new;
Thy looks with me, thy heart in other place:
For there can live no hatred in thine eye,
Therefore in that I cannot know thy change.
In many's looks, the false heart's history
Is writ in moods, and frowns, and wrinkles strange.
But heaven in thy creation did decree
That in thy face sweet love should ever dwell;
Whate'er thy thoughts, or thy heart's workings be,
Thy looks should nothing thence, but sweetness tell.
How like Eve's apple doth thy beauty grow,
If thy sweet virtue answer not thy show!
They that have power to hurt, and will do none,
That do not do the thing they most do show,
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow;
They rightly do inherit heaven's graces,
And husband nature's riches from expense;
They are the lords and owners of their faces,
Others, but stewards of their excellence.
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,
Though to itself, it only live and die,
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds.
How sweet and lovely dost thou make the shame
Which, like a canker in the fragrant rose,
Doth spot the beauty of thy budding name!
O! in what sweets dost thou thy sins enclose.
That tongue that tells the story of thy days,
Making lascivious comments on thy sport,
Cannot dispraise, but in a kind of praise;
Naming thy name blesses an ill report.
O! what a mansion have those vices got
Which for their habitation chose out thee,
Where beauty's veil doth cover every blot
And all things turns to fair that eyes can see!
Take heed, dear heart, of this large privilege;
The hardest knife ill-used doth lose his edge.
Some say thy fault is youth, some wantonness;
Some say thy grace is youth and gentle sport;
Both grace and faults are lov'd of more and less:
Thou mak'st faults graces that to thee resort.
As on the finger of a throned queen
The basest jewel will be well esteem'd,
So are those errors that in thee are seen
To truths translated, and for true things deem'd.
How many lambs might the stern wolf betray,
If like a lamb he could his looks translate!
How many gazers mightst thou lead away,
If thou wouldst use the strength of all thy state!
But do not so, I love thee in such sort,
As thou being mine, mine is thy good report.
How like a winter hath my absence been
From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!
What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!
What old December's bareness everywhere!
And yet this time removed was summer's time;
The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,
Bearing the wanton burden of the prime,
Like widow'd wombs after their lords' decease:
Yet this abundant issue seemed to me
But hope of orphans, and unfathered fruit;
For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,
And, thou away, the very birds are mute:
Or, if they sing, 'tis with so dull a cheer,
That leaves look pale, dreading the winter's near.
From you have I been absent in the spring,
When proud pied April, dressed in all his trim,
Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing,
That heavy Saturn laughed and leapt with him.
Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell
Of different flowers in odour and in hue,
Could make me any summer's story tell,
Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew:
Nor did I wonder at the lily's white,
Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose;
They were but sweet, but figures of delight,
Drawn after you, you pattern of all those.
Yet seemed it winter still, and you away,
As with your shadow I with these did play.
The forward violet thus did I chide:
Sweet thief, whence didst thou steal thy sweet that smells,
If not from my love's breath? The purple pride
Which on thy soft cheek for complexion dwells
In my love's veins thou hast too grossly dy'd.
The lily I condemned for thy hand,
And buds of marjoram had stol'n thy hair;
The roses fearfully on thorns did stand,
One blushing shame, another white despair;
A third, nor red nor white, had stol'n of both,
And to his robbery had annexed thy breath;
But, for his theft, in pride of all his growth
A vengeful canker eat him up to death.
More flowers I noted, yet I none could see,
Where art thou Muse that thou forget'st so long,
To speak of that which gives thee all thy might?
Spend'st thou thy fury on some worthless song,
Darkening thy power to lend base subjects light?
Return forgetful Muse, and straight redeem,
In gentle numbers time so idly spent;
Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem
And gives thy pen both skill and argument.
Rise, resty Muse, my love's sweet face survey,
If Time have any wrinkle graven there;
If any, be a satire to decay,
And make Time's spoils despised every where.
Give my love fame faster than Time wastes life,
So thou prevent'st his scythe and crooked knife.
O truant Muse what shall be thy amends
For thy neglect of truth in beauty dyed?
Both truth and beauty on my love depends;
So dost thou too, and therein dignified.
Make answer Muse: wilt thou not haply say,
'Truth needs no colour, with his colour fixed;
Beauty no pencil, beauty's truth to lay;
But best is best, if never intermixed'?
Because he needs no praise, wilt thou be dumb?
Excuse not silence so, for't lies in thee
To make him much outlive a gilded tomb
And to be praised of ages yet to be.
Then do thy office, Muse; I teach thee how
To make him seem, long hence, as he shows now.
My love is strengthened, though more weak in seeming;
I love not less, though less the show appear;
That love is merchandized, whose rich esteeming,
The owner's tongue doth publish every where.
Our love was new, and then but in the spring,
When I was wont to greet it with my lays;
As Philomel in summer's front doth sing,
And stops his pipe in growth of riper days:
Not that the summer is less pleasant now
Than when her mournful hymns did hush the night,
But that wild music burthens every bough,
And sweets grown common lose their dear delight.
Therefore like her, I sometime hold my tongue:
Because I would not dull you with my song.
Alack! what poverty my Muse brings forth,
That having such a scope to show her pride,
The argument all bare is of more worth
Than when it hath my added praise beside!
O! blame me not, if I no more can write!
Look in your glass, and there appears a face
That over-goes my blunt invention quite,
Dulling my lines, and doing me disgrace.
Were it not sinful then, striving to mend,
To mar the subject that before was well?
For to no other pass my verses tend
Than of your graces and your gifts to tell;
And more, much more, than in my verse can sit,
Your own glass shows you when you look in it.
To me, fair friend, you never can be old,
For as you were when first your eye I ey'd,
Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold,
Have from the forests shook three summers' pride,
Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turned,
In process of the seasons have I seen,
Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burned,
Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green.
Ah! yet doth beauty like a dial-hand,
Steal from his figure, and no pace perceived;
So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand,
Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceived:
For fear of which, hear this thou age unbred:
Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead.
Let not my love be called idolatry,
Nor my beloved as an idol show,
Since all alike my songs and praises be
To one, of one, still such, and ever so.
Kind is my love to-day, to-morrow kind,
Still constant in a wondrous excellence;
Therefore my verse to constancy confined,
One thing expressing, leaves out difference.
Fair, kind, and true, is all my argument,
Fair, kind, and true, varying to other words;
And in this change is my invention spent,
Three themes in one, which wondrous scope affords.
Fair, kind, and true, have often lived alone,
Which three till now, never kept seat in one.
When in the chronicle of wasted time
I see descriptions of the fairest wights,
And beauty making beautiful old rhyme,
In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights,
Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty's best,
Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow,
I see their antique pen would have expressed
Even such a beauty as you master now.
So all their praises are but prophecies
Of this our time, all you prefiguring;
And for they looked but with divining eyes,
They had not skill enough your worth to sing:
For we, which now behold these present days,
Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.
Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul
Of the wide world dreaming on things to come,
Can yet the lease of my true love control,
Supposed as forfeit to a confined doom.
The mortal moon hath her eclipse endured,
And the sad augurs mock their own presage;
Incertainties now crown themselves assured,
And peace proclaims olives of endless age.
Now with the drops of this most balmy time,
My love looks fresh, and Death to me subscribes,
Since, spite of him, I'll live in this poor rhyme,
While he insults o'er dull and speechless tribes:
And thou in this shalt find thy monument,
When tyrants' crests and tombs of brass are spent.
What's in the brain that ink may character
Which hath not figured to thee my true spirit?
What's new to speak, what now to register,
That may express my love, or thy dear merit?
Nothing, sweet boy; but yet, like prayers divine,
I must each day say o'er the very same;
Counting no old thing old, thou mine, I thine,
Even as when first I hallowed thy fair name.
So that eternal love in love's fresh case,
Weighs not the dust and injury of age,
Nor gives to necessary wrinkles place,
But makes antiquity for aye his page;
Finding the first conceit of love there bred,
Where time and outward form would show it dead.
O! never say that I was false of heart,
Though absence seemed my flame to qualify,
As easy might I from my self depart
As from my soul which in thy breast doth lie:
That is my home of love: if I have ranged,
Like him that travels, I return again;
Just to the time, not with the time exchanged,
So that myself bring water for my stain.
Never believe though in my nature reigned,
All frailties that besiege all kinds of blood,
That it could so preposterously be stained,
To leave for nothing all thy sum of good;
For nothing this wide universe I call,
Save thou, my rose, in it thou art my all.
Alas! 'tis true, I have gone here and there,
And made my self a motley to the view,
Gored mine own thoughts, sold cheap what is most dear,
Made old offences of affections new;
Most true it is, that I have looked on truth
Askance and strangely; but, by all above,
These blenches gave my heart another youth,
And worse essays proved thee my best of love.
Now all is done, have what shall have no end:
Mine appetite I never more will grind
On newer proof, to try an older friend,
A god in love, to whom I am confined.
Then give me welcome, next my heaven the best,
Even to thy pure and most most loving breast.
O! for my sake do you with Fortune chide,
The guilty goddess of my harmful deeds,
That did not better for my life provide
Than public means which public manners breeds.
Thence comes it that my name receives a brand,
And almost thence my nature is subdued
To what it works in, like the dyer's hand:
Pity me, then, and wish I were renewed;
Whilst, like a willing patient, I will drink
Potions of eisel 'gainst my strong infection;
No bitterness that I will bitter think,
Nor double penance, to correct correction.
Pity me then, dear friend, and I assure ye,
Even that your pity is enough to cure me.
Your love and pity doth the impression fill,
Which vulgar scandal stamped upon my brow;
For what care I who calls me well or ill,
So you o'er-green my bad, my good allow?
You are my all-the-world, and I must strive
To know my shames and praises from your tongue;
None else to me, nor I to none alive,
That my steeled sense or changes right or wrong.
In so profound abysm I throw all care
Of others' voices, that my adder's sense
To critic and to flatterer stopped are.
Mark how with my neglect I do dispense:
You are so strongly in my purpose bred,
That all the world besides methinks y'are dead.
Since I left you, mine eye is in my mind;
And that which governs me to go about
Doth part his function and is partly blind,
Seems seeing, but effectually is out;
For it no form delivers to the heart
Of bird, of flower, or shape which it doth latch:
Of his quick objects hath the mind no part,
Nor his own vision holds what it doth catch;
For if it see the rud'st or gentlest sight,
The most sweet favour or deformed'st creature,
The mountain or the sea, the day or night,
The crow, or dove, it shapes them to your feature.
Incapable of more, replete with you,
My most true mind thus maketh mine eye untrue.
Or whether doth my mind, being crowned with you,
Drink up the monarch's plague, this flattery?
Or whether shall I say, mine eye saith true,
And that your love taught it this alchemy,
To make of monsters and things indigest
Such cherubins as your sweet self resemble,
Creating every bad a perfect best,
As fast as objects to his beams assemble?
O! 'tis the first, 'tis flattery in my seeing,
And my great mind most kingly drinks it up:
Mine eye well knows what with his gust is 'greeing,
And to his palate doth prepare the cup:
If it be poisoned, 'tis the lesser sin
That mine eye loves it and doth first begin.
Those lines that I before have writ do lie,
Even those that said I could not love you dearer:
Yet then my judgment knew no reason why
My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer.
But reckoning Time, whose million'd accidents
Creep in 'twixt vows, and change decrees of kings,
Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp'st intents,
Divert strong minds to the course of altering things;
Alas! why, fearing of Time's tyranny,
Might I not then say, 'Now I love you best,'
When I was certain o'er incertainty,
Crowning the present, doubting of the rest?
Love is a babe, then might I not say so,
To give full growth to that which still doth grow?
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
  If this be error and upon me proved,
  I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Accuse me thus: that I have scanted all,
Wherein I should your great deserts repay,
Forgot upon your dearest love to call,
Whereto all bonds do tie me day by day;
That I have frequent been with unknown minds,
And given to time your own dear-purchased right;
That I have hoisted sail to all the winds
Which should transport me farthest from your sight.
Book both my wilfulness and errors down,
And on just proof surmise accumulate;
Bring me within the level of your frown,
But shoot not at me in your wakened hate;
Since my appeal says I did strive to prove
The constancy and virtue of your love.
Like as, to make our appetites more keen,
With eager compounds we our palate urge;
As, to prevent our maladies unseen,
We sicken to shun sickness when we purge;
Even so, being full of your ne'er-cloying sweetness,
To bitter sauces did I frame my feeding;
And, sick of welfare, found a kind of meetness
To be diseased, ere that there was true needing.
Thus policy in love, to anticipate
The ills that were not, grew to faults assured,
And brought to medicine a healthful state
Which, rank of goodness, would by ill be cured;
But thence I learn and find the lesson true,
Drugs poison him that so fell sick of you.
What potions have I drunk of Siren tears,
Distilled from limbecks foul as hell within,
Applying fears to hopes, and hopes to fears,
Still losing when I saw myself to win!
What wretched errors hath my heart committed,
Whilst it hath thought itself so blessed never!
How have mine eyes out of their spheres been fitted,
In the distraction of this madding fever!
O benefit of ill! now I find true
That better is by evil still made better;
And ruined love, when it is built anew,
Grows fairer than at first, more strong, far greater.
So I return rebuked to my content,
And gain by ills thrice more than I have spent.
That you were once unkind befriends me now,
And for that sorrow, which I then did feel,
Needs must I under my transgression bow,
Unless my nerves were brass or hammered steel.
For if you were by my unkindness shaken,
As I by yours, you've passed a hell of time;
And I, a tyrant, have no leisure taken
To weigh how once I suffered in your crime.
O! that our night of woe might have remembered
My deepest sense, how hard true sorrow hits,
And soon to you, as you to me, then tendered
The humble salve, which wounded bosoms fits!
But that your trespass now becomes a fee;
Mine ransoms yours, and yours must ransom me.
'Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed,
When not to be receives reproach of being;
And the just pleasure lost, which is so deemed
Not by our feeling, but by others' seeing:
For why should others' false adulterate eyes
Give salutation to my sportive blood?
Or on my frailties why are frailer spies,
Which in their wills count bad what I think good?
No, I am that I am, and they that level
At my abuses reckon up their own:
I may be straight though they themselves be bevel;
By their rank thoughts, my deeds must not be shown;
Unless this general evil they maintain,
All men are bad and in their badness reign.
Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain
Full charactered with lasting memory,
Which shall above that idle rank remain,
Beyond all date, even to eternity:
Or, at the least, so long as brain and heart
Have faculty by nature to subsist;
Till each to razed oblivion yield his part
Of thee, thy record never can be missed.
That poor retention could not so much hold,
Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score;
Therefore to give them from me was I bold,
To trust those tables that receive thee more:
To keep an adjunct to remember thee
Were to import forgetfulness in me.
No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change:
Thy pyramids built up with newer might
To me are nothing novel, nothing strange;
They are but dressings of a former sight.
Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire
What thou dost foist upon us that is old;
And rather make them born to our desire
Than think that we before have heard them told.
Thy registers and thee I both defy,
Not wondering at the present nor the past,
For thy records and what we see doth lie,
Made more or less by thy continual haste.
This I do vow and this shall ever be;
I will be true despite thy scythe and thee.
If my dear love were but the child of state,
It might for Fortune's bastard be unfathered,
As subject to Time's love or to Time's hate,
Weeds among weeds, or flowers with flowers gathered.
No, it was builded far from accident;
It suffers not in smiling pomp, nor falls
Under the blow of thralled discontent,
Whereto th' inviting time our fashion calls:
It fears not policy, that heretic,
Which works on leases of short-number'd hours,
But all alone stands hugely politic,
That it nor grows with heat, nor drowns with showers.
To this I witness call the fools of time,
Which die for goodness, who have lived for crime.
Were't aught to me I bore the canopy,
With my extern the outward honouring,
Or laid great bases for eternity,
Which proves more short than waste or ruining?
Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour
Lose all and more by paying too much rent
For compound sweet, forgoing simple savour,
Pitiful thrivers, in their gazing spent?
No; let me be obsequious in thy heart,
And take thou my oblation, poor but free,
Which is not mixed with seconds, knows no art,
But mutual render, only me for thee.
Hence, thou suborned informer! a true soul
When most impeached stands least in thy control.
O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power
Dost hold Time's fickle glass, his sickle, hour;
Who hast by waning grown, and therein showest
Thy lovers withering, as thy sweet self growest.
If Nature, sovereign mistress over wrack,
As thou goest onwards still will pluck thee back,
She keeps thee to this purpose, that her skill
May time disgrace and wretched minutes kill.
Yet fear her, O thou minion of her pleasure!
She may detain, but not still keep, her treasure:
Her audit (though delayed) answered must be,
And her quietus is to render thee.
(                                           )
(                                            )
In the old age black was not counted fair,
Or if it were, it bore not beauty's name;
But now is black beauty's successive heir,
And beauty slandered with a bastard shame:
For since each hand hath put on Nature's power,
Fairing the foul with Art's false borrowed face,
Sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower,
But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace.
Therefore my mistress' eyes are raven black,
Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem
At such who, not born fair, no beauty lack,
Sland'ring creation with a false esteem:
Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe,
That every tongue says beauty should look so.
How oft when thou, my music, music play'st,
Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds
With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway'st
The wiry concord that mine ear confounds,
Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap,
To kiss the tender inward of thy hand,
Whilst my poor lips which should that harvest reap,
At the wood's boldness by thee blushing stand!
To be so tickled, they would change their state
And situation with those dancing chips,
O'er whom thy fingers walk with gentle gait,
Making dead wood more bless'd than living lips.
Since saucy jacks so happy are in this,
Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss.
The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action: and till action, lust
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight;
Past reason hunted; and no sooner had,
Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait,
On purpose laid to make the taker mad.
Mad in pursuit and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest to have extreme;
A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red, than her lips red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare,
As any she belied with false compare.
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.
Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me,
Knowing thy heart torments me with disdain,
Have put on black and loving mourners be,
Looking with pretty ruth upon my pain.
And truly not the morning sun of heaven
Better becomes the grey cheeks of the east,
Nor that full star that ushers in the even,
Doth half that glory to the sober west,
As those two mourning eyes become thy face:
O! let it then as well beseem thy heart
To mourn for me since mourning doth thee grace,
And suit thy pity like in every part.
Then will I swear beauty herself is black,
And all they foul that thy complexion lack.
Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan
For that deep wound it gives my friend and me!
Is't not enough to torture me alone,
But slave to slavery my sweet'st friend must be?
Me from myself thy cruel eye hath taken,
And my next self thou harder hast engrossed:
Of him, myself, and thee I am forsaken;
A torment thrice three-fold thus to be crossed.
Prison my heart in thy steel bosom's ward,
But then my friend's heart let my poor heart bail;
Whoe'er keeps me, let my heart be his guard;
Thou canst not then use rigour in my jail:
And yet thou wilt; for I, being pent in thee,
Perforce am thine, and all that is in me.
So now I have confessed that he is thine,
And I my self am mortgaged to thy will,
Myself I'll forfeit, so that other mine
Thou wilt restore to be my comfort still:
But thou wilt not, nor he will not be free,
For thou art covetous, and he is kind;
He learned but surety-like to write for me,
Under that bond that him as fast doth bind.
The statute of thy beauty thou wilt take,
Thou usurer, that put'st forth all to use,
And sue a friend came debtor for my sake;
So him I lose through my unkind abuse.
Him have I lost; thou hast both him and me:
He pays the whole, and yet am I not free.
Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will,
And Will to boot, and Will in over-plus;
More than enough am I that vexed thee still,
To thy sweet will making addition thus.
Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious,
Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine?
Shall will in others seem right gracious,
And in my will no fair acceptance shine?
The sea, all water, yet receives rain still,
And in abundance addeth to his store;
So thou, being rich in Will, add to thy Will
One will of mine, to make thy large will more.
Let no unkind, no fair beseechers kill;
Think all but one, and me in that one Will.
If thy soul check thee that I come so near,
Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy Will,
And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there;
Thus far for love, my love-suit, sweet, fulfil.
Will, will fulfil the treasure of thy love,
Ay, fill it full with wills, and my will one.
In things of great receipt with ease we prove
Among a number one is reckoned none:
Then in the number let me pass untold,
Though in thy store's account I one must be;
For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold
That nothing me, a something sweet to thee:
Make but my name thy love, and love that still,
And then thou lovest me for my name is 'Will.'
Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes,
That they behold, and see not what they see?
They know what beauty is, see where it lies,
Yet what the best is take the worst to be.
If eyes, corrupt by over-partial looks,
Be anchored in the bay where all men ride,
Why of eyes' falsehood hast thou forged hooks,
Whereto the judgment of my heart is tied?
Why should my heart think that a several plot,
Which my heart knows the wide world's common place?
Or mine eyes, seeing this, say this is not,
To put fair truth upon so foul a face?
In things right true my heart and eyes have erred,
And to this false plague are they now transferred.
When my love swears that she is made of truth,
I do believe her though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutored youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed:
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O! love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love, loves not to have years told:
Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flattered be.
O! call not me to justify the wrong
That thy unkindness lays upon my heart;
Wound me not with thine eye, but with thy tongue:
Use power with power, and slay me not by art,
Tell me thou lov'st elsewhere; but in my sight,
Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside:
What need'st thou wound with cunning, when thy might
Is more than my o'erpressed defence can bide?
Let me excuse thee: ah! my love well knows
Her pretty looks have been mine enemies;
And therefore from my face she turns my foes,
That they elsewhere might dart their injuries:
Yet do not so; but since I am near slain,
Kill me outright with looks, and rid my pain.
Be wise as thou art cruel; do not press
My tongue-tied patience with too much disdain;
Lest sorrow lend me words, and words express
The manner of my pity-wanting pain.
If I might teach thee wit, better it were,
Though not to love, yet, love to tell me so;
As testy sick men, when their deaths be near,
No news but health from their physicians know;
For, if I should despair, I should grow mad,
And in my madness might speak ill of thee;
Now this ill-wresting world is grown so bad,
Mad slanderers by mad ears believed be.
That I may not be so, nor thou belied,
Bear thine eyes straight, though thy proud heart go wide.
In faith I do not love thee with mine eyes,
For they in thee a thousand errors note;
But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise,
Who, in despite of view, is pleased to dote.
Nor are mine ears with thy tongue's tune delighted;
Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone,
Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited
To any sensual feast with thee alone:
But my five wits nor my five senses can
Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee,
Who leaves unswayed the likeness of a man,
Thy proud heart's slave and vassal wretch to be:
Only my plague thus far I count my gain,
That she that makes me sin awards me pain.
Love is my sin, and thy dear virtue hate,
Hate of my sin, grounded on sinful loving:
O! but with mine compare thou thine own state,
And thou shalt find it merits not reproving;
Or, if it do, not from those lips of thine,
That have profaned their scarlet ornaments
And sealed false bonds of love as oft as mine,
Robbed others' beds' revenues of their rents.
Be it lawful I love thee, as thou lov'st those
Whom thine eyes woo as mine importune thee:
Root pity in thy heart, that, when it grows,
Thy pity may deserve to pitied be.
If thou dost seek to have what thou dost hide,
By self-example mayst thou be denied!
Lo, as a careful housewife runs to catch
One of her feathered creatures broke away,
Sets down her babe, and makes all swift dispatch
In pursuit of the thing she would have stay;
Whilst her neglected child holds her in chase,
Cries to catch her whose busy care is bent
To follow that which flies before her face,
Not prizing her poor infant's discontent;
So runn'st thou after that which flies from thee,
Whilst I thy babe chase thee afar behind;
But if thou catch thy hope, turn back to me,
And play the mother's part, kiss me, be kind;
So will I pray that thou mayst have thy 'Will,'
If thou turn back and my loud crying still.
Two loves I have of comfort and despair,
Which like two spirits do suggest me still:
The better angel is a man right fair,
The worser spirit a woman coloured ill.
To win me soon to hell, my female evil,
Tempteth my better angel from my side,
And would corrupt my saint to be a devil,
Wooing his purity with her foul pride.
And whether that my angel be turned fiend,
Suspect I may, yet not directly tell;
But being both from me, both to each friend,
I guess one angel in another's hell:
Yet this shall I ne'er know, but live in doubt,
Till my bad angel fire my good one out.
Those lips that Love's own hand did make,
Breathed forth the sound that said 'I hate',
To me that languished for her sake:
But when she saw my woeful state,
Straight in her heart did mercy come,
Chiding that tongue that ever sweet
Was used in giving gentle doom;
And taught it thus anew to greet;
'I hate' she altered with an end,
That followed it as gentle day,
Doth follow night, who like a fiend
From heaven to hell is flown away.
'I hate', from hate away she threw,
And saved my life, saying 'not you'.
Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,
... ... ... these rebel powers that thee array
Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,
Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,
Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,
Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body's end?
Then soul, live thou upon thy servant's loss,
And let that pine to aggravate thy store;
Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross;
Within be fed, without be rich no more:
So shall thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,
And Death once dead, there's no more dying then.
My love is as a fever longing still,
For that which longer nurseth the disease;
Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,
The uncertain sickly appetite to please.
My reason, the physician to my love,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve
Desire is death, which physic did except.
Past cure I am, now Reason is past care,
And frantic-mad with evermore unrest;
My thoughts and my discourse as madmen's are,
At random from the truth vainly expressed;
For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.
O me! what eyes hath Love put in my head,
Which have no correspondence with true sight;
Or, if they have, where is my judgment fled,
That censures falsely what they see aright?
If that be fair whereon my false eyes dote,
What means the world to say it is not so?
If it be not, then love doth well denote
Love's eye is not so true as all men's: no,
How can it? O! how can Love's eye be true,
That is so vexed with watching and with tears?
No marvel then, though I mistake my view;
The sun itself sees not, till heaven clears.
O cunning Love! with tears thou keep'st me blind,
Lest eyes well-seeing thy foul faults should find.
Canst thou, O cruel! say I love thee not,
When I against myself with thee partake?
Do I not think on thee, when I forgot
Am of my self, all tyrant, for thy sake?
Who hateth thee that I do call my friend,
On whom frown'st thou that I do fawn upon,
Nay, if thou lour'st on me, do I not spend
Revenge upon myself with present moan?
What merit do I in my self respect,
That is so proud thy service to despise,
When all my best doth worship thy defect,
Commanded by the motion of thine eyes?
But, love, hate on, for now I know thy mind,
Those that can see thou lov'st, and I am blind.
O! from what power hast thou this powerful might,
With insufficiency my heart to sway?
To make me give the lie to my true sight,
And swear that brightness doth not grace the day?
Whence hast thou this becoming of things ill,
That in the very refuse of thy deeds
There is such strength and warrantise of skill,
That, in my mind, thy worst all best exceeds?
Who taught thee how to make me love thee more,
The more I hear and see just cause of hate?
O! though I love what others do abhor,
With others thou shouldst not abhor my state:
If thy unworthiness raised love in me,
More worthy I to be beloved of thee.
Love is too young to know what conscience is,
Yet who knows not conscience is born of love?
Then, gentle cheater, urge not my amiss,
Lest guilty of my faults thy sweet self prove:
For, thou betraying me, I do betray
My nobler part to my gross body's treason;
My soul doth tell my body that he may
Triumph in love; flesh stays no farther reason,
But rising at thy name doth point out thee,
As his triumphant prize. Proud of this pride,
He is contented thy poor drudge to be,
To stand in thy affairs, fall by thy side.
No want of conscience hold it that I call
Her love, for whose dear love I rise and fall.
In loving thee thou know'st I am forsworn,
But thou art twice forsworn, to me love swearing;
In act thy bed-vow broke, and new faith torn,
In vowing new hate after new love bearing:
But why of two oaths' breach do I accuse thee,
When I break twenty? I am perjured most;
For all my vows are oaths but to misuse thee,
And all my honest faith in thee is lost:
For I have sworn deep oaths of thy deep kindness,
Oaths of thy love, thy truth, thy constancy;
And, to enlighten thee, gave eyes to blindness,
Or made them swear against the thing they see;
For I have sworn thee fair; more perjured eye,
To swear against the truth so foul a lie!
Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep:
A maid of Dian's this advantage found,
And his love-kindling fire did quickly steep
In a cold valley-fountain of that ground;
Which borrowed from this holy fire of Love,
A dateless lively heat, still to endure,
And grew a seething bath, which yet men prove
Against strange maladies a sovereign cure.
But at my mistress' eye Love's brand new-fired,
The boy for trial needs would touch my breast;
I, sick withal, the help of bath desired,
And thither hied, a sad distempered guest,
But found no cure, the bath for my help lies
Where Cupid got new fire; my mistress' eyes.
The little Love-god lying once asleep,
Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand,
Whilst many nymphs that vowed chaste life to keep
Came tripping by; but in her maiden hand
The fairest votary took up that fire
Which many legions of true hearts had warmed;
And so the General of hot desire
Was, sleeping, by a virgin hand disarmed.
This brand she quenched in a cool well by,
Which from Love's fire took heat perpetual,
Growing a bath and healthful remedy,
For men diseased; but I, my mistress' thrall,
Came there for cure and this by that I prove,
Love's fire heats water, water cools not love.
Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws,
And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;
Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger's jaws,
And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood;
Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleet'st,
And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,
To the wide world and all her fading sweets;
But I forbid thee one most heinous crime:
O! carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow,
Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen;
Him in thy course untainted do allow
For beauty's pattern to succeeding men.
Yet, do thy worst old Time: despite thy wrong,
My love shall in my verse ever live young.
A woman's face with nature's own hand painted,
Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion;
A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted
With shifting change, as is false women's fashion:
An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,
Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth;
A man in hue all hues in his controlling,
Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth.
And for a woman wert thou first created;
Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting,
And by addition me of thee defeated,
By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.
But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure,
Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure.
My glass shall not persuade me I am old,
So long as youth and thou are of one date;
But when in thee time's furrows I behold,
Then look I death my days should expiate.
For all that beauty that doth cover thee,
Is but the seemly raiment of my heart,
Which in thy breast doth live, as thine in me:
How can I then be elder than thou art?
O! therefore, love, be of thyself so wary
As I, not for myself, but for thee will;
Bearing thy heart, which I will keep so chary
As tender nurse her babe from faring ill.
Presume not on thy heart when mine is slain,
Thou gav'st me thine not to give back again.
As an unperfect actor on the stage,
Who with his fear is put beside his part,
Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;
So I, for fear of trust, forget to say
The perfect ceremony of love's rite,
And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,
O'ercharged with burthen of mine own love's might.
O! let my looks be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,
Who plead for love, and look for recompense,
More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.
O! learn to read what silent love hath writ:
To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.
Let those who are in favour with their stars
Of public honour and proud titles boast,
Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars
Unlook'd for joy in that I honour most.
Great princes' favourites their fair leaves spread
But as the marigold at the sun's eye,
And in themselves their pride lies buried,
For at a frown they in their glory die.
The painful warrior famoused for fight,
After a thousand victories once foiled,
Is from the book of honour razed quite,
And all the rest forgot for which he toiled:
Then happy I, that love and am beloved,
  Where I may not remove nor be removed.
When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Thy bosom is endeared with all hearts,
Which I by lacking have supposed dead;
And there reigns Love, and all Love's loving parts,
And all those friends which I thought buried.
How many a holy and obsequious tear
Hath dear religious love stol'n from mine eye,
As interest of the dead, which now appear
But things removed that hidden in thee lie!
Thou art the grave where buried love doth live,
Hung with the trophies of my lovers gone,
Who all their parts of me to thee did give,
That due of many now is thine alone:
Their images I loved, I view in thee,
And thou (all they) hast all the all of me.
If thou survive my well-contented day,
When that churl Death my bones with dust shall cover
And shalt by fortune once more re-survey
These poor rude lines of thy deceased lover,
Compare them with the bett'ring of the time,
And though they be outstripped by every pen,
Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme,
Exceeded by the height of happier men.
O! then vouchsafe me but this loving thought:
'Had my friend's Muse grown with this growing age,
A dearer birth than this his love had brought,
To march in ranks of better equipage:
But since he died and poets better prove,
Theirs for their style I'll read, his for his love'.
How can my muse want subject to invent,
While thou dost breathe, that pour'st into my verse
Thine own sweet argument, too excellent
For every vulgar paper to rehearse?
O! give thy self the thanks, if aught in me
Worthy perusal stand against thy sight;
For who's so dumb that cannot write to thee,
When thou thy self dost give invention light?
Be thou the tenth Muse, ten times more in worth
Than those old nine which rhymers invocate;
And he that calls on thee, let him bring forth
Eternal numbers to outlive long date.
If my slight muse do please these curious days,
The pain be mine, but thine shall be the praise.
When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
For all the day they view things unrespected;
But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,
And darkly bright, are bright in dark directed.
Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,
How would thy shadow's form form happy show
To the clear day with thy much clearer light,
When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so!
How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made
By looking on thee in the living day,
When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade
Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay!
All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.
If the dull substance of my flesh were thought,
Injurious distance should not stop my way;
For then despite of space I would be brought,
From limits far remote, where thou dost stay.
No matter then although my foot did stand
Upon the farthest earth removed from thee;
For nimble thought can jump both sea and land
As soon as think the place where he would be.
But ah! thought kills me that I am not thought,
To leap large lengths of miles when thou art gone,
But that, so much of earth and water wrought,
I must attend time's leisure with my moan,
Receiving nought by elements so slow
But heavy tears, badges of either's woe.
The other two, slight air and purging fire,
Are both with thee, wherever I abide;
The first my thought, the other my desire,
These present-absent with swift motion slide.
For when these quicker elements are gone
In tender embassy of love to thee,
My life, being made of four, with two alone
Sinks down to death, oppressed with melancholy;
Until life's composition be recured
By those swift messengers return'd from thee,
Who even but now come back again, assured
Of thy fair health, recounting it to me:
This told, I joy; but then no longer glad,
I send them back again and straight grow sad.
Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war,
How to divide the conquest of thy sight;
Mine eye my heart thy picture's sight would bar,
My heart mine eye the freedom of that right.
My heart doth plead that thou in him dost lie,
A closet never pierced with crystal eyes,
But the defendant doth that plea deny,
And says in him thy fair appearance lies.
To 'cide this title is impannelled
A quest of thoughts, all tenants to the heart;
And by their verdict is determined
The clear eye's moiety, and the dear heart's part:
  As thus: mine eye's due is thine outward part,
  And my heart's right, thine inward love of heart.
Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is took,
And each doth good turns now unto the other:
When that mine eye is famish'd for a look,
Or heart in love with sighs himself doth smother,
With my love's picture then my eye doth feast,
And to the painted banquet bids my heart;
Another time mine eye is my heart's guest,
And in his thoughts of love doth share a part:
So, either by thy picture or my love,
Thy self away, art present still with me;
For thou not farther than my thoughts canst move,
And I am still with them, and they with thee;
Or, if they sleep, thy picture in my sight
Awakes my heart, to heart's and eyes' delight.
Against that time, if ever that time come,
When I shall see thee frown on my defects,
When as thy love hath cast his utmost sum,
Called to that audit by advis'd respects;
Against that time when thou shalt strangely pass,
And scarcely greet me with that sun, thine eye,
When love, converted from the thing it was,
Shall reasons find of settled gravity;
Against that time do I ensconce me here,
Within the knowledge of mine own desert,
And this my hand, against my self uprear,
To guard the lawful reasons on thy part:
To leave poor me thou hast the strength of laws,
Since why to love I can allege no cause.
How heavy do I journey on the way,
When what I seek, my weary travel's end,
Doth teach that ease and that repose to say,
'Thus far the miles are measured from thy friend!'
The beast that bears me, tired with my woe,
Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me,
As if by some instinct the wretch did know
His rider lov'd not speed being made from thee.
The bloody spur cannot provoke him on,
That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide,
Which heavily he answers with a groan,
More sharp to me than spurring to his side;
For that same groan doth put this in my mind,
My grief lies onward, and my joy behind.
Thus can my love excuse the slow offence
Of my dull bearer when from thee I speed:
From where thou art why should I haste me thence?
Till I return, of posting is no need.
O! what excuse will my poor beast then find,
When swift extremity can seem but slow?
Then should I spur, though mounted on the wind,
In winged speed no motion shall I know,
Then can no horse with my desire keep pace.
Therefore desire, (of perfect'st love being made)
Shall neigh, no dull flesh, in his fiery race;
But love, for love, thus shall excuse my jade-
Since from thee going, he went wilful-slow,
Towards thee I'll run, and give him leave to go.
But sweet, or colour it had stol'n from thee.

The 1609 Quarto Version

FRom faireſt creatures we deſire increaſe,
That thereby beauties Roſe might neuer die,
But as the riper ſhould by time deceaſe,
His tender heire might beare his memory:
But thou contracted to thine owne bright eyes,
Feed'ſt thy lights flame with ſelfe ſubſtantiall fewell,
Making a famine where aboundance lies,
Thy ſelfe thy foe,to thy ſweet ſelfe too cruell:
Thou that art now the worlds freſh ornament,
And only herauld to the gaudy ſpring,
Within thine owne bud burieſt thy content,
And tender chorle makſt waſt in niggarding:
   Pitty the world,or elſe this glutton be,
   To eate the worlds due,by the graue and thee.

Commentary

1. From fairest creatures we desire increase,

fairest creatures = all living things that are beautiful.
increase = procreation, offspring. A reference also to the increase of the harvest, by which one seed of corn becomes many. There is a general presumption in husbandry that the best stock must always be used in breeding, otherwise there is an overall decline and failure in productivity. The fairest creatures are therefore the fairest cattle, the best plants, the most excellent poultry, and so on. Whatever in fact is as good as, or an improvement on the previous generation. Basically this is a farming or agricultarist metaphor. In his later years Shakespeare seems to have been interested in the nature/nurture discussion. There is the famous passage in Winter's Tale, which is probably relevant here, in which Polixenes instructs Perdita on the science of breeding flowers. WT.IV.4.79-103. (See the end of this page).

2. That thereby beauty's rose might never die,

thereby = in that way, by that means.
beauty's rose The rose was symbolic of all things beautiful. By reproducing itself it could, in a sense, become immortal.

3. But as the riper should by time decease,

riper = older, more mature, (person, plant, thing) more ready for harvesting.
by time decease = die in the course of time.

4. His tender heir might bear his memory:

tender = young, delicate, soft. (Often applied to young animals).
bear his memory - as an imprint taken from a seal; also with the sense of 'bearing a child', so that the heir carries on the memory of parents through the generations.

5. But thou contracted to thine own bright eyes,

contracted = being contracted to, under obligation to (in a legal sense). It also conveys the sense of compressed, curtailed, restricted. Cf. Ham.I.ii.3-4.
...and our whole kingdom
To be contracted in one brow of woe,
However it is difficult to see exactly what contracted to thine own bright eyes means, although the glossarists cite the example of Narcissus from classical literature, who died having fallen in love with his own beauteous reflection in water. The general sense seems to be that of one who is perpetually pre-occupied with his own concerns, looking upon himself, and being under contract to pursue his own interests. See further discussions Sonnet 1

6. Feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel,

Feed'st thy light's flame = provides sustenance for the flame that gives light. Candles, tapers and oil lamps were the only source of light in Shakespeare's day.
self-substantial fuel = fuel from its own body. Although the general sense of this line seems to be that of a fire or lamp burning up fuel, there are difficulties of interpretation. After all, how is a candle meant to feed itself, other than with itself? The suggestion is that the fuel should be renewable. It implies a criticism of the youth, who is intent on devouring himself and his future hope. See further discussions Sonnet 1

7. Making a famine where abundance lies,

famine - emptiness, starvation, lack of provision for posterity.
abundance - presumably a reference to the youth's rich qualities, in contrast to the famine which he threatens to create. Famines and glut were part of the usual cycle of life in the Elizabethan world. A poor harvest could mean starvation for many, as the storage facilities which we take for granted were unknown in those times.

8. Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel:

Thy self thy foe = being an enemy to yourself.
to thy sweet self too cruel - by refusing to procreate, hence denying a future to yourself. 'You are being cruel to yourself in seeking your own extinction'.

9. Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament,

the world's fresh ornament = a fresh and youthful glory to the world.

10. And only herald to the gaudy spring,

only = most important, chief, unique.
herald = one who announces, a messenger. Shakespeare elsewhere calls the lark the herald of the morn, and the owl the herald of night.
It was the lark, the herald of the morn,
No nightingale: look, love, what envious streaks
Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east: RJ.III.5.6-8.

gaudy = bright, colourful (not necessarily vulgar).

11. Within thine own bud buriest thy content,

content = substance. Also, probably, pleasure. GBE suggests that content also = semen, and probably there is here a secondary meaning of masturbation, self-pleasure, as opposed to the pleasure of procreation. SB mentions that Shakespeare exploits the possibility that rosebuds were phallic in appearance. (p.324. note to 12-13). Content(s) even today has the double meaning of a) happiness, pleasure, and b) that which is contained in something.

12. And, tender churl, mak'st waste in niggarding:

tender churl - probably a phrase indicating affection, rather than criticism, rather like 'silly fool', or 'yer daft idiot'. The context makes all the difference to such forms, which spoken angrily can be insulting, spoken tenderly are terms of endearment. churl countryman, rustic;
mak'st waste = creates waste; lays waste, makes a desert; spills semen.
niggarding = being miserly, stingy.

13. Pity the world, or else this glutton be,

this glutton = a glutton like this, i.e, such as I am about to describe, one who eats his own share as well as the world's.

14. To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.

by the grave and thee. Presumably, a duty owed to the world because the grave is all devouring, and therefore to be fought; and a duty owed also to yourself, because it is in the nature of things that beauty should procreate, otherwise 'three score years will bear the world away', and so on. You purpose to be such a glutton as to consume both what the world and you yourself should have as a right. The construction is not noticeably opaque until one starts to analyse it.

1. When forty winters shall besiege thy brow,

besiege = lay siege to. A term from warfare. Forty winters (forty years) when added to the young man's present age, would make him about 60. At such an age he would have many wrinkles, although it is generally reckoned that in Elizabethan times, owing to dietary inadequacies and disease, people aged much more rapidly, and even a forty year old could be deemed to have reached old age. So the poet could be referring to the youth as he might be when he reaches forty.

2. And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field,

dig deep trenches The besieging army would dig trenches to undermine the city's walls. But the reference may also be to furrows dug in a field when ploughing.

3. Thy youth's proud livery so gazed on now,

livery = uniform worn by servants in a nobleman's house. It could be quite sumptuous, if the nobleman wished to make a show of wealth.

4. Will be a totter'd weed of small worth held:

totter'd weed = a tattered garment. Tottered is an old spelling of tattered. weeds - often refers to clothing in Shakespeare.

5. Then being asked, where all thy beauty lies,

being asked = if you were to be asked; in the future, when you might be asked.
 lies = is; is buried; is hidden.

6. Where all the treasure of thy lusty days;

lusty days = the days of youthful exuberance; days of lustful behaviour. Note that treasure contains a sexual innuendo, implying sexual parts, or semen, depending on context. Compare:
  .....................treasure thou some place
With beauty's treasure, ere it be self-kill'd. 6
Will will fulfil the treasure of thy love, 136

7. To say, within thine own deep sunken eyes,

to say = to reply (to the question posed in the two lines above).
within thine own deep sunken eyes - the treasure of days long gone would show nothing surviving other than hollow eyes, caused by the process of ageing. Possibly also a hinted reference to the supposed effect of sexual excess (too much masturbation?).

8. Were an all-eating shame, and thriftless praise.

all-eating shame = a shame which devours all sense of right and decorum. thriftless praise = praise which produces no result or advantage. A praise of yourself which is clearly misplaced and damaging to you.
  thriftless = showing no sense of thrift, or economy.

9. How much more praise deserv'd thy beauty's use,

thy beauty's use = the use which you make of your beauty, the profit you derive from it.

6-9. Undoubtedly a sexual meaning to these lines, especially in treasure of thy lusty days, thy beauty's use. (See notes above) The youth is accused of expending his sexual energy upon himself, with the concomitant result of shame, exhaustion, sunken eyes and failure to point to any lasting result. See extended discussion of SonnetI

10. If thou couldst answer 'This fair child of mine

If you could reply in response to their questions, 'This child of mine, etc., etc.'

 

11. Shall sum my count, and make my old excuse,'

sum my count = add up the balance sheet of my life; probably a bawdy pun on count, pronounced cunt. Hence, 'give a reckoning for all the cunts I have enjoyed'.
make my old excuse = justify my life when I am an old man; or, satisfy the arguments advanced of old, that I should produce heirs; or make my habitual, frequently repeated excuse. Shakespeare uses old in this sense in Macbeth:
If a man were a porter of hell-gate, he should have old turning the key. Mac.II.3.2-3.

12. Proving his beauty by succession thine!

Proving, by his beauty, that he succeeds you as an heir to your beauty. proving also has the meaning of 'testing, trying out' which may be relevant here.

13. This were to be new made when thou art old,

This were to be new made = this would be as if you were being newly created.

14. And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold.

Cold and freezing blood was thought to be the traditional accompaniment of old age. The message of the couplet is that a child made in his image would invigorate and effectively renew him when he reached old age. His blood would flow warm in his veins again.

1. Look in thy glass and tell the face thou viewest

glass = mirror; glass in the Sonnets usually means mirror.
the face thou viewest = your reflection. I.e. speak to yourself and tell yourself that 'Now is the time etc'.

2. Now is the time that face should form another;

I.e. by having a child.

3. Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest,

If you do not undertake now the repair and renewal of your face, since it is fast decaying. whose refers back to the face thou viewest.

4. Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother.

beguile = cheat; deprive of its due rights.
unbless = make unhappy, deprive of fruitfulness, and the pleasure of being married to you.
some mother = some woman whom you might marry and cause to be a mother.

5. For where is she so fair whose uneared womb

For where is she so fair = what woman is so beautiful that; where is the woman in the world that (would be too proud to sleep with you).
uneared = unploughed. To ear is the old term for 'to plough', and often it is used meatphorically. As e.g. in Antony and Cleopatra:
Caesar, I bring thee word,
Menecrates and Menas, famous pirates,
Make the sea serve them, which they ear and wound
With keels of every kind. AC.I.4.47-50.
where the keels are visualised as ploughing the sea.
uneared womb - The reference here is to sexual intercourse. Ploughing the womb, (as the plough enters into the soil so does the man enter into the woman), and sowing it with seed (semen) leads to children, as ploughing and sowing the land leads to crops. According to the physiology of the time, the male seed was the substance which created a child, and the woman was simply a carrier of the developing embryo. The biological details of reproduction were not understood. For the ploughing imagery compare:
He ploughed her and she cropped A.C. II.2.228
which is Agrippa's description of Julius Caesar's liaison with Cleopatra, which resulted in the birth of Caesarion.

6. Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry?

Disdains = is contemptuous of.
tillage of thy husbandry The farming and ploughing metaphor continues. Tillage is cultivation, working of the land; husbandry is farm and estate management, with a pun on 'being a husband'.

7. Or who is he so fond will be the tomb

fond = foolish

7-8 the tomb of his self-love in this context self-love leads to death, since there is no issue (i.e no children).
to stop posterity = to ensure that there are no descendants, to bring an end to future generations. The sentence has an additional sexual meaning, relating to masturbation. Onan was the biblical figure who was destroyed by God for spilling the seed 'that he might not have children'. See further commentary on SonnetI

8. Of his self-love, to stop posterity?

See above.

9. Thou art thy mother's glass and she in thee

Thou art thy mother's glass = you are effectively a mirror in which your mother can look to see a reflection of herself as she was in her youth.

10. Calls back the lovely April of her prime;

Calls back = recalls, remembers, brings back to mind.
the lovely April of her prime = her springtime, when she was most beautiful. April was the beginning of Spring, and was thought to be the most colourful of the months. Compare:

With April's first-born flowers, and all things rare
That heaven's air in this huge rondure hems. 21

11. So thou through windows of thine age shalt see,

through windows of thine age - This suggests not only looking back from old age, upon the past, as if through a window, but also looking at a child, one's own, as if seeing it through a window. The window can be both a barrier to and a point of contact with the world beyond.

12. Despite of wrinkles, this thy golden time.

Despite = in spite of.
thy golden time = the time of your golden youth, the time of your glory.

13. But if thou live, remembered not to be,

remembered not to be = determined not to be remembered, not being remembered. It ties in with the theme that the consequence of dying childless is to be erased from the book of memory.

14. Die single and thine image dies with thee.

If you die, as a single man, with no children, there will be no image to carry on your memory. The line could be read as a sort of tetchy imperative - 'Die as a single person then, if you must be so stubbornly inclined!'. 

1. Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend

Unthrifty = Unsaving, wasteful., prodigal.
loveliness - this is personified as the youth. The youth is beauty itself.
1-2. Why dost thou spend/ upon thyself - As well as the financial sense of squandering wealth and resources, this also has a secondary sexual reference of emitting semen . Compare :
He wears his honour in a box unseen
That hugs his kicky wicky here at home,
Spending his manly marrow in her arms,
Which should sustain the bound and high curvet AW.II.3.272-5.

2. Upon thy self thy beauty's legacy?

upon thy self - see the note above. The implication is that all his pleasure is wasted upon himself.
thy beauty's legacy = the riches that your beauty should leave to the world when you are gone (your children). The legacy of beauteous children should be created by his semen which he is wasting instead in frivolous self pleasure.

3. Nature's bequest gives nothing, but doth lend,

Nature's bequest = the qualities, talents, attributes, which are provided by Nature at birth. Nature, however, does not give outright, but only makes a loan. She expects repayment of the loan with interest (in the form of gifts to the world).

4. And being frank she lends to those are free:

frank = generous, liberal;
to those are free = to those who are open hearted, free spirited. Nature expects a reciprocal response to her gift.

5. Then, beauteous niggard, why dost thou abuse

niggard = miserly person; stingy and selfish individual.
abuse = ill treat. Also with a suggestion of self-abuse, masturbation. The use of niggard(ing) here and in I.12 in a similar context suggests a slang meaning of tosser, wanker.

6. The bounteous largess given thee to give?

The inheritance (of beauty etc.) which was given to you so that you might pass it on. largess = generous bestowal of good qualities.

7. Profitless usurer, why dost thou use

The comparison of the youth with a usurer (money-lender), albeit a profitless (unsuccessful) one, is not very flattering. Perhaps it was meant to stir him into action which would remedy the situation. use is intended both in the technical sense of lending money as a usurer, as well as that of making use of (his beauty) by procreating.

8. So great a sum of sums, yet canst not live?

So great a sum of sums - Usurers had large sums of money at their disposal. They performed financial services which are nowadays done by banks.
yet canst not live - the poet here compares the usurer who makes a comfortable living from the interest he charges, with the youth who has so much wealth of beauty, yet cannot live (survive) into the future.

9. For having traffic with thy self alone,

i.e by not dealing in the commodities which nature has bestowed upon you (nobility, beauty, wealth). The sexual meaning of masturbation is fairly explicit.

10. Thou of thy self thy sweet self dost deceive:

You deprive yourself of children, who are, in a sense, yourself; you deceive, cheat yourself.
of thy self could mean 'by your own action'. deceive = cheat.

11. Then how when nature calls thee to be gone,

Then how - the question is taken over by What acceptable audit in the next line. The compound question may be read as 'How will you give an account of yourself and your behaviour to Nature when she calls (when you die) and what audited record of yourself will you provide?'

12. What acceptable audit canst thou leave?

Taken together the two lines seem to mean 'How is it that, when your time of death comes, you will not be able to render a satisfactory account of yourself?' (See note to line above). Strictly speaking the term audit is applied to a check which is made on accounts after they have been presented, but also, by extension, it appears to mean the accounts themselves. It is based on the Latin Audite, (and spelt thus in 49 and 126), and is the imperative of the verb audire, to hear. Hence 'Hear! Listen! Be heard!' is the implied translation, and it indicates the hearing of accounts presented before a court, or tribunal, or in some such official setting.

13. Thy unused beauty must be tombed with thee,

Here there is also a secondary (primary?) sexual meaning. Your beauty (seed) should be used for procreation. If used in such a way, it would create progeny, a child who would be the inheritor of that beauty. But if unused, by being spilt and wasted then etc.
must be tombed = cannot avoid being entombed. (Your seed would be buried uselessly in your lap). Your children would be unborn, forever entombed.

14. Which, used, lives th' executor to be.

Which refers to 'thy beauty'. If it is used, it creates children, who would interpret and present you as you were to the world.
lives th'executor to be = lives in the future as your children, as the inheritor and administrator of your beauty.

 

 

1. Those hours, that with gentle work did frame

The time of your growing up, which made you what you are.
with gentle work - Nature is portrayed as a gentle artificer, making things with kindness, but later becoming tyrannous and harsh.
frame = make, but contains the suggestion of making into a structure, or scaffolding.

2. The lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell,

where = whereon, on which. The youth's beauty is typified by his gaze, which perhaps stands for his eyes, or his appearance, or his manner of looking at the world. See Miranda's exclamation on seeing Ferdinand:
What is't? A spirit? Lord how it looks about! Tem.I.ii.412

3. Will play the tyrants to the very same

play the tyrant = will be tyrannical, will be like a tyrant. Possibly with a reference to the empty bragging of a stage tyrant. See Hamlet's speech to the players Ham.III.2.1-14. Tyrants traditionally behaved with cruelty.
the very same must refer to 'the lovely gaze'.

4. And that unfair which fairly doth excel;

unfair = make ugly. Unfair is used here as a verb.
which fairly doth excel = which excels in beauty, fairness.

5. For never-resting time leads summer on

leads summer on - this suggests duplicity, as for example in the modern phrases 'to lead up the garden path', 'to lead by the nose'.

6. To hideous winter, and confounds him there;

hideous winter - Winter was often depicted as a hag dressed in filthy clothing.
and confounds him there = and destroys him (summer) there, where winter reigns.
Confounds = destroys. Also suggests thwarts, reduces to perplexity. From the Latin confundere - to pour together, mix confusedly.

7. Sap checked with frost, and lusty leaves quite gone,

checked = stopped, held back; Frost prevents the sap from rising. lusty = vigorous, full of growth and energy.

8. Beauty o'er-snowed and bareness every where:

o'er-snowed = covered with snow.

9. Then were not summer's distillation left,

were not = If (summer's distillation) had not been preserved. This refers to the distillation of perfume from fragrant flowers, such as roses. Rosewater was much in demand for sweetmeats, confections and kissing-comfits.

10. A liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass,

The distillate would be kept in a glass vessel, a vial. See the next sonnet.

11. Beauty's effect with beauty were bereft,

Beauty's effect = the action or force beauty exerts on the world. with = at the same time as, together with.
were bereft = would be lost. We may paraphrase, 'If beauty were to die, the beneficial effects of beauty would die with it (if we did not save them by distillation)'.

12. Nor it, nor no remembrance what it was:

A verb is understood here, such as 'would survive'. 'Neither the thing itself (beauty), nor any remembrance of what it was like, would survive'.
Nor it, nor no = neither it, nor any.

13. But flowers distilled, though they with winter meet,

distilled - see line 9.
though they with winter meet = although winter overtakes and destroys them.

14. Leese but their show; their substance still lives sweet.

Leese = loosen, release.
but = only.
their show = their outward appearance (with a suggestion of showiness, frivolity).
substance = essence, essential being. Neo-Platonic philosophy made much of the distinction between shadow and substance.
still = always, ever.

 

1. Then let not winter's ragged hand deface,

winter's ragged hand: winter was often depicted as wearing rags. Also, being destructive, it would make the things it touched look ragged.
deface - in addition to the general sense of disfigurement, it refers also to the wrinkles of old age which deface the visage of youth.

See also the further commentary on Sonnet64

2. In thee thy summer, ere thou be distilled:

Spring and summer seem to refer interchangeably to the youth at his best.
ere thou be distill'd = before a distillation is made of your essence. Before you have children. The petals of flowers were boiled and distilled to extract the perfume. The distillate was stored to be used in cosmetics and in the making of confectionery.

3. Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place

vial = phial, a small vessel for liquids, usually made of glass. treasure thou some place = enrich some place, some maiden's womb with your treasure (seed, children).

4. With beauty's treasure ere it be self-killed.

beauty's treasure = the treasure of your own beauty. Also, semen. ere = before. His beauty would be self-killed by his refusing to have children, and his seed would be destroyed if it were not placed in a womb. The man's seed was considered to be the essential substance for the generation of new life. Women's function in the reproductive process was not understood. The woman was thought to be no more than the vehicle for carrying the man's progeny.

5. That use is not forbidden usury,

A return to the money lending imagery of Sonnet 4. 7-8.
use in the technical sense of usufruct, interest, making money by lending it out. Usury was considered sinful, but a ten percent return on money was legally permitted. The usurers performed the function of modern day banks. See GBE, p.120 Note on VI.5.

6. Which happies those that pay the willing loan;

happies = makes happy. those refers to the borrowers.
the willing loan = a loan given (and taken?) willingly. The implication is that beauty could be lent out and repaid with interest, by the mother and by the children she bore to the man.

7. That's for thy self to breed another thee,

That's for thy self = which would be the case if you bred a copy of yourself, (as the usurers breed copies of their money).

8. Or ten times happier, be it ten for one;

happier = more fortunate, as well as happier.
be it ten for one = should you have ten children rather than one.

9. Ten times thy self were happier than thou art,

Having ten children would make you ten times happier than if you only had one child, or certainly happier than you are in your present childless situation.

10. If ten of thine ten times refigured thee:

If ten children of yours existed, making ten images of you. But with a suggestion that the ten children could also breed, thus 'refiguring' him still further with grandchildren. The repetition of ten, five times in three lines, seems to hammer the point home.  He would be at least a hundred thousand times happier than he is in his present state.

11. Then what could death do if thou shouldst depart,

Evidently this line has biblical overtones. 'Oh death where is thy sting? Oh grave thy victory?'

if thou shouldst depart = if you should die.

12. Leaving thee living in posterity?

Since you would still be alive hereafter. Leave has the meanings of depart, die, and bequeath. So that the youth would bequeath himself to posterity through his children. Posterity also had the meaning of perpetuity.

13. Be not self-willed, for thou art much too fair

self-willed = obstinate, but it also echoes self-killed of line 4. There is a sexual innuendo derived from will (= sexual desire, passion; see 135, 136). Hence ' do not devote yourself to self-pleasure, masturbation'.

14. To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir.

death's conquest = that which is conquered, overthrown, by death. One who dies (or who has an orgasm). Also apparently there is a legal meaning of conquest: (OED.6) - property acquired by means other than inheritance (usually by force of arms).
make worms thine heir: instead of leaving an heir in the normal way, he would leave worms breeding from his corpse. Only worms would profit from his death. 

 

 

 

1. Lo! in the orient when the gracious light

the orient = the east;
the gracious light = the sun. The Eastern lands are also suggested, where, in places, the sun was worshipped. The sun is considered kingly among the heavenly bodies in the old Ptolemaic astronomy. gracious = noble, glorious, kind etc.

2. Lifts up his burning head, each under eye

his burning head - In Greek mythology Helios, the sun god, would be depicted with a flaming head.
each under eye = each dweller on earth, under the sun. But from what follows it is clear that the reference is also to inferior beings in the social scale, those who gaze in awe on kings.

3. Doth homage to his new-appearing sight,

Doth homage to = pays homage to, worships, bows down, as humans do figuratively before the sun, lest they be dazzled by it. new-appearing: the sun could be considered to be new each day. Cf:

For as the sun is daily new and old 76.

4. Serving with looks his sacred majesty;

Showing, by their looks, how much they respect him; averting their gaze out of respect for his majesty.

5. And having climbed the steep-up heavenly hill,

The chariot of the sun, driven by Phoebus in Greek mythology, climbs up the steep slope of the sky.
steep-up = inclined steeply upwards.

6. Resembling strong youth in his middle age,

If his refers to the sun, the meaning is that the sun, in his middle path, resembles a strong youth. If his refers to youth, then it would mean that the sun at its zenith is like a strong youth who has attained the prime (middle) of his youth. Since the entire extended simile is that of the sun growing from youth to age, the focus shifts continuously between the youth, who is also growing old, and the sun itself, and both meanings are simultaneously possible.

7. Yet mortal looks adore his beauty still,

mortal looks = the looks of mortals, also looks which are mortal. The eyes of mortals do not all at once abandon the sacred majesty of the sun, but wait for surer signs of his decline.

8. Attending on his golden pilgrimage:

Attending signifies performing the duties of an attendant or servant. pilgrimage = any long journey, but especially one undertaken to a religious shrine. The epithet golden is applied to the sun, but would be appropriate also to describe the royal progress (journey) of a monarch.

9. But when from highmost pitch, with weary car,

highmost pitch = topmost point, zenith. But pitch also threatens an ensuing downfall. Technically it was a term applied to the flight of a hawk or falcon.
weary car = weary chariot of the sun (in practice the horses which pulled it would be weary, having climbed the steep up heavenly hill). For a classical depiction of the sun's chariot see illustration below. The horses of the sun are also featured in the Elgin marbles from the Parthenon.

10. Like feeble age, he reeleth from the day,

The image is that of old age stumbling and falling. Of course the sun, being the day, or daylight, cannot exactly reel from himself. But the chariot of the sun now starts to fall away from its high point, and reels away from the zenith. The image is almost that of the daylight staggering away from its own brightness.

11. The eyes, 'fore duteous, now converted are

'fore = before. The eyes, in the former state of affairs, showed their obedience and adulation.
now converted are = now are turned away, averted. To convert did not then have the predominant meaning of 'to cause someone to change faith'.

12. From his low tract, and look another way:

his refers again to the sun.
tract = pathway, track. The sun is now low in the sky, ready to plunge once more beneath the horizon.

13. So thou, thyself outgoing in thy noon

So thou = you, my beloved, the fair youth; outgoing = extinguishing or being extinguished, or excelling yourself; or beginning to decline after you have reached the zenith of your powers. noon was also a euphemism for sexual arousal.

14. Unlooked on diest unless thou get a son.

Unlooked on diest = You and your race will die out unmarked and unnoticed. To die also meant to experience orgasm, so the implication is that he is wasting his life in solitary (unlooked on) masturbation. He should be directing his energies towards begetting a son.
get = beget. son It is thought that a pun on sun is intended.

1. Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly?

Two interpretations are given of this: a) You are yourself like music to listen to, so why do you respond to it sadly? b) Why is it that, when there is music to listen to, you are saddened by it.? The former question asks why a person who is so framed as to appear perfect to the observer, rounded and harmonious as a piece of music, should be made sad by listening to music.

2. Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy:

Sweet (things) and joy are inherently harmonious, they do not fight against themselves. The construction of these first two lines is consciously melodic. Musis music, sweets sweets, joy joy. A slight air of disharmony sets in with lines 3 and 4, with 'receiv'st not glady, receiv'st thine annoy'.

3. Why lov'st thou that which thou receiv'st not gladly,

Why do you love the music that you listen to (receive), even though it does not give you pleasure?

4. Or else receiv'st with pleasure thine annoy?

Do you take delight in that which causes you pain?
annoy = that which annoys or irks you, annoyance. Probably a sexual innuendo is present in these two lines (3-4), based on the words 'receiv'st' and 'pleasure'.

5. If the true concord of well-tuned sounds,

5-8. A two fold idea runs through this sentence, that of sounds united in harmony (by unions married) and that of souls united in married bliss. Hence the sweet harmony of music reprimands him because he destroys, by remaining single, the harmony which would accompany him as a married man, and also he destroys the concord of music by not playing his part.

6. By unions married, do offend thine ear,

unions = marriages, harmonies, counterpoint. The term seems to have a musical connotation, that of sounds united in harmony although OED does not give any musical definition for union. The closeness of the word to unison does however keep the musical imagery at the forefront of one's mind. Shakespeare only uses the word infrequently, six times in total, two of which, in Hamlet, relate to the meaning 'pearl'.
offend = vex, displease, cause discomfort to.

7. They do but sweetly chide thee, who confounds

They = the concord of sounds, the musical notes.
sweetly chide = gently criticise or reprimand.
confounds = destroys, mixes together in confusion. From the Latin confundere 'to pour together'.

8. In singleness the parts that thou shouldst bear.

the parts that thou shouldst bear = the parts you should play in married life, or, using the musical imagery, in music, by playing an instrument. A large number of connected meanings interplay in these two lines. 'As a player, or as a singer, you ruin the harmony, by attempting to play solo, by mistaking and miscuing the parts of the melody or song; while as a single man you abuse your parts by not mingling them, as you should, so that they bear fruit (children). You should bear the part of a father, while the chosen she will bear your children.

9. Mark how one string, sweet husband to another,

9-12 The musical image continues, with the addition of the idea of marriage in the word husband. The reference here is probably to the strings of a lute, which were strung in pairs, known as courses. It was the most commonly used musical instrument of the period, already having had a long history. Much music was written for it, and Shakespeare would have been familiar with it. The double strings provide a richer tone, as they reverberate in harmony. The use of courses is not however restricted to lutes, as mandolins, guitars and theorbos were also set with them.

10. Strikes each in each by mutual ordering;

The strings reverberate against each other. They mutually respond, in appropriate order.
each in each = ?? each string in each course. Only adjacent strings in the same course could physically strike each other.
mutual ordering - this could refer to the positioning and sequential movement of the fingers, or it could be a reference to the ordered harmony of the music.

11. Resembling sire and child and happy mother,

The strings, in their mutual harmony, resemble a happy family. There is a sideways glance here at the Holy Family, Mary, Jesus and Joseph, who would have been depicted in numerous church paintings of the time. They were the archetype of the well ordered family. See the illustration above.

12. Who, all in one, one pleasing note do sing:

The father, child and mother are united in harmony, as the strings of the lute produce a harmonius tune.

13. Whose speechless song being many, seeming one,

The song is instrumental, composed of many strings and notes, hence speechless, but it is a unity in its harmony. Although polyphonic its melodic line seems to be 'one', a unity.

14. Sings this to thee: 'Thou single wilt prove none.'

Being single you will be effectively nothing.
prove = turn out to be, become. The number one was considered proverbially to be equivalent to nothing (perhaps in the context of very large numbers). As in Sonn 136:
In things of great receipt with ease we prove
Among a number one is reckon'd none:
There is also the meaning 'You will turn out to be neither song, nor note, nor harmony, nor happy family'. 

1. Is it for fear to wet a widow's eye,

To wet a widow's eye = to cause your future wife to weep for you (if you should die after marrying her).

2. That thou consum'st thy self in single life?

That you waste away in bachelorhood. There is also a sexual meaning in consum'st. See notes to 3.7-8; 4.9 etc.

3. Ah! if thou issueless shalt hap to die,

issueless = childless, without issue, without children.
shalt hap to = should happen to.

4. The world will wail thee like a makeless wife;

The world will wail thee = the world will mourn for you;
like = as if it (the world) were; as if you, (the youth) were; the latter meaning is obviously not so relevant, but the youth, being unmarried, could be perceived as being in the same state as a widow.
a makeless wife = a wife without a mate, one who has been widowed.   make = companion or mate, spouse (obs.).   The argument therefore is that, if the man does not marry, although he will not leave a widow behind him in the conventional sense, should he die, yet the world will be his widow instead, an even greater tragedy than if he were in fact married and with children. The world will mourn him as a makeless wife mourns her husband. The idea is expanded in the following lines.

5. The world will be thy widow and still weep

still = always, continually.

6. That thou no form of thee hast left behind,

That = because;
form of thee = copy or image of yourself, in the form of a child. See Sonn.11:
She carved thee for her seal, and meant thereby
Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die.

7. When every private widow well may keep

private - as opposed to the public widow, which is the world. There is also a suggestion of ordinary, as well as ignoble, derived from the Latin privatus.

8. By children's eyes, her husband's shape in mind:

By children's eyes = by looking at her children. The eyes represented the whole person, so the children's eyes are the children themselves. See note to gaze 5.2. The widow may keep the husband in mind by looking on the children, who bear his form and image.

9. Look what an unthrift in the world doth spend

Look what = whatever, anything that. Some editors emend to Look! what etc. but it does not improve the sense. See Sonn.77:
Look what thy memory can not contain

an unthrift = a prodigal person, a wastrel, one of extravagant expenditure. The line therefore expands to 'Everything that a prodigal chooses to spend in the world'.

10. Shifts but his place, for still the world enjoys it;

Shifts but his place = Simply moves from one place to another. his = its and refers to the money which the unthrift spends. its as possessive pronoun was not used by the Elizabethans. The money that the prodigal spends becomes available again through circulation. It merely shifts its place from one pocket to another.
for still the world enjoys it = the world continues to make use of it and to derive pleasure from it. still = continually, always, as in line 5.

11. But beauty's waste hath in the world an end,

beauty's waste = the dissipation of beauty, beauty's squandering of itself (by existing and doing nothing and failing to procreate). In contrast to the prodigal's expenditure, beauty's waste does not recirculate. There is a sexual meaning, in which beauty's waste = semen. See the following line.

12. And kept unused the user so destroys it.

The contradiction in this line makes it difficult to interpret, because if something is unused there can be no user. One suggestion is that user = prodigal, another that user = one who is entitled to use something. The more obvious meaning is the sexual one that the self-abuser (user) destroys his semen (beauty's waste) by not using it properly, and by not making some chaste maid fertile.

13. No love toward others in that bosom sits

There is no love in your heart towards others.
sits = exists, is present.

14. That on himself such murd'rous shame commits.

That picks up that bosom of the previous line, where it = that person, that heart. Hence the meaning becomes '...exists in that heart which, against itself etc.' himself = itself.
such murd'rous shame - the shame of not begetting an heir. Rather excessive language for such a fault, one would think, but there is also the sexual innuendo where murderous shame means killing the seed by masturbation, and the exaggerated language thereby takes on a slightly humorous flavour.

1. For shame deny that thou bear'st love to any,

For shame may have an exclamatory sense (shame on you!) and is printed with an exclamation mark in some editions. Otherwise the meaning is 'Prompted by feelings of shame you ought to admit that etc.' The word is also an echo from the last line of the previous sonnet. That on himself such murderous shame commits and the two sonnets are clearly linked by this line and line 5.

2. Who for thy self art so unprovident.

unprovident = failing to provide for the future, improvident. From the Latin providere 'to look ahead'. The modern usage is 'improvident'.

3. Grant, if thou wilt, thou art beloved of many,

It may be an argument in your favour that you are loved by so many. Let us admit (if you desire to use that argument) that you are loved by many.

4. But that thou none lov'st is most evident:

But it is evident that you yourself do not love anyone. (Therefore there is something seriously amiss). The line is further explained in the next quatrain.

5. For thou art so possessed with murderous hate,

murderous hate refers back to the murderous shame of the previous sonnet, with its concomitant double meanings. He is seeking to murder his posterity by not having children.

6. That 'gainst thy self thou stick'st not to conspire,

'gainst = against;
thou stick'st not = you do not hesitate, you find no objection to (sticking point).

7. Seeking that beauteous roof to ruinate

Being determined to destroy that lovely house. roof is symbolic of house, family, lineage, especially an aristocratic one.
ruinate = bring to ruin, destroy.

8. Which to repair should be thy chief desire.

Which refers to the roof of the previous line. To repair which etc. Continuous repair is necessary to keep a building in sound order. To maintain his house (family) should be the youth's chief wish. The imagery recurs in Sonn.13:
Who lets so fair a house fall to decay,
Which husbandry in honour might uphold etc.

9. O! change thy thought, that I may change my mind:

Change your intention, your purpose, so that I may change my opinion (of your conduct). See introductory note.

10. Shall hate be fairer lodged than gentle love?

Will you, who are the most fair of all creatures, be the house in which hate is lodged (whereas others, who are uglier, are yet capable of demonstrating love). lodged implies the residence of an idea in the mind, as in the previous sonnet, where sits is equivalent to is lodged.
No love toward others in that bosom sits
That on himself such murderous shame commits. 9.
The hatred referred to is that of refusing to procreate, hating posterity. See above, note to l.5.

11. Be, as thy presence is, gracious and kind,

Be as your behaviour indicates you to be, generous, noble, graceful. presence is indicative of stature, mien, bearing, presence of mind in company, and so on.

12. Or to thyself at least kind-hearted prove:

prove = turn out to be, become, i.e., by agreeing to produce children, thus taking pity on your 'house'.

13. Make thee another self for love of me,

Produce an heir, if not for the reasons stated already, at least do so for love of me.

14. That beauty still may live in thine or thee.

That = so that;
still = always, continually;
thine = thy children. His beauty will be carried on in his children. beauty here refers to the youth's beauty, both in the individual sense that he as a beautiful youth must preserve himself, but also in that his beauty is the standard for the times, the essential essence of what it is to be beauteous.

1. As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow'st

As rapidly as you decline, your descendants would grow accordingly. wane is used of the moon, but also of power, success, and other worldly matters.

2. In one of thine, from that which thou departest;

In one of thine = in a child of yours;
from that which thou departest = as your increasing age takes you away from your presently beautiful self. With the sense also that he is departing (in age) from the child he leaves behind.

3. And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow'st,

blood here used in the figurative sense of family, life, descendants, seed, semen, (hence bestow'st, to bestow = to give, to grant, to lay out, to expend).

4. Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest.

And these, the children you beget, you may call your own (in the sense also that they carry with them the beauty of your youth), when you yourself are turning away (convertest) and leaving behind your young days. convert = to turn from. From the Latin convertere to make to turn round.

5. Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase;

Herein -  in (by) doing this, in taking on the responsibility of breeding, as we have all been urging you to do. increase = abundance, fruition.

6. Without this folly, age, and cold decay:

Without this = Without this policy, intention, desire (for continuing your line) there lives folly etc. without also has the meaning of 'outside', and is contrasted here with herein. Hence 'outside this accepted norm of behaviour lies folly, age, decay'.

7. If all were minded so, the times should cease

If all were minded so = If everyone were of the same mind as you (i.e. not to have children).
the times = historical ages?, time itself ?
should cease = would come to an end.

8. And threescore year would make the world away.

threescore being a typical lifespan, being rounded down from the biblical threescore and ten. year is an old plural form of 'years', still found in phrases such as 'for many a year' which is equivalent to 'for many years'.
would make the world away = would bring the world to an end, with the suggestion of killing it, as in 'to make away' with someone, to do them in.

9. Let those whom nature hath not made for store,

made for store = made for breeding. The best things are preserved, stored, for future use. Store-cattle is a term still used, meaning cattle kept for breeding. It is a policy in husbandry to keep the best lines for breeding the next generation.

10. Harsh, featureless, and rude, barrenly perish:

This describes those who are not to be kept for store. Let them perish without issue. There is a slightly eugenic flavour to this wish, but it is linked to the hyperbole that the youth, above all other things in the world, is worthy to be copied. If he does not allow it, the world would be deprived of his incomparable qualities.
rude = coarse, brutish.

11. Look whom she best endowed, she gave the more;

Look whom = whoever, whatever persons; See Sonn.9, note to line 9.
she = Nature;
best endow'd = gave the best qualities to, gave most abundantly to;
she gave the more = she (Nature) gave even more in addition to what she had already bestowed. The sentence seems to be tautological, and is said to echo Matt.25.29, where, however, the emphasis appears to be that from those who have nothing or very little that little is to be stripped. The emendation of the to thee has been proposed, which gives the meaning that Nature has given even more to the youth than to those to whom she has otherwise generously bestowed her gifts.

12. Which bounteous gift thou shouldst in bounty cherish:

which bounteous gift = Nature's generous bestowal of qualities upon you.
in bounty = with (equal) generosity.
cherish = value, respect.

13. She carved thee for her seal, and meant thereby,

Nature made you as an example to the world (of beauty) as if she were making a seal. The seal here is the instrument from which an impression would be stamped out in wax of whatever was depicted on the seal (as, for example, the royal coat of arms on the soverign's seal).
meant thereby = intended that from it (the seal).

14. Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die.

It is your obligation to make (print) copies of yourself, not to let the original copy or template perish. Cf.: All's Well, the King speaking of Bertram's father:
........Such a man
Might be a copy to these younger times;
Which, follow'd well, would demonstrate them now
But goers backward. AWW.I.2.45-8.

1. When I do count the clock that tells the time,

count = record, sum up;
tells = gives an account of, speaks (by chiming). In days when light was scarce, the audible telling of time was important, hence the use of repeater clocks which, when a button was pressed, or a string pulled, chimed out the hour most recently passed. Village and town clocks also chimed on the hour.

2. And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;

brave: here the word has almost a visual significance, suggesting brightness and gallantry, as opposed to the ugliness and darkness of hideous night. Compare Miranda's exclamation in The Tempest:
Oh brave new world,
That has such people in't! Tem.V.1.183-4,
and Henry King:
Brave flowers, that I could gallant it like you
And be as little vain! (c. 1650).

3. When I behold the violet past prime,

The violet is emblematic of the Spring and new growth.
prime = the period of perfection, the springtime best. Hence past prime is past their best, fading, dying.

4. And sable curls, all silvered o'er with white;

sable = black; a term from heraldry.
all silvered o'er with white = having turned silvery due to the whiteness of age. The description is of the black or dark hair of a youth turning white as he becomes an old man. See for example the celebrated passage in As You Like It, All the world's a stage, etc. AYL.II.7.139-166. Also Horace Odes I.9:
.....nec dulces amores
Sperne puer, neque tu choreas
Donec virenti canities abest
Morosa.

So do not spurn love, or the dance, while youth yet reigns, and from your lusty head the white hairs are still absent.
See the note to line 12 below.

Q reads 'or siluer'd ore' and suggested emendations are discussed in numerous editions. I have used the most commonly accepted emendation.

5. When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,

The leafless trees are described as barren, suggesting waste and futility, and the destructive processes of age and decay through time. Cf Sonnet 73.

6. Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,

erst = formerly, erstwhile;
canopy = to cover as with a canopy, to shade. Cattle and sheep stand under trees in times of heat.

7. And summer's green all girded up in sheaves,

summer's green This refers to the wheat or barley growing in the fields;
girded up in sheaves = bound together with string round the middle to make a sheaf or bundle. Before the days of combine harvesters wheat was cut by hand, then bound into sheaves which were carried to the threshing barn on a cart or 'bier' . (See illustration below).

8. Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,

Borne on the bier = carried away on the wagon or cart. A bier was also used for carrying the coffin at a funeral. Nowadays it has almost exclusively that meaning. Q's beare is an old spelling of bier.
with white and bristly beard - the awn of the wheat formed a sort of beard, a whiskery growth around the grain. 

9. Then of thy beauty do I question make,

 

Then I begin to contemplate what might happen to your beauty. Then I begin to question the permanence (and reality) of your beauty.

10. That thou among the wastes of time must go,

That you also will decline and decay like all things.
the wastes of time is suggestive not only of the destruction caused by time, but of deserts, where no life exists, as though beauty were condemned ultimately to wander in desolate spaces.

11. Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake

sweets and beauties - abstract for concrete - sweet things and beautiful things.
do themselves forsake = abandon themselves (to oblivion). Probably a Latinism. Ingram and Redpath, Shakespeare's Sonnets, 1964,78, give sese deserere as the original Latin idiom, to abandon oneself, to give up hope.

12. And die as fast as they see others grow;

as fast as they see others grow = as one thing dies, another thing grows to replace it. There is continuous mutation. Although Ovid's Metamorphoses in Golding's translation is often quoted as an abiding influence in this sonnet, there is much here that is purely Horatian. See for example Horace's Ode 5 of Bk.II:
............Currit enim ferox
Aetas, et illi, quos tibi dempserit
Apponet annos.

Swiftly the seasons sweep past, and the years which are taken from you, are given to her.
The passage of the seasons, winter changing to spring, autumn yielding to winter, is also very much a Horatian theme, and probably Horace's odes would have been known to Shakespeare from his schooldays.

(Quintus Horatius Flaccus. A Roman poet, c 65-8 BC.)

13.   And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence

Time and Death were often depicted (in churches, books, broadsheets etc.) as carrying a scythe with which to mow down whatever they chose. The scythe is not a tool which is commonly seen nowadays. It had a long curving blade and a handle set perpendicularly to the blade, which was held by the scyther using both hands. As it swept over the grass or crop it cut a large semicircle or swathe around the scyther, who then advanced a few footsteps for the next cut. There is an excellent description of a field of hay being mown by this method in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, Part III Chs. 4,5. Wheat seems generally to have been cut using a sickle, a much smaller tool than the scythe. The hay cannot defend itself against the sweep of the scythe's blade.

Opposite: A depiction of death wielding a scythe, from the back of an old playing card. Probably 16th Century.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

14.   Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.

Save breed = except having children. Breed here means the begetting of children and the children themselves. brave in this context suggests defiance of Time's brutality, as well as the brightness of a show, and it echoes the same word from 2 above. (See the note).

1. O! that you were your self; but, love, you are

O! that you were yourself = I long for you to remain, as you are now, in your very essence, (self perhaps = soul), unchanged forever. In the light of what follows, it is a wish that seems to probe at the roots of identity - 'What is the self, if it cannot remain unchanged and secure even for a brief moment?' Prosaically it could be taken to mean 'I hope you feel better', but the succeeding lines suggest a more philosophic intent. but, love, you are etc. where the word love seems to be a vocative (my love), a direct address to the youth, rather than the more contorted 'but you are love incarnate, but no longer in possession of yourself' (no longer yours).

2. No longer yours, than you your self here live:

See above. No longer yours = your soul, self (you from the line above) is no longer a part of your body than the time of your life here. here = on this earth. You have no control of your time here on this earth. An early echo perhaps of Othello's despairing conclusion:
But O vain boast! Who can control his fate? Oth.V.2.267-8.

3. Against this coming end you should prepare,

Against = To guard against, in preparation for.
end = death. But doubtless also with a suggestion of the Day of Judgement, the final end of all things. Cf.
Is this the promised end?
Or image of that horror? KL V III 263-4.

4. And your sweet semblance to some other give:

semblance = likeness.
to some other give i.e. to a child. Also with a suggestion of giving oneself in marriage.

5. So should that beauty which you hold in lease

so should that beauty = the result would be that that beauty;
hold in lease - beauty is given by nature on leasehold, not freehold. (This is legal terminology) cf IV.3
Nature's bequest gives nothing, but doth lend,
The gift of beauty is not an absolute gift, but conditional, and with a time limit on it.

6. Find no determination; then you were

determination = termination, end of lease. The legal terminology continues.
were = would be (a sort of subjunctive).

7. Yourself again, after yourself's decease,

Your essence would survive even after your death. Here the use of yourself twice(or your self) in which the second one of them is mortal, suggests that self cannot exclusively refer to soul, but that it can have a whole range of meanings, such as being, essence, person, body, soul, identity. The soul presumably would not decease.

8. When your sweet issue your sweet form should bear.

Your children would resemble you. For the (over) use of sweet (in l.4 above also) see GBE p.126. He refers it to the Petrarchan tradition, and suggests that there might be an element of parody. Compare for example from Sidney:
With so sweet voice, and by sweet Nature so
In sweetest strength, so sweetly skilled withal,
In all sweet stratagems sweet Art can show, A&S.36.

form could be used in the neo-Platonic sense of essence, being. Otherwise, 'shape, appearance'.

9. Who lets so fair a house fall to decay,

house = family, kin, lineage. Note that we still use such terms as 'the house of Windsor' referring to the royal family. The question is rhetorical, expecting the answer 'No one, of course, is so idiotic'.

10. Which husbandry in honour might uphold,

husbandry = estate management, with suggestions of a.) good management; b.) farming, c.) husband. Compare:
the tillage of thy husbandry. 6.
in honour = honourably; with honourable husbandry.

11. Against the stormy gusts of winter's day

A return to the winter scenes of Sonnets 5 and 6. The stormy winter threatens to destroy the house.

12. And barren rage of death's eternal cold?

barren rage - The epithet is the more striking because it seems to be slightly misplaced, (one expects the barreness of death's cold conquests to be highlighted, rather than the barrenness of rage). However rage can also be barren, as in Lear (All's cheerless dark and deadly) KL.V.3.290. In thought it links forward to the barren wastes produced by death, death's destructiveness being especially senseless and fruitless.

13. O! none but unthrifts. Dear my love, you know,

unthrifts = prodigals, wastrels, those who abandon all husbandry, those who are irrresponsible.
Dear my love - for the implications of this dramatically intimate phrase, see further commentary SonnetXIII . Punctuation can alter the reference point of you know back to none but unthrifts, or forwards to You had a father. Thus 'you know that only unthrifts do not look to the future' or 'you know you had a father (whose image you mirrored, as your children would mirror you)'. Both meanings are probably intended.

14. You had a father: let your son say so.

i.e., as urged in the previous sonnets, marry and have children. It is not known if this implies that the addressee had lost his father. Probably it does not. However it is likely that there is here an irreverent biblical reference to God the Father and the Son, especially as Father and Son are given capital letters in Q.

1. Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck;

judgement = judgement or knowledge of the future;
pluck = obtain, seize. It does have a suggestion of reaching upwards, as in plucking an apple from the sky, and perhaps suggests the upward reaching hand of an astrologer bringing down knowledge from the stars. Possibly also a belittling sense, in that astrologers were notorious for plucking predictions from the bizarrest concatenations of planetary movements.

2. And yet methinks I have Astronomy,

methinks = I think;
Astronomy in Elizabethan times was much closer to what we would nowadays term astrology. It was not yet weighted down with knowledge of what the planets and stars actually are, as modern day astronomy is. There was a widespread belief that the stars, in their various conjunctions, had an important and direct influence on the life of humans, both on individuals, and on social institutions. See the sonnet by Sidney, given at the bottom of the page. He calls those who consider the stars to shine merely to spangle the night 'dusty wits', for to him their importance was much greater. They were an importance influence in human lives. Although his sonnet, like this one, by its conclusion is somewhat tongue in cheek. (Note that Sidney uses the term astrology. He also reads Stellas's eyes as if they were stars). The poet here claims to 'have Astronomy', i.e he understands it as a science, and then he proceeds to tell us how his knowledge differs from that of the traditional astrologer (lines 3-8).
We tend to think of ourselves as a more rational age, but a recent president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, relied on his wife's astrologer to forecast for him propitious days for work and policy decisions.

3. But not to tell of good or evil luck,

As astrologers would do. More or less the same as fortune telling is today.

4. Of plagues, of dearths, or seasons' quality;

Almanacs would foretell such things.
plagues - this had contemporary relevance, as bubonic plague attacked the city of London many times in Shakespeare's life, necessitating the closure of theatres and the removal of the royal court to a safer district. Anyone who had sufficient means would leave the city for the country at such times. 1593 and 1594 were particularly bad years in London.
dearths = famines, shortages. Not infrequent in those days;
seasons' quality = the character of the various seasons, whether they would produce crops or not.
quality = character, nature, essence, capability. Cf. Hamlet:
Come, give us a taste of your quality. II.ii.440.

5. Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell,

to brief minutes tell = predict with minute by minute accuracy.

6. Pointing to each his thunder, rain and wind,

Pointing to each = appointing (or pointing out) for each person; thunder, rain and wind these are taken as being symbolic of bad times in a person's life. See the previous sonnet, where the stormy gusts of winter's day are tokens of bad fortune in the shape of malaise befalling a lineage which cannot renew itself. Some commentaters have made heavy work of this line, referring each and his back to seasons in line 4, or minutes in line 5, but I believe the above interpretation is neater.

7. Or say with princes if it shall go well

Astrologers and fortune tellers regarded it as an important part of their work to predict the fate of kingdoms. Critical dates in Elizabeth's reign were 1588, which was connected to some biblical interpretation of the Babylonian captivity, and 1596 and 1603, which were her climacteric years. Many dire predictions were made for all those dates. Moore's almanac is still printed annually, but mostly nowadays it is filled with fairly vacuous predictions.

8. By oft predict that I in heaven find:

By oft predict = by frequent predictions. Presumably deduced from conjunctions of the stars. oft as an adjective and predict as a noun are virtually unknown other than in this sonnet. KDJ accepts an emendation to aught.

9. But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive,

This gives the reason why he does not rely on conventional astrology. His beloved's eyes are stars, from which he foretells the world's future. Compare Sidney's poem below.

10. And, constant stars, in them I read such art

constant stars - the fixed stars were considered to be constant and reliable, in contrast to the wandering stars, or planets. The idea persisted, cf. Keats: Bright star, would I were steadfast as though art. (Sonnet, circa 1820). The beloved's eyes are praised as being constant, unchanging stars, superior perhaps to the mutable stars in the skies upon which the astrologers relied.
I read such art = I derive such skill (art). When taken with the following line it expands to 'I derive such skill that it enables me to deduce that etc.'

11. As truth and beauty shall together thrive,

As = that. See note to previous line. truth and beauty - truth could be taken as the inner quality, beauty as the external one. They were probably the chief ideals of Neo-Platonic philosophy, the moral and spiritual qualities to which all beings strived.

12. If from thyself, to store thou wouldst convert;

If you would devote some attention to the question of procreation. store = increase, preservation; selection and reproduction of the best of a species. See the note to Sonnet 11:
Let those whom Nature hath not made for store,
convert = turn to, give your attention to. Also with the implication of turning away from (thy)self, being less self-centred. Compare:

And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestowest
Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest.11

13. Or else of thee this I prognosticate:

Or else I foretell this result for you.
prognosticate = forecast future events. The poet takes a leaf from the astrologer's book and makes his own prediction.

14. Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date.

The alternative to 11 & 12 above. Truth and beauty will not survive the youth's own death, if he has not created children before then.
doom = death, destruction, fate.
date = final end, terminal date.

1. When I consider every thing that grows

When I consider that everything that grows. The phrase seems to be specific, in that it relates only to growing things, and not objects that merely exist, such as 'brass, stone, earth, boundless sea' Sonn. 65, which elsewhere are depicted as undergoing destruction. The poet sees the youth as part of Nature's grand creation, but sharing the deficiencies of decay and death which all such created growing things have. The phrase When I consider could have a biblical reference.  It occurs in Psalms 8.3 in the KJ version of the bible of 1611, but the earlier versions which Shakespeare would have known have, in the Bishop's Bible (1568) For I will consider thy heauens, euen the workes of thy fingers: the moone and the starres whiche thou hast ordayned. Ps8.3.  The Geneva Bible (1587) has For I will consider thy heauens, euen the workes of thy fingers: the moone and the starres whiche thou hast ordayned. Perhaps a closer link is to be found in a passage from Ecclesiastes, which in the Bishop's Bible version is Thus haue I considered all these thynges that come to passe vnder the sunne: and lo, they are all but vanitie and vexation of mynde. Ec.1.14.

The same opening is used by Milton in one of his sonnets When I consider how my light is spent.

2. Holds in perfection but a little moment,

Holds in perfection = remains at its state of perfection, encloses perfection within itself. Nature ensures that all organic things reach a point of excellence which has only a brief duration.

3. That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows

this huge stage = the world, the globe, the grand scheme of the universe;
presenteth naught but shows = gives nothing but dramatic spectacles, sham performances. An assertion that the visual reality of the world is illusory, that since it is momentary in its transience, it should not be given great credence or have any sense of worth attached to it. Shakespeare's stage experience would add a special lustre to the imagery of this line.The 'realities' of our existence are as fleeting as the scenes set forth on the boards of the Globe theatre. Perhaps also a reference to Plato's cave, in which reality is depicted as the shadows cast on he wall of a cave by figures dancing in front of a fire, the dancing figures being forever enclosed and never catching a glimpse of daylight.

4. Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;

Whereon = upon which;
in secret influence comment = make hidden decisions which influence the things viewed. An invisible fluid was supposed to emanate from the stars which had an effect on the world. in secret influence also suggests secret meetings which decide the fate of individuals. comment is from the Latin commentare 'to devise, invent', hence with a suggestion of 'to devise some future fate'.

5. When I perceive that men as plants increase,

increase = grow, develop, increase in stature; multiply.

6. Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,

cheered = encouraged, made happy;
checked = stopped, obstructed. Bad weather would check a plant's growth (the word is still used by gardeners).
the self-same sky - the same sky which regulates the life of plants, controls also that of humans. Perhaps there is a sideways glance at the almost proverbial notion that the same sun looks on the nobility and the lowly alike, with no distinction. See for example Perdita's exclamation in The Winter's Tale when she is rudely prevented from marrying Florizel:
I was not much afeard; for once or twice
I was about to speak and tell him plainly,
The selfsame sun that shines upon his court
Hides not his visage from our cottage but
Looks on alike. WT.IV.4.434-37.

The poet could be hinting that noble birth does not set the youth as high above all surrounding mortality as he believes.

7. Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,

Vaunt in their youthful sap = put on a boastful show (vaunt) when they are young, when their sap is green and vigorous, as in a young plant. at height decrease = decline after they have reached their full growth.

8. And wear their brave state out of memory;

Wear down to absolute nothingness, after reaching their pinnacle, so that they are totally forgotten (out of memory).
their brave state = the proud moment of their glory, their gallantry. The subject is still plants, or men, of line 5.
The idea is essentially that of something being totally worn out, as a piece of clothing, which becomes no longer usable, and also that of of a thing discarded and no longer remembered, or of those long dead and forgotten.  As Adam, the old servant in As You Like it says

When service should in my old limbs lie lame

And unregarded age in corners thrown.  AYL II.3.42-3

9. Then the conceit of this inconstant stay

conceit = thought, consideration. It does not have the modern meaning of 'an exaggerated estimate of one's own worth' (OED6).
this inconstant stay = our life here upon this earth, which is full of unpredictability. Also, of short duration.

10. Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,

most rich in youth - in contrast with the scenes of desolation which must follow, your youthfulness is a time of richness.
Sets you perhaps also suggests a stage setting.

11. Where wasteful Time debateth with decay

Time and decay are personified here, as two gruesome characters who discuss how best to achieve their hated aims, the destruction of living things. In effect of course they are both part of the same scene - Time brings decay, and decay is inseparable from any living or extant form. In Coleridge's Ancient Mariner the two spirits, Death, and Life-in-Death, dice for the soul of the mariner. (AM. Part IV).

12. To change your day of youth to sullied night,

your day of youth = your youthful days. The singular noun gives a more forceful picture than the common phrase, as if highlighting a particular recent day when the youth was at his best.
sullied night - night is black and dingy. hideous night and ghastly night are used elsewhere in the sonnets (12 & 27).

13. And all in war with Time for love of you,

Love of the youth is declared to be universal. But all are powerless to rescue him from Time's swift foot, and they make war against Time in the fruitless hope of saving him.

14. As he takes from you, I engraft you new.

He = Time. The engrafting is presumably the act of describing and celebrating the youth in verse, which gives him each time a new lease of life, as a gardener would (en)graft a new slip of wood onto an old root or stock to create a new tree.

 

1. But wherefore do not you a mightier way

a mightier way = a way that is more efficacious than my idea of 'engrafting you new', in verse, as I even but now suggested. The way proposed (of warring against Time) is elaborated in what follows, 5-14. might suggests the use of military might, given further emphasis byn the continuing use of military metaphors in the next two lines.

2. Make war upon this bloody tyrant, Time?

bloody = bloodthirsty, creating bloodbaths, brutish, destructive. Tyrants were often cruel and bloody, especially those recorded in histories of the ancient world.

3. And fortify your self in your decay

The imagery of warfare is continued with the idea of building fortifications.
in your decay = as you grow old

4. With means more blessed than my barren rhyme?

means more blessed = methods which will be potentially more successful, more fruitful than my barren rhyme, (which does not produce an actual you to replace the you who is subject to grievous mortality).

5. Now stand you on the top of happy hours,

You have reached the pinnacle of your perfection. happy is used both in its modern sense, and with the meaning of lucky, successful.

6. And many maiden gardens, yet unset,

The imagery is drawn from horticulture. The maiden gardens not yet planted or sown with flowers are unmarried girls who are potential mates for the young man. Evidently a sexual meaning is intended here also.
unset = with no seeds or plants put in them.

7. With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers,

With virtuous wish merely emphasises the desirability of the virtuous maidens. In addition to being unstained virgins, it is as if they seek only his good, not their own, they wish virtuously to bear his children. Women were expected to play a subservient role to men. But there may also be a hidden reference to the Virgin Mary who bore the flower of Christ in her womb.
would bear you living flowers = would bear children for you.

8. Much liker than your painted counterfeit:

Much liker = much more like you;
than your painted counterfeit = than is a painted image of you. A painting could be seen as a counterfeit of the real thing. Painting also refers to 'painting in verse', as proposed in the previous sonnet. For counterfeit as 'painting, image, see OED(n).3., and compare:
What find I here? Fair Portias counterfeit. MV.V.3.2.115.

9. So should the lines of life that life repair,

the lines of life - many interpretations are given of this. It is thought to refer mainly to life's continuation, hence lineage, descent, descendants, children.
that life refers to the young man's life;
repair - with the added sense of replacement and renewal, as in 3.3 and 10.8. Hence we paraphrase as 'in that way your children would replace you (as you grow older and became due for repair)'.

10. Which this, Time's pencil, or my pupil pen,

More difficulties arise here. The main problem is that of deciding the referent of this. Does it mean 'this verse, this sonnet, which is currently describing you'? In which case Time's pencil and my pupil pen are a further adumbration of it (this sonnet) and qualify its scope. A pencil was a painter's brush, such as was used in painting miniatures. Therefore the line seems to imply that the descriptive power of verse in depicting or painting the young man is achieved by Time itself painting him, or by my (the poet's) amateur pen describing him. This hardly seems possible because Time's pencil is not responsible for the sonnet - it is the poet's creation. this could therefore refer to the twofold possibility, the two alternatives to repairing one's hasting life, (time's pencil, my pupil pen) and this is equivalent to these in modern English. In which case the over-arching meaning of 9-10 would be 'Thus would your children replace you as you grew old, whereas the two other alternatives, Time depicting you in the stature which today you have reached, or me with my inadequate pen attempting to describe you, (would not suffice because etc.)'. Q's punctuation seems to support this latter meaning. GBE prefers Which this time's pencil or my pupil pen, glossing this time's pencil as the contemporary style of painting. (GBE. p.129) and rejecting the usual assumption that this is the same Time as is referred to in line 2, where he is a bloody tyrant, rather than a painter. Thus he avoids giving Time a split personality. An appealing solution to the problem, which may finally be impossible to resolve. But perhaps we should not insist on perfect consistency when dealing with poems of this nature. As Walt Whitman said: 'Do I contradict myself? Well then I contradict myself. I am large. I contain multitudes.'

11. Neither in inward worth nor outward fair,

inward worth = characteristics, hidden qualities;
outward fair = external appearance or beauty.

12. Can make you live your self in eyes of men.

Can reproduce you as you truly are to external observers (eyes of men). That is, (lines 9-12), the above methods fail to produce the desired results, for they make only a pale copy of you, without the essentials.

13. To give away yourself, keeps yourself still,

To give away yourself - as in marriage. An echo of the marriage service, 'Do you give this woman etc.?'
still = forever. By giving of yourself you will be preserved against time's decay. There is also the sexual meaning of giving semen, which creates another you. The male seed was thought to be the essential substance necessary for the creation of a new life. GBE quotes Donne's poem The Canonisation' GBE, NCS Son. p.129 n.13.

14. And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill.

And consequently you will go on living (must live), and you yourself will be the artist who draws the portrait of yourself.

1. Who will believe my verse in time to come,

Who will believe = who (among the readers of the future) will believe

2. If it were filled with your most high deserts?

If it were = even if it were. The poet modestly implies that the deserts and superb qualitiesof the youth are too large and abundant for his pen to describe adequately. He wishes to fill his verse with them, but finds that it is beyond him. The clash of tenses between will l.1 and were l.2 has worried some commentators, but the meaning is clear enough.

3. Though yet heaven knows it is but as a tomb

but as a tomb = like a tomb. A hint of the exegi monumentum theme which has already been sounded in the previous two sonnets and reaches fruition in 63, 65 and especially 81:
Your monument shall be my gentle verse,
Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read;
And tongues to be your being shall rehearse,
When all the breathers of this world are dead;
Here it is the negative side of tombs which is emphasised. They hide life, and do not disclose it.

4. Which hides your life, and shows not half your parts.

parts = qualities, talents, characteristics. But also with a hint of bodily parts.

5. If I could write the beauty of your eyes,

If I could write = if I could describe

6. And in fresh numbers number all your graces,

in fresh numbers number = in fresh verses enumerate; the first numbers is a noun meaning verses, the second is a verb meaning to count. Verses were sometimes referred to as numbers because of their musical quality, and the fact that one could count the number of stresses to a line etc.
graces = gracious qualities.

7. The age to come would say 'This poet lies;

The age to come = people who live in future ages.

8. Such heavenly touches ne'er touched earthly faces.'

touches = descriptions, strokes of a painter's brush (figuratively);
ne'er touched = never belonged to, never were placed on, were never relevant to.

9. So should my papers, yellowed with their age,

my papers - the papers on which my sonnets are written; the sonnets themselves.
yellowed with their age - white paper discolours as it ages. There is probably a hint also of the yellowing of skin with age, as in old men, who figure in the next line.

10. Be scorned, like old men of less truth than tongue,

Old men were proverbially thought to gabble endless nonsense (tongue = speech). Justice Shallow depicts the type in 2H.4.III.2.

11. And your true rights be termed a poet's rage

true rights = the rights of praise which are your due because of your beauty;
a poet's rage = the frenzied inspiration which drives a poet to create. In the ancient world there was not a great distinction made between a poet and a seer, the latter especially being thought to be inspired with divine fervour. Cassandra is probably the original, the prophetess seized by the inspiration of Apollo, but doomed never to be believed. At Delos the priestesses were thought to have inhaled sulphurous fumes which intoxicated them, and in such a state they uttered their prophecies. In Virgil Aeneas visits the Sybil in her cave on the coast of Euboean Cumae. 'Meanwhile the prophetess, who had not yet submitted to Apollo, ran furious riot in the cave, as if in hope of casting the God's power from her brain. Yet all the more did he torment her frantic countenance, overmastering her wild thoughts, and crushed her and shaped her to his will. So at last, of their own accord, the hundred tremendous orifices in the shrine swung open, and they carried through the air the answer which the prophetess gave.' (Aeneid Bk VI, Penguin translation). Apollo was the god of prophecy, but also, with his lyre, the god of poetry. For poetry sprang originally from a religious tradition. The ancient traditions, through the learning of poets such as Spenser, Sydney, Drayton and Jonson, had permeated through to the consciousness of the age, and the poet's frenzy became a byword for poetic creation.

12. And stretched metre of an antique song:

This was one of Keat's favourite lines. stretched metre suggests that the metre of the line in old poems was irregular, or perhaps too long. antique as well as meaning old, could have a secondary meaning of bizarre, odd, slightly insane.

13. But were some child of yours alive that time,

But were some child = but if some child were.
that time = at that time in the future when these verses are perused (and doubted).

14. You should live twice, in it, and in my rhyme.

This is the final encouragement to the youth to have children, and it is set alongside his potential immortality through the poet's verse, as perhaps the better of the two alternatives.

1. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

This is taken usually to mean 'What if I were to compare thee etc?' The stock comparisons of the loved one to all the beauteous things in nature hover in the background throughout. One also remembers Wordsworth's lines:
We'll talk of sunshine and of song,
And summer days when we were young,
Sweet childish days which were as long
As twenty days are now.
Such reminiscences are indeed anachronistic, but with the recurrence of words such as 'summer', 'days', 'song', 'sweet', it is not difficult to see the permeating influence of the Sonnets on Wordsworth's verse.

2. Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

The youth's beauty is more perfect than the beauty of a summer day. more temperate - more gentle, more restrained, whereas the summer's day might have violent excesses in store, such as are about to be described.

3. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

May was a summer month in Shakespeare's time, because the calendar in use lagged behind the true sidereal calendar by at least a fortnight.
darling buds of May - the beautiful, much loved buds of the early summer; favourite flowers.

4. And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Legal terminology. The summer holds a lease on part of the year, but the lease is too short, and has an early termination (date).

5. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

Sometime = on occasion, sometimes;
the eye of heaven = the sun.

6. And often is his gold complexion dimmed,

his gold complexion = his (the sun's) golden face. It would be dimmed by clouds and on overcast days generally.

7. And every fair from fair sometime declines,

All beautiful things (every fair) occasionally become inferior in comparison with their essential previous state of beauty (from fair). They all decline from perfection.

8. By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:

By chance accidents, or by the fluctuating tides of nature, which are not subject to control, nature's changing course untrimmed.
untrimmed - this can refer to the ballast (trimming) on a ship which keeps it stable; or to a lack of ornament and decoration. The greater difficulty however is to decide which noun this adjectival participle should modify. Does it refer to nature, or chance, or every fair in the line above, or to the effect of nature's changing course? KDJ adds a comma after course, which probably has the effect of directing the word towards all possible antecedents. She points out that nature's changing course could refer to women's monthly courses, or menstruation, in which case every fair in the previous line would refer to every fair woman, with the implication that the youth is free of this cyclical curse, and is therefore more perfect.

9. But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Referring forwards to the eternity promised by the ever living poet in the next few lines, through his verse.

10. Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,

Nor shall it (your eternal summer) lose its hold on that beauty which you so richly possess. ow'st = ownest, possess.
By metonymy we understand 'nor shall you lose any of your beauty'.

11. Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

Several half echoes here. The biblical ones are probably 'Oh death where is thy sting? Or grave thy victory?' implying that death normally boasts of his conquests over life. And Psalms 23.3.: 'Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil ' In classical literature the shades flitted helplessly in the underworld like gibbering ghosts. Shakespeare would have been familiar with this through Virgil's account of Aeneas' descent into the underworld in Aeneid Bk. VI.

12. When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,

in eternal lines = in the undying lines of my verse. Perhaps with a reference to progeny, and lines of descent, but it seems that the procreation theme has already been abandoned.
to time thou grow'st - you keep pace with time, you grow as time grows.

13. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

For as long as humans live and breathe upon the earth, for as long as there are seeing eyes on the eart.

14. So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

That is how long these verses will live, celebrating you, and continually renewing your life. But one is left with a slight residual feeling that perhaps the youth's beauty will last no longer than a summer's day, despite the poet's proud boast. 

1. So is it not with me as with that Muse,

I do not follow the typical inspiration of the type of poetry which.... Muse = one of the nine goddesses of poetry. The name can stand symbolically for the poet him(her)self, or for a poem, or for a style of writing.

2. Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse,

Stirred by a painted beauty = (who is) inspired by a woman who uses cosmetics; inspired by a painting of a beautiful woman? The accusation that those who inspired love sonnets were sirens disguised as beauties is unjust, since most poets of the Renaissance and earlier did not think that their womenfolk were only superficially fair, or that they covered their ugliness with cosmetics. It is more likely that the painted beauty is a reference to the extravagant and artificial conceits which the accused poets are in the habit of using in their verse (as described in the next few lines). Hence one could paraphrase it as 'Who is stirred to use artificial comparisons in his verse'.

3. Who heaven itself for ornament doth use

Who = the poet (Muse);
for ornament doth use = makes use of to enhance his descriptions of his loved one. There is a suggestion here of blasphemy, as if the beloved is being exalted to the level of God by the irreverent accused writer.

4. And every fair with his fair doth rehearse,

every fair = every beautiful object;
doth rehearse = puts on the stage, tiresomely repeats in conjunction with his own beloved.

5. Making a couplement of proud compare

Joining the two together in a stately description. (The two things are his fair loved one and the various items which follow in the next two lines). compare = comparison.

6. With sun and moon, with earth and sea's rich gems,

In fact Shakespeare uses similar imagery in the sonnets. In 7 the beloved is the sun; in 35 he is compared to roses, a silver fountain, the moon and sun; in 52 to jewels; in 1 he is the world's fresh ornament/ And only herald to the gaudy spring; frequently he is a rose, also a lily; more extravagantly, in 53 and 68 he is the object from which all other things derive their beauty.

7. With April's first-born flowers, and all things rare,

first born flowers - the first flowers of the spring are more beautiful because of their rarity, and they are always especially welcome because they herald the spring. First born children were also traditionally thought to be the most precious.
rare = precious, rarely found.

8. That heaven's air in this huge rondure hems.

rondure = roundness, sphericity. A neologism probably coined by Shakespeare. The repeated 'h' sounds make the line difficult to speak, as though mimicking the hugeness of the task of enclosing all the earth's wonderful richness in the hemisphere of the surrounding air, or the sphere of the universe.

9. O! let me, true in love, but truly write,

A declaration of truth in love, which must be matched by an equal fidelity in writing.

10. And then believe me, my love is as fair

Lines 10-12 are the pay off as it were to the criticisms of 'that Muse'. This poet will not degrade his beloved with false comparisons. Instead he will speak truthfully, and doing so, he declares that his love is as fair as etc. etc.

11. As any mother's child, though not so bright

any mother's child is proverbial for anyone.

12. As those gold candles fixed in heaven's air:

those gold candles fixed in heaven's air = the stars. He uses an exaggerated description as a mockery of the style of 'that Muse'.

13. Let them say more that like of hearsay well;

Let those who love gossip and unsubstantiated (usually false) reports say more if they wish.

14. I will not praise that purpose not to sell.

I am not a dishonest salesman, and am not going to indulge in praising that which I have no wish to part with. that refers to I at the start of the line. Hence, 'I, who have no intention of selling you, will not indulge in vacuous praise.' A salesman, then as now, was considered to be mendacious.

1. Mine eye hath played the painter and hath steeled,

My eye has behaved like a painter and has engraved, as with a steel stylus... steel'd is changed to stelled by many editors, on the authority of Capell's emendation, in which case it would mean set, placed, or painted.

2. Thy beauty's form in table of my heart;

An image of your beauty ... in my heart. table = anything on which one can write or draw, a blank sheet.

3. My body is the frame wherein 'tis held,

It (your image) is framed, as a picture is framed, by my body which surrounds it.

4. And perspective that is best painter's art.

This has been rather unsuccessfully glossed by editors. It can hardly stand alone, as an abstract comment on painting (thus: 'the use of perspective is an essential part of a good painter's, or of all painters', skills;') because one is left wondering why such a comment should have any relevance here, unless it can in some way be connected with the painter in l.1. I would prefer to take perspective with wherein 'tis held, and have both frame and perspective referring to the setting of Thy beauty's form. This necessitates the alteration of it to that in l.4. We would then read
My body is the frame wherein 'tis held,
And perspective that is best painter's art
with the meaning 'Your image, your beauteous form, is held both by my body which acts as its frame and by the science of perspective which sets it in a space in its due proportions'.

There may also be a reference to the Elizabethan fashion for 'perspective painting', an art which involved the painting of a distorted image which when viewed through a small aperture placed at the side converted the image into something more normal. Perhaps the image of the beloved could only be seen properly by gazing through the aperture of the eyes into the heart, where the picture lay. (See the portrait of Edward VI below).

A perspective painting of Edward VI in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Viewed through a small hole placed at the left of the picture the face becomes almost normal.

 The Portrait of Edward 'correctly' viewed.

5. For through the painter must you see his skill,

Many have worried about the change from thou, thy and thine to you and your in this and the following line. It does not occur elsewhere in these sonnets. One explanation which has not been fully explored is that you and your are used in the more general sense of one and the, as in 'and water is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body' Ham.V.i.173. In this case the generalisation is of a painter's skills. The primary meaning is therefore 'It is through the painter that one may observe how art depicts nature, and how and where the image of anything is best delineated.'

6. To find where your true image pictured lies,

See previous line. your = the.

7. Which in my bosom's shop is hanging still,

The meaning now slides back to your image in its more immediate sense. Hence: 'My eye, which has learnt all the skill of the artist's trade, paints you perfectly, and that painted image of you is hanging in my workshop, in my heart, forever'. still = always, forever. shop does not imply retail outlet, but is much closer to our workshop or studio.

8. That hath his windows glazed with thine eyes.

That = which, sc. my bosom's shop has, as its windows, your eyes.

9. Now see what good turns eyes for eyes have done:

Your eyes and my eyes have done each other a good turn. This and the following three lines lend support to the interpretation that the image referred to is that of oneself seen in miniature in the pupil of the loved one's eye (seeing babies). The difficulty I have in accepting it is that the image of the lovely youth which the youth himself sees in Shakespeare's pupils is not one which Sh. himself sees at all, for he only sees himself reflected in the youth's eyes. Therefore it is not clear how he can transfer the image to his breast. However, that is probably too modern and literal an assessment, and the Elizabethans probably believed that the image which was discernible in another person's pupils of the scene they viewed was actually the image itself which descended somehow or other into that person's heart. For how else could one build a science of optics other than by observation? If one observes that there is a scene in miniature suspended in a looker's eyes, it is logical to suppose that that is the scene which the looker sees and that it is preserved therein by transference to the heart and memory.

10. Mine eyes have drawn thy shape, and thine for me

This returns us to the painter imagery of l.1. Lines 10-12 summarize what 1-8 describe, with the addition of the sun as an interested viewer. See the next line.

11. Are windows to my breast, where-through the sun

The bosom's shop of l.7 is glazed with the lover's eyes. They are effectively its windows. Since it contains an image of the youth, all wish to look inside, including the sun. The sun also stands for the youth, gazing upon himself.

12. Delights to peep, to gaze therein on thee;

Reminiscent of Donne's lines
Busie old foole, unruly Sunne,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windowes, and through curtaines call on us?
Donne. The Sunne Rising.

13. Yet eyes this cunning want to grace their art,

cunning = skill, aptitude.
want = lack. Eyes suffer from the defect of not knowing how to show what lies inside the heart.

14. They draw but what they see, know not the heart.

They only depict the outward form. 46 expands this theme.

1. Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage

See the comment above. A vassal was a lowly person in the employ or service of a great lord. The word had feudal associations, suggestive of serfdom. vassalage is the duty and service of the vassal. Lord is possibly a reference to the title of the addressee, as champions of Pembroke or Southampton would infer. It is, however, just as likely to be a general term invoking the ideas of majesty of the beloved (in the eyes of the lover) and its concomitant vassalage.

2. Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit,

Your merit ensures that I perform my duty of serving you without question;
strongly knit = tightly bound (to serving you).

3. To thee I send this written embassage,

embassage = a message brought by an ambassador. This sonnet itself could be conceived as an ambassador carrying a message. Q's spelling of the word is ambassage. Compare also 

In tender embassy of love to thee, 45

and see the note thereon - (Sonnet 45).

4. To witness duty, not to show my wit:

wit = creative ability, invention, intellectual talents; wisdom. (OED.1, 2.a., 6.a.). The application to 'humour' or 'sense of humour' is somewhat later, although 'cleverness of thinking' almost implies the ability to make humorous connections between things. The repetition of wit in this line (first as part of witness) and then in the complementary words duty and wit in the following line, are rhetorical flourishes worthy of an accomplished orator. See KDJ.Sonn.p.162.nn2-5,4. for the Greek rhetorical names.

5. Duty so great, which wit so poor as mine

wit = quickness of intellect, understanding, intelligence. See note above.

6. May make seem bare, in wanting words to show it,

My lack of intelligence may make the duty and this written embassage seem bare and meaningless, through being unable to supply adequate words to show its meaning and purport.

7. But that I hope some good conceit of thine

But that I hope = nevertheless I retain a hope that;
some good conceit of thine = some imaginative inspiration on your part.

8. In thy soul's thought, all naked, will bestow it:

In thy soul's thought = deep in your heart;
all naked - refers back to duty, line 5, which his poor wit makes seem bare;
will bestow it = will stow it away, until etc. Also with a suggestion of bestowing riches upon it; consequently, will redeem its unworthiness.

9. Till whatsoever star that guides my moving,

Until whatever star it is that directs my life. The stars were thought to emit invisible fluids which affected the lives of humans.

10. Points on me graciously with fair aspect,

Points on me = Looks down on me, points its rays at me;
with fair aspect - The aspects and conjunctions of stars and planets were important considerations in astrology. When the conjunctions were in certain favourable states, the planets' aspects were then said to be favourable. Planets were regarded as wandering stars, and were not strictly separated from stars proper, as they are in modern astronomy. Hence the line paraphrases as 'Looks on me with a benign and gracious blessing, foretelling good fortune'.

11. And puts apparel on my tottered loving,

The duty and written embassage, which were shown to be naked and bare, are now supplanted by loving, which is also tattered (tottered being a frequent spelling) and in rags, and needs to be clothed by a favourable star, which puts apparel (clothing) on it.

12. To show me worthy of thy sweet respect:

So that I may become worthy of your attention (and love).
respect = consideration, care, esteem.

13. Then may I dare to boast how I do love thee;

Then = when I have achieved the improvements in fortune listed above.

14. Till then, not show my head where thou mayst prove me.

not show my head - I am inclined to think that this is a an image from warfare, as in 'Do not show your head above the parapet' rather than the proverbial 'He dare not show his head for debt'. There is inherent danger in loving above one's social station.
where thou may'st prove me = where you may put me to the test (by the awkwardness of the situation). Or, where you may cause me to show how true and resolute my love is.

1. Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,

The toil is either daily work, or the toil of travel, mentioned in the following line. travel, l.2, was frequently spelt travail, and there was little differentiation between the two words.

2. The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;

This seems to imply a journey, as also do 48, 50 and 51. The end of the journey would, as often as not, be a bed at an Inn. Travel was not easy, over roads full of potholes, crumbling bridges, and with the possibility of robbery being not too remote. The only practicable form of transport was on horseback, as sonnets 50 & 51 show. Here a similar journey away from the youth seems to be described.

3. But then begins a journey in my head

I.e. a mental journey to visit his beloved, now that the physical journey of the day is completed.

4. To work my mind, when body's work's expired:

To work my mind = which keeps my mind active and toiling,
when body's work's expired = when bodily toil is completed.

5. For then my thoughts--from far where I abide--

from far where I abide = far away from you, from where I am staying currently

6. Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,

Intend a zealous pilgrimage = start off on a journey. To intend a journey, meaning to commence or undertake a journey, was common parlance, deriving ultimately from Latin iter intendere. Pilgrimages were undertaken by the faithful in Shakespeare's day as acts of devotion, involving long and tedious travelling, often on foot, or horseback, for several weeks, to visit some holy shrine. Chaucer's pilgrims in the Canterbury tales were on horseback, but their journey was to take many days. There is nothing which corresponds to the experience in today's world of easy travel, and for Shakespeare's contemporary readers a zealous pilgrimage was a work of devotion lasting several weeks or months.
zealous = earnest, passionate, devoted.

7. And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,

drooping eyelids = eyelids heavy with sleep.

8. Looking on darkness which the blind do see:

His thoughts, travelling to his beloved, keep his eyes wide open, although they are tired (drooping), and he sees the darkness, as if he were a blind man, who sees only darkness.

9. Save that my soul's imaginary sight

Save that = Except that;
my soul's imaginary sight = the inner vision which my soul has, by using imagination.

10. Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,

Presents thy shadow = Sets in front of me your image. For shadow = image compare Sonn 43.4-5:
Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,
How would thy shadow's form form happy show,
where shadow is used in several different senses ( image, shadow, shade, examples).
my sightless view continues the imagery of the blind man, darkness, and lack of vision. The blind man's sightless view manages to see things because of the additional acuteness of the other senses that a blind person develops. The poet here sees nothing real, because of the night's blackness, but his imagination conjures up the image of the beloved to his eyes.

11. Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,

which - i.e. your shadow.
a jewel etc. - the contrast is between the brightness of a diamond, or any other rich jewel, and the blackness of unseeing night.
ghastly night - night traditionally has some pejorative epithet attached to it. It was the time when evil deeds were most often done, the time when ghosts walked, and it was the colour of hell. Cf. Lady Macbeth's words, when contemplating murder:
Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry 'Hold, hold!' Mac.I.5.47-51.

12. Makes black night beauteous, and her old face new.

Night's face is old because night is as old as the world itself, even older according to Genesis I.4-5, 10.

13. Lo! thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,

Lo! thus = So it is that, as I have shown, etc. Lo has a mild exclamatory force, equivalent to 'Behold!', 'Look now!'.

14. For thee, and for myself, no quiet find.

For thee, and for myself - i.e. for both of us, because we are two hearts in one. Also, my thoughts, in visiting you, must cause you too to be awake.

1. How can I then return in happy plight,

return - i.e. from the journey described in the previous sonnet, a journey that his mind takes when he is asleep, or trying to sleep.
in happy plight = in a happy state of mind, in a contented frame of mind.

2. That am debarred the benefit of rest?

That am debarred = since I am deprived of, prevented from taking etc.

3. When day's oppression is not eas'd by night,

Day's oppression = the oppressiveness of the day, (in that you are absent and I cannot enjoy your company). See line 8.

4. But day by night and night by day oppressed,

Day is oppressed by night's sleeplessness, and night by the toil of being far off from the beloved youth.

5. And each, though enemies to either's reign,

In mythology Day and Night, personified as gods (or goddesses) would hate each other. Night was considered to be evil, and Day brought back light and goodness.

6. Do in consent shake hands to torture me,

shake hands - i.e. as confirming a bargain. The imagery is perhaps that of securing a business transaction. Elsewhere Shakespeare uses the hand shake as a simple gesture of farewell. For example:
O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more:
Fortune and Antony part here; even here
Do we shake hands. AC.IV.12.18-20.

7. The one by toil, the other to complain

The one by toil - i.e. day gives him work to do, or makes him travel; the other to complain - night forces him to commune with his thoughts, which are querulous.

8. How far I toil, still farther off from thee.

What a great distance it is from you that I am when I forced to labour on this journey.
still = ever, always.

9. I tell the day, to please him thou art bright,

him refers to the day; thou refers to the beloved. Thus 'In order to please the day, I tell it that my beloved is bright, thus easing it of the burden of perpetually giving light to the world'. Or 'I tell the day that my beloved radiates light deliberately in order to please it (the day), by giving light when it is overcast'. See the following line.

10. And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven:

him = the day, as in the line above. The thought is that the beauty of his beloved makes the day beautiful and compensates for it being at times gloomy and overcast.

11. So flatter I the swart-complexion'd night,

So flatter I = I also flatter; in just the same way I flatter. flatter could also have the meaning of 'stroke'.
swart-complexion'd = of dark complexion, grim faced.

12. When sparkling stars twire not thou gild'st the even.

twire = twinkle. When the skies are overcast stars cannot be seen.
gild'st = make golden; enrich with gold. 'To gild' is to cover with gold leaf, a craft much called upon by the wealthy and powerful.

the even = the evening.

13. But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer,

draw = stretch, extend. Possibly a reference to torture, the drawing of someone on the rack. The word was alos used of the ultimate punishment of being 'hung, drawn and quartered', referring to the pulling out of the entrails from the body.

14. And night doth nightly make grief's length seem stronger.

I am inclined to think that longer and stronger might have been interchanged in these two lines or that length in this line should read strength, as suggested by Capell.. This would give a more pleasing assonance to the final line, whereas grief's length seem stronger reads rather clumsily. It is difficult to make a length stronger. But perhaps the awkwardness of the line is intended deliberately to echo the nightmare of grief.  

 

1. When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

sessions - the sitting of a court. We still use phrases such as quarter sessions in connection with legal sittings. The court imagery is continued with summon up in the following line.

2. I summon up remembrance of things past,

summon up - as in summoning a witness. See above. But there is also the meaning of summoning up spirits, as if remembrances of the past were spirits which could be called back from the grave.
remembrance of things past - the phrase occurs in the bible also. Wisdom of Solomon, OT Apocrypha, 11.12.

3. I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,

I sigh the lack of = I sigh for the absence of, for the fact that I never attained...

4. And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:

Shakespeare uses the new/old contrast in two other sonnets
This were to be new made when thou art old, 2,
For as the sun is daily new and old, 76.
The freshness of his grief is contrasted with the age of his sorrows, which, to heighten his sense of despair, he resurrects.
my dear time's waste = the squandering of my precious time. waste also conveys the meaning of destruction and barrenness.

5. Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,

Then can I weep, from an eye which does not often shed tears. Drowning one's eyes suggests copious weeping.
unused - Othello speaks of himself as not often weeping
......of one whose subdued eyes,
Albeit unused to the melting mood,
Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees
Their medicinal gum.V.ii.135.
Men were expected not to weep (then as now). See Laertes words when he cannot hold back his tears for Ophelia. Ham.IV.7.185-9.

6. For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,

dateless = without end.

7. And weep afresh love's long since cancelled woe,

And weep once more over the pain of one or more love affairs, though I have long since written off the sorrow associated with them.

8. And moan the expense of many a vanished sight:

the expense = the cost, the drain on (my) resources. The phrase probably refers more to emotional loss than to anything else, although it does link with line 3 above-I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought, especially as sight had an archaic meaning of sigh, though fallen mostly into disuse by Shakespeare's time.

9. Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,

grievances = griefs; injuries done to me;
foregone = in the past, that have gone before. Also perhaps, because of the similarity of the words, with some of the meaning of foredone, 'killed, dead and gone'. Compare:
Your eldest daughters have fordone them selves,
And desperately are dead. KL.V.3.291-2.

10. And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er

Woes (sorrows) are listed as in an account book, which he heavily peruses and tots up;
tell o'er - this is an accounting phrase, referring to the reading over and summation of lists of figures. We still have tellers in banks, although the word is falling into disuse.

11. The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,

Recounting these lists to himself makes him sad; hence sad account; sad also had the meaning of 'serious, weighty'.
fore-bemoaned = wept for in former times.

12. Which I new pay as if not paid before.

The sorrow caused by an earlier grievance requires that a debit of tears be chalked up against it. Although this debit has been cleared in the past, he now pays it over again, as if he had not paid it off before.

13. But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,

The denouement of this concluding couplet is less dramatic than in the previous sonnet, in which the whole sestet lifts the poet from the doldrums. But it is no less effective. The simplicity and directness of the language contrasts with the heaping up of gloomy colours and sorrows which afflict him in the first 12 lines.

14. All losses are restor'd and sorrows end.

All losses are restored - this is probably the language of a legal settlement. restore = to make restitution for damages. OED.2.a.

 

 

 

1. Full many a glorious morning have I seen

Full many = very many.

2. Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye,

Flatter - also has the meaning to stroke. In its normal sense it conveys the idea of insincerity and deception, and ultimate disillusionment. Hence the morning sun was making the mountains appear more brilliant than they in fact were.
sovereign eye = majestic, kingly gaze. Note that here the usual flattery of king by subject has been reversed. The king flatters his courtiers, the mountains.

3. Kissing with golden face the meadows green,

The sun kisses the earth. The glorious morning is partly subsumed into the character of the sun, as a result of sovereign eye and kissing.

4. Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy;

Gilding = turning to gold; covering with gold.
 alchemy - this was the science which sought to discover how to turn base metals into gold. It was considered to be part magic, part science, and had a reputation for trickery and deceit. Nevertheless Elizabeth employed an alchemist in the early years of her reign, having been lured by the prospect of large sums of gold.

There are echoes in these opening lines from Sidney's Arcadia: But indeed, as we can better consider the sun's beauty by marking how he gilds these waters and mountains than by looking upon his own face, too glorious for our weak eyes, so it may be our conceits (not able to bear her sun staining excellency) will better weigh it by her works upon some meaner subject employed. ARC.1.1. (Peng.p.63.)

5. Anon permit the basest clouds to ride

Anon = very soon, almost immediately;
permit - the subject is morning line 1, and, by implication, the sky and the sun.
basest = blackest, dirtiest, of humble origin; low born. Cf. Edmund in King Lear:
...Why brand they us
With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base? I.2.9-10.
There is also a contrast with gilding and alchemy. Base metals were the ugly materials of the alchemist's study, which were destined to be turned into gold, the noblest metal of all.
to ride - as horsemen. The clouds ride on the face of heaven as horsemen ride on the face of the earth.

6. With ugly rack on his celestial face,

rack = a line or procession of moving clouds; thin, flying, broken clouds, or any portion of floating vapor in the sky.(Webster's) The winds in the upper region, which move the clouds above, which we call the rack, . . . pass without noise. Bacon.
his = the sun's, the sky's, the morning's.

7. And from the forlorn world his visage hide,

the forlorn world - the world becomes forlorn, presumably because it is darkened by the ugly rack of clouds, which hide the sun's celestial face (visage).

8. Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace:

Stealing = moving furtively, stealthily, like a thief.
with this disgrace = with the disgrace of having his visage blotted out. disgrace could also refer to physical disfigurement.

9. Even so my sun one early morn did shine,

my sun = the youth whom I love; you; the heavenly eye of my life. This is however the first mention of sun in the sonnet.

10. With all triumphant splendour on my brow;

all triumphant splendour = gloriously arrayed, in total splendour. triumph conveys the idea of a triumphal procession, a procession to commemorate the victory of a famous commander.
on my brow = upon my forehead, upon my face.

11. But out, alack, he was but one hour mine,

But, out, alack - editors gloss this as being an emphatic way of saying 'Alas', out being an intensifier, and cognate with its use in expressions such as 'out upon it!'. However I think it also has reference here to the sun, which was only 'out', i.e. shining, for one hour.
he was but one hour mine = I enjoyed his (the sun's, my love's) presence for only one hour.

12. The region cloud hath mask'd him from me now.

The region = the upper air, the upper region of the sky.
him = my love, (the sun).

13. Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth;

him....my love - these cannot both refer to the youth. If my love = the youth, then him must be the sun of 5-8 and 9-12, which has been disgraced by clouds ruining his face. But if him refers to the youth, then my love is 'my love for him', personified, which does not disdain him (the youth) for having become inaccessible.
no whit = not in the least, not a jot.

14. Suns of the world may stain when heaven's sun staineth.

The homophonic meaning, sons, is played upon. Sons of the flesh are also liable to blemish and disgrace, as heavenly suns are. stain can be used transitively or intransitively, so that the youth, as well as becoming stained himself, has passed the infection on to others.

 

The Alchemist 1661   Adriaen van Ostade

1. Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day,

Lines 1-2 echo the proverb 'Although the sun shines, leave not your cloak at home'.
didst thou = did you (the youth; the sun).

2. And make me travel forth without my cloak,

travel - Q gives the spelling travaile, and the words travel and travail seem to have been indistinguishable in Elizabethan orthography. 'Travel' in the modern sense has lost its association with pain and toil, and has become a separate word.
without my cloak = unprepared for bad wetaher.

3. To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way,

base clouds - almost a repetition of the phrase used in 33.5:
Anon permit the basest clouds to ride
o'ertake me in my way = overtake me as I set out, overtake me as I progressed on my journey.

4. Hiding thy bravery in their rotten smoke?

bravery = splendid appearance;
rotten smoke = noxious vapours. Mists, fogs and all exhalations from marshes and damp places were considered to be foul and dangerous.

5. 'Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break,

'Tis not enough = it is not a sufficient alleviation (of my pain and disgrace).
that through the cloud thou break = that you do on occasion break through the cloud (and bring sunshine). There is a hint here of 'even if you do', or 'given that you might'.

6. To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face,

Perhaps there is a suggestion here of the beloved youth wiping away tears from the lover's face.

7. For no man well of such a salve can speak,

For no man can speak well of, or praise, such a salve, that etc.
salve = ointment, lotion.

8. That heals the wound, and cures not the disgrace:

disgrace - the shame, the scar tissue, which remains after the wound has healed. The disgrace in this case is the shame of having been (publicly ?) rejected by the youth. Or whatever else (unknown to us) that is hinted at as the offence and sensual fault that is the cause of their estrangement. Disgrace also had the meaning of physical disfigurement, a meaning which is now lost.

9. Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief;

shame - in the sense of being ashamed of some offence commited; physic = medicine, medical treatment.

10. Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss:

repent - this, together with offender, cross, tears and ransom in lines 11 - 14 are words which invoke Christian teachings of sin, forgiveness and redemption. The tears of repentance in line 13, like Peter's tears on remembering what Jesus had said to him, also point to a strong New Testament echo. (See notes to the next two lines). One may question whether the poet would have risked the charge of blasphemy by linking himself to Christ in this way (he is the one betrayed, the one who has to bear the cross, the one who forgives, the one for whom tears of repentance are shed). It is possible that the first audience for these sonnets, the ones in the inner circle for whom they were originally written, would have picked up the tenuous allusions and enjoyed them for the richness of context which they add to the poem. They are blasphemous only if taken in a mocking sense, but when used to show that all human love is a mirror of divine love, even to the details when that love endures betrayal, they become things of beauty. See the Introductory Notes for a discussion of the lover and the beloved as Christ figures.  Here it is the poet who is the one betrayed by Peter who, even though he does repent, does not allay the suffering of Christ, (the onlie begotten). 

11. The offender's sorrow lends but weak relief

offender = he who has commited the sin, one who has stumbled morally. In the tale of Peter's denial of Christ, Jesus foretells that his disciples will 'be offended' because of him (i.e. caused to sin).
'Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered abroad.
But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice'. Matt.26.31-35.
See also Mark 14.26-30.
Note that to offend = to stumble morally, to commit sin. (OED.2.).

12. To him that bears the strong offence's cross.

cross - in the sense of burden, sorrow, Christ's cross, which was the burden of the world's sin. cross is Capell's emendation for Q's losse, which repeats the word from l.10. It seems a valid emendation, especially if one accepts the NT derivation of these lines. Matt. 10.38. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. Also Mark 10.34, Luke 9.23 & 14.27, esp. the latter: And whosever does not bear his cross...

strong = severe, harsh.

13. Ah! but those tears are pearl which thy love sheds,

pearls - pearls were jewels of costly price. They were also thought to have a medicinal value, if ground up and taken as a powder.
thy love = your love for me (causes to be shed).
sheds - Q gives the alternative, archaic spelling - sheeds - which preserves the rhyme.

14. And they are rich and ransom all ill deeds.

rich = precious, valuable (pearls were scarce then as now, and were a valuable jewel);
ransom - in the sense of redeem, do adequate penance for. But also 'pay the price of '. Sins could be regarded as running up a debt of punsihment which had to be paid off by the offender. 

 

1. No more be grieved atthat which thou hast done:

No more be grieved at = Do not feel any further sorrow because of;
that which thou hast done - either refers to the rejection of the lover in the previous two sonnets, or to the 'trespass' alluded to in this one, and perhaps also to the 'robbery' of 40-43.

2. Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud:

This is a traditional list of the faults of beautiful things.'No rose without a thorn' is proverbial.

3. Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,

stain - this recalls Suns of the world may stain from 33. There was a belief that clouds and mists brought pollution and contagion. Eclipses were thought to be potentially even more dangerous, foretelling destruction to the high and mighty of the world.

4. And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.

canker = worm or disease which destroys flowers.
The canker galls the infants of the spring,
Too oft before their buttons be disclosed Ham.1.3.39-40.
This canker that eats up Love's tender spring VA.656.

5. All men make faults, and even I in this,

make faults = commit sins, are prone to error. May allude to the doctrine of original sin, and the belief that human nature is inherently sinful.

6. Authorizing thy trespass with compare,

Authorizing - accented on the second syllable.
trespass = sin. As in the Lord's Prayer - forgive us our trespasses.
with compare = by making comparison(s), as in lines 1-4, the comparisons being false, in that sin is an offence against God, and cannot be justified by reasoned argument. The point here made is that the poet himself is guilty of sin in 'authorizing' his friend's trespass.

7. Myself corrupting, salving thy amiss,

Myself corrupting = sc. by commiting the sin of justifying your offence. salving thy amiss = softening, smoothing over your sin. We still use the phrase 'to salve one's conscience'. amiss = fault, sin. There are 40 occurrences of amiss in Shakespeare, and mostly the use of it is adjectival or adverbal, as e.g
For never anything can be amiss,
When simpleness and duty tender it. MND.5.1.82-3.
Only here and at 151.3 do we find it used as a noun, presumably based on the idea of 'doing something amiss'.

8. Excusing thy sins more than thy sins are;

Cappell emended Q's their.....their to thy.....thy, and this has been accepted by most editors. KDJ uses these.....these. If we accept thy the meaning is that 'I use such legerdemain in justifying your sins, that it would be sufficient to excuse sins of even greater magnitude'. GBE suggests the emendation of Excusing to Accusing and retaining their.....their.  I have used the Capell emendation.

9. For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense,

In defence of your sensual sin I bring in reason (sense).
sensual fault = fault involving one of the five senses; fault of sensuality or lust.
bring in = introduce as a topic or argument, or witness. This is probably intended in a legal sense, in view of the legal terminology which follows. There is also a pun on incense, enhancing the idea of loving and uncritical worship of the young man.
sense = reason.

10. Thy adverse party is thy advocate,

Thy adverse party = your legal opponent; it refers both to reason (sense) in the line above, and to the poet himself, who has taken up the defence of the youth, though being himself the injured party.
advocate = one who pleads in a court of law, an attorney.

11. And 'gainst myself a lawful plea commence:

a lawful plea commence = initiate an action at law (to plead that your cause is just).

12. Such civil war is in my love and hate,

I am at war with myself, both loving and hating you. The admission of hatred is surprising, indeed somewhat disturbing, given the previous assertions of love. This is the only occasion on which it is used to refer to the poet's emotions, although by contrast the youth's feelings towards him are often characterised as hatred, both for dramatic emphasis, and because it was traditional to describe the disdain of the beloved as hatred. Compare 90.1:
Then hate me when thou wilt, if ever now,
and 107.12:
But shoot not at me in your waken'd hate;

13. That I an accessary needs must be,

A continuation of the legal terminology. 'I am compelled to become an accomplice'. Compare:
To both their deaths shalt thou be accessary. R3.I.2.192.
accessary - the modern spelling is 'accessory'. The distinction of spelling used to be between the adjective and noun, a distinction now lost. (See OED.etym. under accessary). I give the Webster 1913 definition below.
accessary: (Law): One who, not being present, contributes as an assistant or instigator to the commission of an offense. Accessary before the fact: (Law): one who commands or counsels an offense, not being present at its commission. -- Accessary after the fact, one who, after an offense, assists or shelters the offender, not being present at the commission of the offense. This word, as used in law, is spelt accessory by Blackstone and many others; but in this sense is spelt accessary by Bouvier, Burrill, Burns, Whishaw, Dane, and the Penny Cyclopedia; while in other senses it is spelt accessory. In recent text-books on criminal law the distinction is not preserved, the spelling being either accessary or accessory.
Q's reading is accessary.
needs must be = am compelled to be.

14. To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me.

which = who.
robs - this suggests the stealing of a lover, as in 40, 42, (or the lover who steals). On the other hand it might be used simply as the necessary adjunct of being a thief. Or perhaps the robbery is of reason and good sense, for the poet's world has become topsy-turvy, and he enters a plea against himself.

1. Let me confess that we two must be twain,

Let me confess = I acknowledge the fact that. There is an echo here from the confessional of the words spoken before admitting one's sins. Confiteor Deo omnipotenti  I confess to almighty God. Also probably a glance forward to the opening of Sonn.116:
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments.

twain = separated, as two separate individuals. But there must also be the residual meaning of 'a couple', as in to bless this twain, that they may prosperous be. Temp.IV.1.104. So that the overt meaning of divorce has a strong undercurrent of its opposite undermining it, caused by the echoes, suggestions and remembrances of fidelity, 'let me confess that we two are eternally inseparable'.

2. Although our undivided loves are one:

SB (p.192) points out that this whole sonnet is underpinned by the Pauline teaching on marriage, Eph.5.25-33. Love unites two people and makes them one.

3. So shall those blots that do with me remain,

If we take this sonnet as the youth's apologia, then those blots are the same as the stains, disgraces and ill deeds alluded to in 33-35. Otherwise we may take it that the poet attaches to himself some of the youth's guilt, that guilt being inseparable from himself; or that the social divide which casts him beyond the pale and is referred to in Sonns.87, 110, 111, and perhaps in this tetrad (33-36) remains as a stain upon his person.

4. Without thy help, by me be borne alone.

HV (p.193) detects here a sense of rankling injustice. SB (p.193) reminds us that the use of borne is suggestive of a pregnant girl being abandoned to bear her child without help and in utter misery. Alternatively, if the youth is taken to be the speaker, there could be a sense of defiance and even triumph - 'I can bear this on my own; I do not need your help'.

5. In our two loves there is but one respect,

one respect = one aim, one concern, a singleness of thought. But with a suggestion that the youth is (selfishly) obliged to take care of (have respect for) his reputation and prospects.

6. Though in our lives a separable spite,

a separable spite = an evil fate which separates us; a separation which vexes us. Spite has the meaning of something malignant which operates to one's detriment. Cf.

The time is out of joint. O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right. Ham.I.5.189-90.
O spite! too old to be engaged to young. MND.I.1.138.
Also in the Sonnets:
So I, made lame by Fortune's dearest spite, 37
Kill me with spites yet we must not be foes. 40
Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow, 90
When other petty griefs have done their spite, 90

7. Which though it alter not love's sole effect,

it = the separable spite in l.6 above. love's sole effect = the essential nature of love. Audibly one could take it as 'the effect of love on one's soul'.

8. Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love's delight.

it = the separable spite. sweet hours from love's delight = the sweet hours that we would otherwise spend together.

9. I may not evermore acknowledge thee,

I may not evermore = I am restricted constantly, continually (the usual meaning of evermore in Shakespeare), so that I am unable to etc. Cf. That she reserves it evermore about her / To kiss and talk to. OTH.III.3.299-300. And its two other uses in the Sonnets:
Yet this thy praise cannot be so thy praise,
To tie up envy evermore enlarged 70;
And
Past cure I am, now Reason is past care,
And frantic-mad with evermore unrest; 147.
Although here it does seem to have more of its modern meaning of 'for all time, for eternity'.

10. Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame,

bewailed guilt = guilt which has been wept for, repented of. This seems to recall Ah! but those tears are pearl which thy love sheds of the previous sonnet. It could shame the poet by drawing attention to the fault and to the disgrace thereof, and perhaps also because tears were unmanly.

11. Nor thou with public kindness honour me,

See the introductory note above. The honour could be from poet to patron, or from noble youth to socially inferior (and besotted) admirer.

12. Unless thou take that honour from thy name:

By honouring me you subtract honour from yourself. (This can apply to either the poet or the youth).

13. But do not so, I love thee in such sort,

The final couplet is used again in Sonn.96. See the Introductory note above for a possible explanation.
In such sort = so much, in such a way, with such intensity.

14. As thou being mine, mine is thy good report.

As thou being mine - Cf. l.2: because their undivided loves are one. mine is thy good report = your good reputation is as much yours as it is mine, it affects us equally, (and thus I must ensure that it is not damaged by my waywardness).

1. As a decrepit father takes delight

a decrepit father = a father worn down with age. In Elizabethan times a man might consider himself old when he reached his thirties. Diet and the multitude of untreatable diseases all contributed to a rapid decline. Shakespeare was probably in his thirties when he wrote this.  Indeed it may be that he was 37 and the sonnet is in some sense a 'dating' sonnet.  See the Introductory Notes which discuss the links of this sonnet to Psalm 37. 

2. To see his active child do deeds of youth,

I.e. as a compensation for his own inability to be active.

3. So I, made lame by Fortune's dearest spite,

made lame - some commentators have suggested that this be taken literally, and that Shakespeare must have been lame. It is more likely that the lameness caused by Fortune is metaphoric. Cf. Speak of my lameness, and I straight will halt, 89, which suggests that normally he did not limp. dearest spite = most severe malignancy.

4. Take all my comfort of thy worth and truth;

Take all my comfort of = derive all my comfort from. 

worth and truth are qualities which link the beloved to Christ, particularly the words of St. John's Gospel,  And the same word became fleshe, and dwelt among vs ( and we sawe the glory of it, as the glory of the only begotten sonne of the father) full of grace and trueth. John 1. 14.  Bishop's Bible 1568.  The echo is not exact, but the youth is often praised for his grace, as e.g. in Sonn 17

If I could write the beauty of your eyes
And in fresh numbers number all your graces,

See the Introductory Notes for further discussion.

5. For whether beauty, birth, or wealth, or wit,

All these might be taken as the traditional inheritance of the aristocrat, whether real or imagined. In Shakespeare's day, as in almost any age before the 20th century, there was a widespread belief that upper class people were naturally better in every respect and that genetic excellence was theirs by inheritance. Aristos is the Greek word for 'best', from which the word 'aristocracy' is formed, meaning 'rule by the best'. These best (people) were of course by definition the upper classes. This belief is still alive today, but more subject to questioning by modern scientific investigation. 

6. Or any of these all, or all, or more,

The superabundance of all these qualities, and the way they seem to burst out of the boundaries of expressing them, as out of a magician's hat, each one causing new wonderment, enhances the expectation of where it might lead. Are we to see a new monarch crowned, or a new era proclaimed? Surely they are enough to make the youth, or the beloved poet who sings his praises, immortal? Yet there is a slight suggestion that it is all empty nothingness, because the natural expectation of words at the end of this line leads one to anticipate Or any of these all, or all, or none, by analogy with the phrase 'all or nothing'. So that the inherent hint remains that perhaps the youth is, after all, an empty shell.

7. Entitled in thy parts, do crowned sit,

Entitled in thy parts - the imagery is perhaps from heraldry, with the various qualities, beauty, birth, wealth, wit, personified and sitting crowned in the quarters of the shield. The general meaning is 'whichever of these qualities is held by you, as of right (entitlement), in whichever part of you they reign, I latch on to them etc'. Entitled = having the right to a title, having the right to bear a coat of arms.

8. I make my love engrafted to this store:

I make my love engrafted to = I graft myself lovingly on to them. The Q spelling is ingrafted, possibly underlining the intimacy of the relationship. To this store = to the store and abundance of your good qualities.

9. So then I am not lame, poor, nor despised,

Referring back to l.3, but also to other sonnets, e.g. 29 When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes...

10. Whilst that this shadow doth such substance give

The imagery shifts from being engrafted, and bearing a title, to that of deriving sustenance from the beneficent shade offered by the youth. The meaning is approximately 'While your shadow and your influence pours on to me such abundance of well-being, such absolute reality of existence'. The sudden appearance of substance and shadow in this sonnet is odd, and I suspect that it may be an oblique reference to the doctrine of transubstantiation, playing on the idea of the beloved as the Christ figure.   There must be a link in thought also to 53

What is your substance, whereof are you made,
That millions of strange shadows on you tend?

See the Introductory Notes for further discussion of these points.  

 

Shakespeare often used the substance/shadow dichotomy, which he seems to have been rather fond of. These are the instances of its use in the plays.

COUNTESS of A. Then have I substance too.
TALBOT No, no, I am but shadow of myself:
You are deceived, my substance is not here; 1H6-2-3

That Talbot is but shadow of himself?
These are his substance, sinews, arms and strength, 1H6-2-3

To your most gracious hands, that are the substance
Of that great shadow I did represent; 2H6-1-1

Which dreams indeed are ambition, for the very
substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream. Ham.II.2

.....Yet look how far
The substance of my praise doth wrong this shadow
In underprizing it, so far this shadow
Doth limp behind the substance. MV.III.2.126-9

That I have purchased at an infinite rate, and that hath taught me to say this:
'Love like a shadow flies when substance love pursues;
Pursuing that that flies, and flying what pursues'. MW.II.2.206-9.

These references may be useful in dating this sonnet. See further notes Sonnet 37

The usual direction of traffic is from substance to shadow, in that the substance gives the shadow its being. Here I suspect there is a certain delight derived from suggesting that even the youth's shadow has more power and substance than most people's substance per se.

11. That I in thy abundance am sufficed,

So that I have sufficient for myself from your abundant supply of excellence. Cf from Psalm 37

.. the meeke spirited shall possesse the earth: and shalbe delighted in the aboundaunce of peace. PS.37.11.

12. And by a part of all thy glory live.

A mere part of your glory is enough to give life and being to me.

13. Look what is best, that best I wish in thee:

Look what is best = whatever (in the world) is best. As in Sonn.9. Look what an unthrift in the world doth spend

14. This wish I have; then ten times happy me!

This wish I have = My wish is granted. ten times happy me. The ten times is probably used to suggest a large number of times. It occurs here, in Sonn.6 and in Sonn.38 following this one. See however further notes on Sonnet 37 

See also the Introductory Notes for further discussion of this sonnet and its probable links to Psalm 37.

 

Rembrandt. Two studies of an old man playing with a child. Circa 1635 - 40.

 

1. O! how thy worth with manners may I sing,

with manners = appropriately, without offending propriety, in accordance with social conventions.
sing = praise (through my poems). A poet was a singer of verse, according to the classical tradition.

2. When thou art all the better part of me?

the better part - this calls to mind the phrase 'my better half', meaning 'my spouse, partner', a phrase which was current at the time. Shakespeare uses it in a manner appropriate to the interchange of souls in CE:
It is thyself, mine own self's better part;
Mine eye's clear eye, my dear heart's dearer heart CE.III.2.61-2.
It could also mean 'soul, spiritual part' as opposed to 'body' which was the meaner part. Cf. Sonn 74:
The earth can have but earth, which is his due;
My spirit is thine, the better part of me.

3. What can mine own praise to mine own self bring?

What advantage is there in praising myself? With the added suggestions: a.) from the line above, that praise of myself is praise of my better part, i.e. you, and my praise of you is of little worth; b.) self praise is always empty.

4. And what is't but mine own when I praise thee?

what is't but mine own = is it any different from what was mine already? Since you are my better part, any praise of you is praise of myself.

5. Even for this, let us divided live,

Even for this = for these reasons that I have just enumerated. let us divided live = let us live separate lives, without openly acknowledging our love for each other. It is uncertain what this phrase actually would imply in the relationship between the speaker and the beloved, assuming that such a relationship did exist, and that it was not entirely fictional. It hardly seems likely that they were living together under one roof, enjoying an open homosexual relationship, for the mores of the time would scarcely have permitted it. One imagines that a metaphorical separation is being proposed, just as the 'living together' was already metaphorical. Within the community of friends among whom this undivided love between the pair had its birth, the language of 'true love' was both acceptable and desirable, and probably was greeted with a plethora of reactions, including admiration and devoted praise, a clamouring for more and more invention, as well as sardonic laughter and bawdy ribaldry. Despite the serious tone of the sonnets, there is also a strong flavour of satire in many of them, and the courtly pastoral tradition of Marlowe's
Come live with me and be my love,
with its light hearted frivolity, happily co-exists with the agonised heart-wrenching of the Petrarchan tradition.

Assuming that the sonnets were publicised among his circle of friends, we might well ask whether or not this declaration 'Even for this let us divided live' would in fact make any difference to the relationship which had been established between poet and lover. If Shakespeare were for example a frequent visitor to Essex House or Lord Southampton's dwelling on the Strand, where perhaps he had met the youth of the sonnets, was he intending to cease visiting those places, so that he might maintain the separation from his beloved?

These are questions which we cannot answer, although I think it is important to continue to ask them, for it thus forces upon ourselves the consideration of the circumstances which might have given rise to this and other sonnets in the first place, and encourages us to put ourselves as close as possible to the heart of the writer, rather than maintaining the vicarious pleasure of distance which reading another person's verse can so easily create within us.

6. And our dear love lose name of single one,

dear = precious, highly valued.
single one = a love that is united in two hearts which have become one.

7. That by this separation I may give

As a result of this voluntary separation I may give.

8. That due to thee which thou deserv'st alone.

That due to thee = that which is your due i.e. praise of your worth.
thou deserv'st alone = you alone (and no one else) deserve to receive; or, you deserve to receive when not chained (figuratively) to me.

9. O absence! what a torment wouldst thou prove,

The speaker now considers the consequences of the proposed separation.
absence - sc. of you from me and of me from you. Separation.

10. Were it not thy sour leisure gave sweet leave,

sour leisure = bitter time (to me) in which you entertain yourself with me absent.
leave = permission. The roughness of the metre perhaps suggests the pain and bitterness of separation.

11. To entertain the time with thoughts of love,

To entertain the time = to fill up the time, to provide entertainment for myself in order to kill time.

12. Which time and thoughts so sweetly doth deceive,

doth - the Q reading is dost which several editors retain. 'dost' is the second person singular of the verb 'do', so it requires that the subject 'which' refers back to 'O absence' in line 9, giving effectively 'O absence, thou which (who) time and thoughts so sweetly dost deceive'. This is an awkward reading, because it seems to distort the flow of the sense, and because it is not absence that beguiles the time but the thoughts of love which absence permits to the estranged person. The most obvious antecedent which the sense seems to demand is the closest one, namely love or thoughts of love. SB and other modern editors emend to doth.

13. And that thou teachest how to make one twain,

And that thou - i.e. absence of line 9. This reverts back to the distant antecedent absence, which did not fit the sense in the previous line. Despite the 'and', which half implies that the same subject which sweetly deceives time and thoughts also teaches how to make one twain, it is easier on the understanding to accept a different referent for each line. It is also entirely consonant with standard Shakespearian practice to weave different meanings and references into the same sentence.
to make one twain = to make a single person into a pair, or partners. Although twain also has the meaning of 'separate', so a slightly jarring note is also added as an undertone.

14. By praising him here who doth hence remain.

here = in this place where I am; in this poem.
(him)... who doth hence remain = the beloved, who remains far off.

1. Take all my loves, my love, yea take them all;

all my loves - the sonnet plays on the various meanings of love. a.) mistress (lines1,5,6). b.) the youth (lines1,3). c.) the experience of loving, love per se, as in lines 3, 11, or as in phrases such as Love is too young to know what conscience is. Sonn 151. d.) the specific love of the speaker for the youth (line 5). All these meanings overlap to a certain extent. The primary meaning of the line is 'Take all my mistresses, yes all of them', but it can also mean 'Deprive me of any love you have ever had for me'.

2. What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?

Have you gained any increase in love over that which you already possessed?

3. No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call;

You have not gained anything which could be called true love. And/or 'You might have gained a love but you will not genuinely be able to address her as 'my true love' '. To modern ears there is a slight worry about the duplicity of this situation. For why, if the poet's love for the youth was genuine and absolute, should he need another love in the form of a mistress? Evidently he compartmentalises this other love, and regards it as not genuine, in some way inferior to his love for the youth. These references to 'true love' may have in mind the anonymous poem (sometimes attributed to Raleigh) 'As Ye came from the Holy Land', some verses of which I add below.

As ye came from the holy land/
 Of Walsinghame,
Met you not with my true love
 By the way as you came?

How should I know your true love,
 That have met many a one
As I came from the holy land,
 That have come, that have gone?

 

It then transpires that the speaker has been abandoned by his love because he is no longer young, and he proceeds to moralize on love.

Know that love is a careless child,
 And forgets promise past,
He is blind, he is deaf when he list,
 And in faith never fast.

His desire is a dureless content,
 And a trustless joy;
He is won with a world of despair,
 And is lost with a toy.

Of womenkind such indeed is the love,
 Or the word love abused,
Under which many childish desires
 And conceits are excused.

But true love is a durable fire,
 In the mind ever burning,
Never sick, never dead, never cold,
 From itself never turning.

4. All mine was thine, before thou hadst this more.

All mine = all my love, all my mistresses, all my possessions. (See lines 9-10)

5. Then, if for my love, thou my love receivest,

If, because of my love for you, you accept my mistress as yours, (thinking that, as our loves are one, you are expressing your love for me by doing so). receivest has rather nasty undertones, as in receiveing stolen goods, or receiving sexual favours. The feminine ending of these four lines (5-8) is also frequently commented on. They give a sense of awkwardness and unease, as if both poet and lover know that the latter is in the wrong, but are not prepared to say so openly.

6. I cannot blame thee, for my love thou usest;

for my love thou usest = because (for) you have intercourse with my mistress. For meaning 'because' is common in Shakespeare. E.g. from Sonn 106:
And, for they look'd but with divining eyes,
They had not skill enough your worth to sing.
To use in the sense of 'have intercourse with' (OED.10.b) is found elsewhere in Shakespeare:
Come, I must bring you to our captain's cave:
Fear not; he bears an honourable mind,
And will not use a woman lawlessly.
SIL. O Valentine, this I endure for thee! TGV.V.3.12-15.
SB gives the additional meaning of 'profiting from my love for you', as the usurer profits from the capital he employs by letting it out at interest. SB.p200.n6.

7. But yet be blam'd, if thou thy self deceivest

be blamed = be found guilty, accept that you are at fault.
Q gives this selfe, which is retained by some editors. It could refer to the poet, who has been deceived, but it is an awkward reflexive construction and not very convincing. The compositor made frequent errors with thy/their/this.

8. By wilful taste of what thyself refusest.

wilful taste = sexual experience, wanton use and enjoyment. The suggestion is that the youth's better part declines to take advantage of the situation, but his lustful nature dominates and encourages him to seize the opportunity. 'You will be found in the wrong if you deceive yourself into thinking that nothing is amiss when you rashly decide to enjoy what in your heart of hearts your conscience would refuse to accept as just'.

9. I do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief,

thy robbery = the theft of the poet's mistress.
 gentle thief - there is no other example of the use of this oxymoron in Shakespeare, but there is gentle cheater in 151, and tender churl in 1. (See the note to sonnet 1). Neither of them are as harsh as the combination used on this occasion, especially as the character of the thief is made even more unpleasant in the following line. The whole thought is softened by the charitable overtone of forgiveness, making the speaker almost Christlike in his endurance. It is also softened by the appeal to the language of love, which often involves theft:

O me! you juggler! you canker-blossom!
You thief of love! what, have you come by night
And stolen my love's heart from him? MND.III.2.
and
That I an accessary needs must be
To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me. Sonn.35.

10. Although thou steal thee all my poverty:

thou steal thee = you steal (for yourself). thee is more or less redundant, being almost equivalent to the se element in a French reflexive verb. This construction is an old one, called the ethic dative, as in JC.I.2.262-4: ...when he perceived the common herd was glad he refused the crown, he pluckt me ope his doublet and offered them his throat to cut.
The use of steal thee in this sonnet is equivalent to he pluckt me in the JC example above.
all my poverty = what little I have. The context suggests that, in the field of amatory conquests, the youth has almost unlimited choice, whereas the poet has almost nothing. It is therefore all the more cruel that he (the youth) should find it necessary to steal this one small thing from his beloved.

11. And yet, love knows it is a greater grief

love knows - echoes the more common phrases 'God knows', 'heaven knows'. Possibly an echo here from Virgil: Quis fallere possit amantem? Who could ever deceive a lover? Aen.iv.296, referring to the unerring ability that someone in love has to see through subterfuge. The pathos of this and the following line is enhanced by the naturalness of the language.

12. To bear love's wrong, than hate's known injury.

love's wrong = the psychological injury that a lover can inflict.
hate's known injury = the anticipated (known) harm which is done by an enemy.

13. Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows,

lascivious grace = graciousness which is lascivious and sensual; sensuality which is gracious and elegant. The contradiction is brought into sharper focus by the second half of the line, in which ill (evil) and well (good) become interchangeable. There is also a religious meaning of grace as in 'God's grace', referring to God's beneficence. And to the grace of a nobleman's title, 'Your Grace', which would be relevant if we new that the youth was real and was a nobleman of Elizabeth's or James' court.

14. Kill me with spites yet we must not be foes.

spites = malignant actions, harsh treatment. As in
Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow, Sonn 90.
yet we must not be foes - the conclusion can seem lame, but I think in the context of what has preceded it is not so. The speaker has no other suggestions to offer, all his golden words are spent. But love must continue and bear it out even to the edge of doom, even if the beloved is cruel.  One must also remember the importance that was attached to retaining and strengthening one's friendships in the Elizabethan world.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
Ham.I.3.62-3.

1. Those pretty wrongs that liberty commits,

pretty - although the word partly suggests frivolousness, because of its resemblance to petty and because it is often applied to trivial and slight objects, its effect here is mainly to state that the crime commited is actually quite likeable, certainly forgiveable, and of no great consequence either. For so, at this stage, the speaker has tried to convince himself.
liberty = social or moral freedom to behave as one chooses. But it can also have the meaning of libertinage or sexual wantonness, as in

.....breathe his faults so quaintly
That they may seem the taints of liberty,
The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind, Ham.II.1.31-3.

                                                 Lust and liberty
Creep in the minds and marrows of our youth,
That 'gainst the stream of virtue they may strive,
And drown themselves in riot! Tim.IV.1.25-8.

Note that lust, liberty and riot coincide in the 'Timon' extract, as they do in this sonnet, except that lust is not named, only implied. Timon is calling down execrations on his countrymen.

2. When I am sometime absent from thy heart,

sometime = sometimes. Implying that the faults are infrequent, the lapses of occasional forgetfulness.

3. Thy beauty, and thy years full well befits,

befits - the subject is wrongs in line 1. The verb ending in 's', when one would expect befit, is common in Elizabethan English. befits = suits, is appropriate to. 'The pretty wrongs are fitting for one of your age and beauty'.

4. For still temptation follows where thou art.

still = always. temptation follows - usually temptation leads one into sin, but here the image is of temptation first seeking out the potential sinner in order to lead him into darkness.

5. Gentle thou art, and therefore to be won,

Gentle = kind, considerate; of noble birth, a gentleman.
therefore to be won = available to be seduced; bound to be seduced

6. Beauteous thou art, therefore to be assailed;

assail'd = vigorously courted, seduced.

7. And when a woman woos, what woman's son

When a woman takes the initiative, what man is so foolish as to resist?

8. Will sourly leave her till he have prevailed?

Editors are divided on the merits of retaining the he of Q or changing it to she, an emendation suggested by Malone, since it is the woman who does the wooing in this case. Leaving it as he suggests possibly that the woman allows the man to feel that he has made the conquest. In such circumstances the man might wish to think that he is the one who has prevailed.

9. Ay me! but yet thou mightst my seat forbear,

Ay me! - a homely exclamation indicating wonder tinged with sorrow. Compare Sonnet 148:
O me! What eyes hath love put in my head
As HV points out, this is an example of 'truth breaking in' (using a phrase coined by Frost in Birches). The sophisticated analysis and provision of fulsome excuses which has prevailed so far breaks down and the poet exclaims against the youth, since now he contemplates the real effect of 'those pretty wrongs' - the youth has leapt into his seat and is now riding his mistress. my seat forbear - abstain from using my favourite, reserved place. The meaning is however strongly sexual, (seat = pudendum), showing all the possessiveness of sexual jealousy. See Oth.II.1.289-90:
....I do suspect the lustful Moor
Hath leap'd into my seat.

10. And chide thy beauty and thy straying youth,

chide = restrain by chiding. beauty...youth - the youth's years and beauty are cited in line 3 as being the justification and forgiving background for his lustful behaviour, which there is described with moderate euphemisms. Now it has become straying and riotous youth.

11. Who lead thee in their riot even there

Youth , lust and riotousness are often grouped together (perhaps justifiably). The links between them were proverbial, since the days of the prodigal son and earlier. See the passage from Timon of Athens above (line 1).
riot = Wanton, loose, or wasteful living; debauchery, dissipation, extravagance. (OED.1.a.).

12. Where thou art forced to break a twofold truth:

truth - probably closer to the word troth in the marriage service 'I plight thee my troth', where the meaning is fidelity, allegiance, promise. troth is a variant form of truth. A link here also I suspect to the true love of the previous sonnet (line 3). See also 152, where the situation is seen from the perspective of the poet betrayed by the woman.
In loving thee thou know'st I am forsworn,
But thou art twice forsworn, to me love swearing,
In act thy bed-vow broke and new faith torn,
In vowing new hate after new love bearing.

13.   Hers by thy beauty tempting her to thee,

His beauty forces her to break her promise (of faithful love to the speaker), and tempts her into his arms. See the note above.

14.   Thine by thy beauty being false to me.

thine = your good faith, your promise of love to me. The two offences are that his beauty seduces the woman and his beauty (which in this line almost becomes the youth himself) betrays his friend and steals his friend's lover. (Both offences are almost the same thing). Note that the woman herself is not accused.

1. That thou hast her it is not all my grief,

'The fact that you now possess her is not the sole cause of my grief'. to have, in the context of a loving relationship, refers both to the oneness of love, as in line 11 and in
My true love hath my heart and I have his, (Sidney),
as well as to the physical act of coition, as in Sonn 129:
Had, having, and in quest, to have extreme.
Similarly in line 3. The tone of the poem usually indicates which, if any, meaning should predominate. Here there is a constant interchange between the two meanings, as the tide of jealousy and forgiveness ebbs and flows in the poet's mind.

2. And yet it may be said I loved her dearly;

The poet does not wish to belittle his loss. Though the main cause of his sorrow is not the loss of his mistress, as explained in the following lines, it is still not an insignificant or petty sorrow, but it is outweighed by other considerations.
dearly = with heartfelt affection; at a cost.

3. That she hath thee is of my wailing chief,

is of my wailing chief = is the main cause of my grief. Perhaps, as SB suggests, a reference to the chief mourner at a funeral.
wailing = sorrow.

4. A loss in love that touches me more nearly.

A loss in love - loss and love are the two key words of this poem. loss and its cognates occur six times, the same number as for love and its cognates. The two are thus evenly balanced, as if one brings the other in its train.
nearly = grievously, deeply, close to my heart.

5. Loving offenders thus I will excuse ye:

Loving offenders = sinful lovers; loving sinners. The phrase encapsulates the psychological difficulty of maintaining a relationship with the two participants. The word offenders is used in Sonn 34 where it relates to episodes from The Passion. 
The offender's sorrow lends but weak relief
To him that bears the strong offence's cross
and this echoes line 12 of this sonnet. How can one forgive the loving offenders who have committed this strong offence? (Although cross in Sonn 34 is an emendation for loss). At the same time in the phrase loving offenders there is probably a suggestion of the proverbial good will which lovers enjoy. 'All the world loves a lover', 'They are offenders, but they are in love', etc.

6. Thou dost love her, because thou know'st I love her;

These two lines (6.7) set out the reason for excusing the betrayal. Briefly it is that both of them did it out of love for him.

7. And for my sake even so doth she abuse me,

even so = in like manner, i.e. because she knows I love you, and therefore by loving you she loves me;
abuse = deceive, maltreat, harm.

8. Suffering my friend for my sake to approve her.

Suffering = allowing, permitting; but with overtones which speak of the poet's own experience of suffering caused by this liaison.
to approve her = to try her out (sexually); to give her his blessing.

9. If I lose thee, my loss is my love's gain,

9-12 expand the thought put forward in 6-8.

10. And losing her, my friend hath found that loss;

And losing her = and in my losing of her.
my friend = my beloved (the young man).

11. Both find each other, and I lose both twain,

both twain = the two together; the two individually. See the use of twain in Sonns. 36 and 39.

12. And both for my sake lay on me this cross:

this cross = this sorrow, this anguish. The imagery is the familiar Christian one of the crucifixion, with the speaker adopting a Christ-like pose of suffering and forbearance. It could also suggest the episode of Simon of Cyrene being forced to carry the cross on the path up to Calvary, a cross which, according to tradition, he at first refused to take up. See the Introductory Note for further discussions of the relevance of the Christian imagery in the Sonnets. 

13. But here's the joy; my friend and I are one;

The final link is placed in the chain of reasoning. Far from being a sorrow, the liaison between the poet's mistress and the beloved youth has become a source of joy.
my friend = my beloved.
one - the unity of lovers is once again stressed. It is a frequent theme in the sonnets. See 36, 39, 40.

14. Sweet flattery! then she loves but me alone.

The dishonest truth of the concluding couplet is underscored by the use of the word flattery, for it always carries overtones of deception, either of another, by false praise, or of oneself, by forcing oneself to believe what one wants to believe, rather than what is true. The instances of its use in the sonnets are listed below. All of them suggest a false stance or a currying of favour, which sits ill alongside the concept of true love which the poet is trying to defend.

So flatter I the swart-complexioned night, 28

Full many a glorious morning have I seen
Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye, 33

Thus have I had thee, as a dream doth flatter, 87

..........that my adder's sense
To critic and to flatterer stopped are. 112

Or whether doth my mind, being crowned with you,
Drink up the monarch's plague, this flattery? 114

O! 'tis the first, 'tis flattery in my seeing, 114

And in our faults by lies we flattered be. 138

1. How careful was I when I took my way,

When I took my way = when I started on my journey, when I set off.

2. Each trifle under truest bars to thrust,

Each trifle = each trifling object.
Under truest bars = behind secure bars, safely locked away. True in the sense of reliable, trustworthy.

3. That to my use it might unused stay

That to my use = So that it (they) might be available to me for future use.
it might unused stay - i.e. not taken and used by others;
stay/ From hands etc. - remain far away from

4. From hands of falsehood, in sure wards of trust!

hands of falsehood - thieving hands, untrustworthy persons; sure wards of trust = secure storage places. wards is suggestive not only of guardianship and prisons, but also the wards of a lock, the gates which allow only the correct key to be inserted.

5. But thou, to whom my jewels trifles are,

to whom = in comparison with whom. Jewel was often used by Shakespeare as a term of endearment for a lover (or a potential lover), as in MW.III.3.36-7.

Have I caught thee, my heavenly jewel? Why now let me die, for I have lived long enough

6. Most worthy comfort, now my greatest grief,

Most worthy comfort - two probable meanings: you who are my greatest and most valuable source of joy and pleasure; you who are most deserving of comfort and joy.
now my greatest grief - my greatest source of grief (because of the danger you are in of being stolen from me).

7. Thou best of dearest, and mine only care,

Thou best of dearest = You, who are the best of all things that are dear to me. See also 39: When thou art all the better part of me and the note thereon.
care = source of concern or grief. From Latin carus = dear, precious. Note also the echo of careful in line 1.

8. Art left the prey of every vulgar thief.

You are abandoned as a potential target for every common thief. Vulgar was usually associated with the mob and the lower classes. See Sonn38, line 4 and the note.

9. Thee have I not locked up in any chest,

I have not locked you up in any chest. chest = box or coffer for storage of valuables; or breast, bosom, heart.

10. Save where thou art not, though I feel thou art,

Save = except.
where thou art not = where you are not physically present.

11. Within the gentle closure of my breast,

closure = enclosure. The word suggests an enfolding within one’s arms. Shakespeare uses it four times, the same phrase being employed in VA 781-2 

Lest the deceiving harmony should run
Into the quiet closure of my breast;

 

12. From whence at pleasure thou mayst come and part;

From whence - from which part (my breast);
at pleasure thou mayst come and part = you may come and go as it pleases you. part = depart.

13.   And even thence thou wilt be stol'n I fear,

even thence = even from there, from that safe place.

14.   For truth proves thievish for a prize so dear.

truth - truth itself; those who are essentially truthful and honest; proves = turns out to be, is found to be;
dear = valuable, desirable, cherished.

1. So am I as the rich, whose blessed key,

So am I as the rich - I am like a rich person; blessed key - the key is blessed in that it has the (sacred, mystical) ability to unlock the rich man's treasure so that he may view it. There is also the direct association of the word with the beatitudes 'Blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful etc', this association being further called upon in the couplet. See note on line 13 below.

2. Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure,

sweet up-locked treasure - Apart from the riches of coin etc., which the miser greedily looks upon, there is the innuendo of sexual treasure, which the lover dreams on, as the following citations confirm. It runs as a humorous undertone from here onwards, but especially in lines 4, 11, 12, 14.

...................this secret
Will force him think I have pick'd the lock and ta'en
The treasure of her honour. Cym.II.2.40-2

If with too credent ear you list his songs,
Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open
To his unmaster'd importunity. Ham.I.3.30-2.

3. The which he will not every hour survey,

The which = which. survey = cast his eyes over. Cf.
And shalt by fortune once more re-survey
These poor rude lines of thy deceased lover, Sonn.32.

4. For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure.

For blunting = for fear of blunting;
the fine point of seldom pleasure - the image is unusual, but not glossed by the commentators, other than by reference to proverbial usage (A seldom use of pleasures maketh the same more pleasaunt. Tilley p.417. See SB p.223, n.3-4.) Some sharp instrument is implied, and Shakespeare uses point in this material sense of something having a sharp end, most often in combination with weapons, (swords, bodkins, rapiers, lances etc.), and dials (of clocks). The word might be called into play simply because of the use of blunting, which automatically suggests the edge of a knife or something sharp. As in Temp.V.1.138 How sharp the point of this remembrance is, which does not necessarily require us to make the image corporeal, although it does suggest a pointed object cutting into the viscera. Here, because of what precedes and follows, there is a strong element of sexual innuendo. I have not found point used in a phallic sense elsewhere, but the following is suggestive:

For thou thyself hast been a libertine,
As sensual as the brutish sting itself; AYL.II.7.65-6.

5. Therefore are feasts so solemn and so rare,

feasts = feast days in the Christian calendar, festivals.
solemn = marked by ceremonies and rituals; grand, sumptuous.
rare = thinly spaced; precious and scarce.

6. Since, seldom coming in the long year set,

seldom coming - i.e. the feast days. in the long year set - refers back to feasts. The word set however also prepares us for the stones of worth in the next line, set in a piece of jewellery.

7. Like stones of worth they thinly placed are,

placed - the 'ed' is stressed.

8. Or captain jewels in the carcanet.

captain = chief, most important.
carcanet = a necklet, often inset with precious stones. Note the Q spelling. Probably pronounced as karkanet.

The description of feasts given here is more suggestive of those in the Catholic tradition, which were colourful affairs, full of pomp and ceremony.  The Protestant tradition tended to frown on such frivolous merry-making and regarded religion as a much more serious matter.  My Introductory Notes deal with the question of Shakespeare's apparent nostalgia for the old religion.  This sonnet, along with others that have covert biblical references, may be referring obliquely to some long lost doctrinal dispute, more probably to do with Catholicism than the Anglican Church. 

9. So is the time that keeps you as my chest,

So is the time - This seems to refer back to the construction of the first line So am I as the rich, implying 'I am like', so, by analogy, 'the time is like that (thing, whatever it is) which preserves you, as my chest preserves things, or as the ward-robe hides rich garments'. The meaning is not crystal clear, and is probably not intended to be so. It includes such additional meanings as 'Time shows you to me to be like a rich treasure chest'; 'Time unfolds you to me, as a robe brought out on display from a wardrobe'; 'Time preserves you, as if preserving you in a treasure chest'.

10. Or as the wardrobe which the robe doth hide,

wardrobe - Note Q's hyphenation. The meaning in Shakespeare's day was 'a room for storing clothes' which could be locked, not a movable cupboard. However OED's date of 1794 as the earliest use of wardrobe as a movable clothes-cupboard is clearly wrong, as it cites under press n.(1) IV.15 the following: 1753 Smollett Ct. Fathom (1784) 35/2 He should...conceal himself in a large press or wardrobe, that stood in one corner of the apartment. I suspect that there were earlier uses, since the cupboard or press for keeping clothes dates back much earlier. A ward-robe in a nobleman's house would keep much more than clothes. Suits of armour, statues and valuable objects might be stored there.

11. To make some special instant special-blest,

A special garment might be kept in a wardrobe, to be brought out on festal days and other important occasions.

12. By new unfolding his imprisoned pride.

The imagery rather suggests a flower opening. But the direct reference is to the unfolding of a garment taken from the wardrobe. There is also the hint of a bawdy meaning (see note to line 4 and the extended commentary above).

13. Blessed are you whose worthiness gives scope,

Blessed are you - An echo of special-blest in line 11 and blessed key in line 1. But I suspect the main tendency of the use of this word is to remind readers of the Beatitudes, as in 'Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their's is the kingdom of heaven. .... Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.' Matt.5.3 & 8. Since the poet so often refers to himself as poor (26, 32, 37, 49, 71, 107, 125, 128) and even in this sonnet, although he is like the rich, yet he is poor in having only miserly glimpses of his beloved, yet he hopes and trusts that, like the meek, he will inherit the earth. Here the epithet is applied to the beloved, but its scope is surely to bring them close to each other, as those who are blessed by God, and the kingdom of heaven will be theirs.

There is also a further important reference to the Hail Mary, a prayer to the Blessed Virgin, a reference which is even more challenging than the Beatitudes. It contains the words 'Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus'. If we take it that the echo was intended, then the poem is treading a very thin line between high spirited hilarity and blasphemy. Are we to assume that the joke is that the young man does not have a womb and cannot conceive? (See however my comments above, where I suggest that the poem might originally have been addressed to a woman).

14. Being had, to triumph, being lacked, to hope.

The sexual meaning of being had makes interpretation of this line rather difficult, since with that meaning predominant, it is too brutally frank, and it is difficult to see how it could be addressed to anyone, let alone a young nobleman, and also be circulated among the company of friends, and subsequently published, without causing offence. In Sonn. 129 line 10 :
'had, having, and in quest to have extreme'
the meaning of had is quite explicit from the context and it refers to the experience of sexual conquest. Here that meaning is also evident, especially with the use of to triumph and the implication that, even if one does not succeed this time, one may still entertain the hope of sexual favours in the future.

The problem as I see it is that one has to interpret the poem in a way that would allow it to be accepted in its social context, not as something which could only have an exclusive and private meaning. Although double entendres were permissible, it does not seem probable that the Elizabethan world was comfortable with the idea of openly physical homosexual relationships. However much it might be possible to joke about such matters, overt homosexual behaviour in the real Elizabethan world merited instant condemnation. Here therefore I suspect that we should interpret the conclusion in terms of a) the courtly tradition of romance as expressed by sonneteers, who always hoped that the beloved would yield. Here, not only does the beloved allow the delight of triumph to the lover, but even, in his absence, the delight of hoping for further success. b) The delight of possession in the sense of enjoying his mere presence alone, (without the sexual connotations) contrasted with the bleakness of his lack, or absence, as in 98 & 99. c) A humorous and risqué reference to sexual possession, set against the background of the religous humility of the Beatitudes. d) The humour of the poet stating his devotion to the young man in the bald language of sexual intercouse (or lack of it). e) The blasphemous reference to the Virgin Mary, which can easily be denied, as it is too near the bone, and obviously cannot refer to the young man. (Yet it is still apparent to those in the know).

All these meanings (and others), run concurrently, and, as with so many of the sonnets, we are invited to interpret them on many levels at once. There is not, and was never intended to be, one single and absolute meaning. What we do have always is the richness of primary and secondary suggestions and rippling undercurrents, as a brook has many faces, with half-hidden multicolored pebbles, waving water plants, rushes and mossy overhangings, which make the face of the brook both simple and complex in an instant. That is often how poetry works and interacts with our conscious assessment of it, and nowhere is this more apparent than with the Sonnets.

 

1. What is your substance, whereof are you made,

substance = essence, constituents, basic form. It corresponds in Neo-Platonic doctrine to the ideal or underlying form of things, from which individual instantiations arise in our world of sense data.
whereof = of what.

2. That millions of strange shadows on you tend?

strange = unknown, unconnected to you, unusual.
shadows - in the Platonic sense of unreal things that derive their existence from forms and substances. Also in the conventional sense of shadows cast by objects. strange shadows could also be ghosts or spirits.
tend - attend, as a servant attends a master, or a shepherd tends a flock OED(1) 3.b, 4.a. As in King Lear, where it is used in reference to Lear's former servants.
What need you five and twenty, ten, or five,
To follow in a house where twice so many
Have a command to tend you? KL.II.4.260-2
However the meaning here is not obvious, and could include others, such as 'to have a disposition to attain to', OED (2) 2.a. Even possibly the geometric sense of 'subtend'.

3. Since every one hath, every one, one shade,

every one - everything, each substance, each separate entity. The antecedent cannot be shadows, because it is too awkward to talk of shadows having their own individual shade. The reference is therefore most probably to substance in line 1, or to things in general. Each perfect Platonic form has its own shadowy image in the world of men. However this does not make sense in terms of Platonism, because every ideal form can have any number of 'shades' derived from it. Thus the form of 'beauty' would transmit part of itself into the manifold instantiations of actual beauty in the world. Likewise for the form of 'roundness' or 'sphericity'. It is not true to say that 'sphericity' has only one 'shade' or example of itself in the physical world. The poet is perhaps hovering between the Platonic meanings and the idea that everyone only casts one shadow, or that everyone only has one spirit.

4. And you but one, can every shadow lend.

but one = being but one, being the unique essence of all.
can every shadow lend = can give form and existence to every thing that is, can give a part of yourself, as a copy of the ideal. Again a somewhat difficult and quasi-philosophical idea which is based on Neo-Platonism. Beauty and goodness for example were ideas, forms, or ideals, which lent part of their substance to individual existences which possessed those qualities.

5. Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit

Describe Adonis - If one were to describe Adonis. The suggestion has greater immediacy because Shakespeare had in fact done just that, in his poem Venus and Adonis, which was dedicated to the Earl of Southampton.
the counterfeit = the copy, the description, the painted version.

6. Is poorly imitated after you;

Is but a poor imitation of you.

7. On Helen's cheek all art of beauty set,

(If you were to) paint or describe Helen's face, using all the artifice at your command. Helen was the wife of Menelaus. She abandoned him and fled with Paris to Troy, thereby giving a motive for the start of the Trojan war. She was supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the world at the time, and in all recorded history. The story is mostly mythical and is linked in with the tale of the judgement of Paris. In return for selecting Aphrodite as the most beautiful of the three goddesses, (Athena and Hera being the other two), Paris was rewarded by having the world's most beautiful woman as his bedfellow (although she was already married). The subsequent enmity between the three Olympian goddesses helped to stoke the fires of vengeance in the Trojan war cycle. Many poets wrote subsequently of Helen with various gradations of praise or blame. Shakespeare portrayed Helen in Troilus and Cressida, written after the sonnets (but published in the same year).

8. And you in Grecian tires are painted new:

tires = attires, dress. The use of painted here and art in the line above perhaps suggest that some of the beauty was artificial.

9. Speak of the spring, and foison of the year,

foison = harvest, plenty, abundance. Compare
Earth's increase, foison plenty,
Barns and garners never empty. Tem.IV.1.110-11.

10. The one doth shadow of your beauty show,

shadow - as above, lines 2 & 4. The Neo-Platonic doctrine is reasserted. The Spring is but the shadow (shade, instantiation) of your beauty.

11. The other as your bounty doth appear;

The foison of the year models its abundance on you.

12. And you in every blessed shape we know.

You are the universal perfection on which all subsequent copies are based.
blesséd shape - anything with qualities which we are inclined to praise; anything on which beauties of character appear to have been conferred. blesséd did not have the additional meaning it now has of a mild expletive, as in 'What the blessed point is there in writing all this?'

13. In all external grace you have some part,

The contrast is drawn between external grace, such as physical beauty, and unseen, internal perfection, in this case a constant heart.

14. But you like none, none you, for constant heart.

constant heart - apart from the obvious meaning of a true and loyal heart, it could refer to an unchanging substance or essence, re-inforcing the idea that the beloved was the basic form or ideal which infused itself into all other ephemeral forms of beauty in the sensate world. It is however slightly perturbing that the youth who has strayed and treated the poet badly, even to the extent of stealing his mistress, should here be endowed with a quality which he does not seem to possess.  The attribute of grace, which often is applied to a beloved, is also that of the 'onlie-begotten' of the gospels, and one suspects here a hidden religious meaning, since constancy and unchangeability were also attributes of the divine. 

1. O! how much more doth beauty beauteous seem

beauty - beauty in the abstract; your beauty; you yourself, being such a beautiful person.

2. By that sweet ornament which truth doth give.

By = as a result of.
that sweet ornament = the wonderful additional beauty and sweetness etc.
Truth adds further to beauty's beauty as an ornament makes a person or thing more beautiful. Perhaps from this sonnet, Keats fashioned his line Beauty is truth, truth beauty, in the Ode to a Grecian Urn.

3. The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem

but fairer we it deem = but we consider it to be more fair
deem = think, consider.

4. For that sweet odour, which doth in it live.

For = because of, as a result of.

5. The canker blooms have full as deep a dye

canker blooms = dog roses, wild roses, (See illustration above). Rosa canina; Compare:
To put down Richard, that sweet lovely Rose,
And plant this thorn, this canker Bolingbroke. 1H4.I.3.176-7.
as deep a dye = as rich a colour.

6. As the perfumed tincture of the roses,

tincture = dye, colour. Also, because of the subject matter of the previous sonnet, there is probably a reference to the alchemical meaning of 'the spirit or quintessence of an object'.

7. Hang on such thorns, and play as wantonly

Hang on such thorns - the subject is 'the canker blooms'. Their stems, on which they hang, are just as thorny as true rose stems.
play as wantonly - the wind plays wantonly with flowers and leaves, making them dance and sway. wanton suggests sexual license, and the implication is that the canker blooms are as wanton, if not more so, than the roses. Shakespeare does not use wantonly elsewhere, but his use of wanton is frequent. See the following examples:

Adonis painted by a running brook,
And Cytherea all in sedges hid,
Which seem to move and wanton with her breath,
Even as the waving sedges play with wind. TS.Ind.2.48-51.

So are those crisped snaky golden locks
Which make such wanton gambols with the wind, MV.III.2.92-3.

8. When summer's breath their masked buds discloses:

summer's breath = the breezes of summer;
masked buds = buds covered with sepals. The metaphor is of masks worn by ladies at a dance, their faces being unmasked by persuasive wooing.
discloses = reveals, opens.

9. But, for their virtue only is their show,

for - because, since;
their virtue only is their show = their show (appearance, display) is their only virtue (essence, nature, power). I.e. they are a sham. The word order is reversed, suggesting almost the opposite, that they reveal true virtue, perhaps with the intention of intimating that it is easy to be deceived by appearences.

10. They live unwoo'd, and unrespected fade;

They live unwoo'd - Although the wind plays wantonly with them (the canker buds), it is not serious wooing with the intention of marriage, and therefore they are left on the shelf.
unrespected = unnoticed, treated without respect. See 43.2.

11. Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so;

Die to themselves = Left alone they die, having no contact with the wider world.
Sweet roses - in contrast to the canker blooms, which are not sweet. do not so - This is at first read as if it were an imperative, or an earnest request, 'Do not cast yourself away so profitlessly', an echo of 1-17. Then, with the subsequent line, it transforms into a simple statement - 'Roses do not behave like this. They are productive etc.'

12. Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odours made:

are sweetest odours made - Rosewater was a distillation made from rose petals. It was an important ingredient in the preparation of some confectioneries and kissing-comfits, used for sweetening the breath. It was also used for perfumes.

13. And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth,

lovely = adorable, worthy to be loved; beautiful.

14. When that shall vade, my verse distills your truth.

that - youth, or beauty, or both. Either as the subjects of the poem in general, or by transformation from the previous line, whereby the implied perfections which enable him to be addressed as 'beauteous and lovely youth', become abstracted and are found to be qualities which will perish with time.
vade = fade, depart, lose colour. A variant form of 'fade', or a word derived from Latin vadere to go.
my verse - Q gives by verse which requires that one reads distills as an intransitive verb, i.e. 'Your inner truth is distilled by verse'. I have opted for the emendation to my on the grounds that it echoes the sentiment of many of the other sonnets praising the youth's excellence, 17-19 for example, and it chimes better with the following sonnet.

1. Not marble, nor the gilded monuments

Marble was widely used in statuary and in monuments for tombs of the powerful and wealthy. The more extravagant ones were large enough to house the coffins of generations of the same family. Royal tombs would be richly ornate, as those for example in Westminster Abbey. (See illustration below left, and at bottom of page).
gilded monuments - Memorials in churches would often be decorated with gold leaf.

2. Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;

princes - a word which was used to refer to all royalty and rulers, male and female.
powerful - in the sense of being able to withstand time's destruction, and perhaps to confer immortality.

3. But you shall shine more bright in these contents

But = in contrast to the things listed, you etc.
in these contents - in the content of this verse. SB points out that it could have a suggestion of 'in this coffin' as though the verse were a physical container, a capacious monument.

4. Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time.

unswept stone - a stone monument left uncared for. Those in cathedrals and churches would generally be kept clean and polished. But older monuments in churchyards gradually would be forgotten and fall to ruin, as the living memory of its builders and inhabitants died out.
sluttish = of unclean habits and behaviour; lewd and whorish. The adjective was applied to both males and females. It is descriptive of time's indifference to keeping the world orderly.

5. When wasteful war shall statues overturn,

wasteful war - war devastates city and country, hence the term to lay waste, from the Latin vastare.

6. And broils root out the work of masonry,

broils = tumult, fighting, disturbances, esp. in war. As in :
Prosper this realm, keepe it from civil broils. 1H6.I.1.53.
The destruction caused by war, even in the days before high explosives, was often made evident when conquered towns were razed to the ground by the soldiery. All buildings (masonry) would be flattened. In the bible total destruction is foretold to Jerusalem by Christ:
For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall
cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep
thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground,
and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another;
because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. Luke.19.43-4.

7. Nor Mars his sword, nor war's quick fire shall burn

Neither the sword of Mars (the God of war), nor the searching fire of war. quick = lively, fast moving, searching out.

8. The living record of your memory.

living record = the memory of you among those currently alive; the memory of you which continues after you are dead; the written record of your life.

9. 'Gainst death, and all oblivious enmity

'Gainst = against.
all oblivious enmity - enmity which seeks to destroy everything, or is forgetful of everything; time, the enemy. SB gives seven possible meanings of this phrase: entirely unmindful; every (all of the) unmindful; that is forgetful of all things; that causes forgetfulness; that causes forgetfulness of everything; that causes forgetfulness in everyone; that brings everything to oblivion, causes everything to be forgotten.

10. Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room

Shall you pace forth = you shall stride forwards. The image is perhaps that of leading a procession, or of striding on to a stage.
your praise = praise of you, praise which is due to you.
still = constantly; for ever, despite all.
find room = be given time and space (whereas most things disappear or are lost with the passage of time).

11. Even in the eyes of all posterity

Even in the eyes of = in the very presence or sight of, in the opinion of.
all posterity = all future generations.

12. That wear this world out to the ending doom.

That - the antecedent is presumably all posterity, being the closest noun, whereas death and all-oblivious enmity of l.9 are rather remote. It depends partly on how one wishes to interpret the phrase wear this world out. The most obvious meaning is 'to destroy gradually by attrition', a meaning which does not sit entirely happily with posterity, but is more suggestive of time, or death, or war. On the other hand posterity could be taken to embrace the idea of the tedious progress of the generations bringing the world to the brink of exhaustion, recalling for example Macbeth's despairing cry when confronted with Banquo's descendants:

What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom! Mac.IV.1.117.

the ending doom = the last judgement. When the world comes to an end, according to Christian mythology, the fate (doom) of all humans who have ever lived is finally decided. Those who are to be saved sit on the right hand of God the Father. Those who are damned go to the left and are condemned to everlasting flames, the bottomless pit which was prepared for the devil and his angels.

13. So, till the judgment that yourself arise,

On the final day, the day of the last judgement, (see above), even those who died some time ago will arise from the dead and be judged. After that date there is no point in celebrating anyone in poetry.

14. You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes.

in this - in this verse.
live, dwell - the repetition of words connected with 'to live' (outlive, living, oblivious, arise, dwell) counteracts the effect of death, war and destruction.
in lover's eyes - a reminder that this is also a love poem, and a reminder of the power of love to transcend mortality. Perhaps a reference also to 'seeing babies' in the loved one's eyes. See Sonnet 24.

1. Sweet love, renew thy force; be it not said

Sweet love - an adjuration initially to the beloved, but the syntax soon changes the direction of the appeal to the love that the poet himself feels, which he fears is in danger of atrophying. be it not said = let it not be said.

2. Thy edge should blunter be than appetite,

edge .. blunter - we still talk of a keen or a sharp appetite, evidently likening its action to that of a knife. See also 52 For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure, and the note thereto.
should blunter be - could conceivably be.
appetite - specifically it is related to food in these three lines, but subsequently it is broadened to mean desire and sexual passion.

3. Which but to-day by feeding is allayed,

allayed and said evidently rhymed. allayed = quelled, overcome.

4. To-morrow sharpened in his former might:

in his former might - to its (appetite's) former strength or sharpness. This first quatrain urges 'love' not to be duller than mere hunger, which daily renews itself without prompting, even though it is often sated.

5. So, love, be thou, although to-day thou fill

In the same way, love, must you respond. Even if today you fill your eyes, yet tomorrow (line 7), be as fresh etc. This quatrain also, as the first, seems to address the youth directly, more so than it does the spirit of love which abides in the poet's heart. But the links with other sonnets, especially 46 and 47, when the poet's eyes feed on the youth in dreams and absence, suggest that the meaning 'my love for you', or 'the love that is within me' is just as important here.

6. Thy hungry eyes, even till they wink with fulness,

wink = shut, close. The eyes would close because they had had their fill of gazing.

7. To-morrow see again, and do not kill

see again - look, gaze once more.

8. The spirit of love, with a perpetual dulness.

The spirit of love = the god of love; the essence of love. Also a sexual meaning, as in The expense of spirit in a waste of shame 129.
a perpetual dulness - caused by satiety, or a general cooling off.

9. Let this sad interim like the ocean be

interim = gap of time, physical separation. But no separation has yet been mentioned, and indeed it is slightly at variance with the rest of the poem, in which over indulgence produces weariness and a falling off of love. However the idea does tie in with 43-52, and is continued in the following sonnet. Notice however how the interim of time is given a physical meaning of spatial separation in the next lines.

10. Which parts the shore, where two contracted new

Which parts the shore = which (the ocean) divides the shore, (thus making two shores).
two contracted new - a couple, who are newly betrothed (contracted). The image conjures up Hero and Leander separated by the Hellespont. On the other hand an ocean is such a wide expanse that one could hardly expect to catch a glimpse of the beloved on the other side. The expectation is therefore perhaps of a ship coming in to view, the 'return of love' which carries the loved one.

11. Come daily to the banks, that when they see

Each lover visits the shore (bank) every day in the hope of seeing the partner returning. banks are often connected in Shakespeare with lovers:
No - like a bank for love to lie and play on;
Not like a corse; or if, not to be buried,
But quick and in mine arms. WT.IV.4.130-2

12. Return of love, more blest may be the view;

return of love = return of the loved one; rejuvenation of love.

13. As call it winter, which being full of care,

As call it winter. Usually emended to Or call it winter. The link is to line 9, and the recommendation that 'this sad interim be like the ocean' or 'as the winter'. We may paraphrase it as 'Let this separation be like the ocean, .... or you may call it the winter season'. Winter and summer, pleasure and care are often linked together as opposites, as in:
Crabbed age and youth cannot live together:
Youth is full of pleasance, age is full of care;
Youth like summer morn, age like winter weather;
Youth like summer brave, age like winter bare. PP.12
Winter was a time of shortage and near starvation for many in Elizabethan England. Hence the care and anxieties were very real and pressing.

14. Makes summer's welcome, thrice more wished, more rare.

thrice - used vaguely to indicate many times, or perhaps as a magical number, as used by the witches in Macbeth.
Thrice the brinded cat hath mewed.
Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined. Mac.IV.1.1-2
rare - rich, precious. As a rare jewel.

1. Being your slave what should I do but tend

tend = attend; serve. As a vassal serves his master. But since it is the hours and times which are being tended, the meaning slips over into 'await'. The idea of devoted slavery was a common theme in love sonnets. For example Sidney:
What, have I thus betrayed my liberty?
Can those black beams such burning marks engrave
In my free side? or am I born a slave,
Whose neck becomes such yoke of tyranny? A&S.47.
black beams = Stella's eyes.
The theme of vassalage is used again in the sonnets to the dark lady. Here it probably includes an element of ironic parody, because the beloved is not a beautiful woman, but a young man to whom such language might appear out of place.

2. Upon the hours, and times of your desire?

hours and times of your desire -all the occasions when you are free to do as you please; the times when you feel lustful. This line, together with 9-10 and 13-14 convey the suggestion that the youth is away whoring somewhere. There is a pun on hours, which was monosyllabic and pronounced somewhat like whores.

3. I have no precious time at all to spend;

precious = dear, special to me, costly.

4. Nor services to do, till you require.

services = duties of a servant. Perhaps also a reference to divine service. In a world where servants were ubiquitous, the word service was much more frequently used than it is nowadays. Shakespeare uses it 262 times (including the plural). but only twice in the sonnets, here and in 149. This is the only use of it in the sonnets to the youth, although the chivalric tradition of devotion to a beloved (usually a woman) through thick and thin embraced the idea of service and slavery.

5. Nor dare I chide the world without end hour,

chide = criticise, reproach.
world without end hour = the everlasting, seemingly endless hours. There is an echo of the formulaic prayer:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The loved one effectively prevents the poet's complaints, but despite being supressed, they are all too evident here, and in the bitterness of absence, and in the jealous thought of line 9.

6. Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,

my sovereign - my ruler, my king. Vocative, addressed to the youth. But could be in apposition to I, thus implying that he, the poet, is sovereign ruler of himself, or should be, but has reduced himself to servility.
watch the clock for you - to watch the clock implies waiting for some event to happen. for you tacked on to the end indicates a) that he has been commanded by the youth to wait; b) he is waiting for the youth; c) because of the youth and his (unreasonable) behaviour he is forced to clock watch.

7. Nor think the bitterness of absence sour,

The mere mention of the bitterness of absence indicates that he is thinking it is so, despite the denial.

8. When you have bid your servant once adieu;

adieu - rhymes with you, the English pronunciation being used.
once = on any one occasion; with finality, as in 'I've told you once and I will not tell you again'; once and for all.

9. Nor dare I question with my jealous thought

Nor dare I - An implied prohibition and fear of transgressing it. question - consider mentally; discuss; raise doubts over.
jealous thought - the typical concerns of the jealous lover are now raised. But jealous also had the meaning of zealous, or attentive, as well as its more traditional meaning, which predominates here.

10. Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,

your affairs suppose = make conjectures about how you are occupied. affairs did not have the meaning of 'sexual liaisons' which it now has.

11. But, like a sad slave, stay and think of nought

sad - dejected, despondent; wretched looking. But also with the older meaning of steadfast, constant, of serious purpose. (OED.2 & 4a). As perhaps in
And the sad augurs mock their own presage; Sonn. 107.
think of nought - empty my brain of all thought. He dare not think of anything for fear of thinking the worst. The punctuation of Q encourages the reading 'I think of nothing but where you are, and how happy you make those who are with you'. Modern punctuation tends to separate the meaning of the two lines. There is possibly a bawdy pun intended on nought (equivalent to nothing in Sonn.20).

12. Save, where you are, how happy you make those.

Save = except.
how happy you make those - how happy you make all those who are fortunate to have your presence.

13. So true a fool is love, that in your will,

true = absolute, total; true-hearted.
in your will = whatever your desires are. Will is often used for sexual desire or performance, or parts. (Sonnets 136-7). With a pun on the name Will, hence 'In my thoughts'. (Note that Q has capital W for Will.)

14. Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.

Though you do anything - Whatever you do, however licentious you are. The fears raised in the previous lines make it inevitable that this has a meaning of sexual unfaithfulness, a betrayal of love, a meaning that is enhanced by ill at the end of the line. The poet thinks no ill because, as he acknowledges, love has made a fool of him.

1. That god forbid, that made me first your slave,

That god forbid - may be read in two ways, as a pious wish 'may that God forbid etc.', or with forbid as the old form of the past tense of forbid 'that God forbade me (long ago) etc.'. The God was presumably the God or Goddess of love, Eros, or Cupid, or Venus, depending on which section of mythology the poet wished to appeal to.

2. I should in thought control your times of pleasure,

control = influence; restrict, overpower. The proximity of account in the next line suggests an earlier meaning of 'to check accounts' (OED.v.1.) However Shakespeare nowhere else uses it in that sense. Cf. Sonn.66: And folly doctor-like controlling skill.
your times of pleasure = the time that you devote to pleasure. Although the phrase has the rather bland meaning of 'how you please to amuse yourself', there is undoubtedly the dark cloud hanging over it of 'the time you spend in dissipation and sexual infidelity'.

3. Or at your hand the account of hours to crave,

at your hand = in your hand writing; directly from you, from your hand.
the account of hours an account of how you spend your time. Here there is probably a pun intended with whores for houres and a cunt for account.
to crave - to request; earnestly desire to have. (That God forbid) that I should crave. The word is often used when associated with servility. As in:
I then crave pardon of your Majesty. 3H6.IV.6.8.
Humbly on my knee / I crave your blessing R3.II.2.105-6.

4. Being your vassal, bound to stay your leisure!

your vassal - your slave. A vassal was a term appropriate to feudalism, when the Lord owned his slaves or vassals. It was less in evidence in Elizabethan times, although land ownership often resulted in the keeping of large numbers of retainers, or servants. The absolute power of the feudal lord over his vassal, though still remembered, was very much a thing of the past. Generally it had been superceded by other more modern forms of economic dependence.

bound - used here in the legal sense of having certain inalienable duties to perform.
to stay your leisure = to await the commands which you choose to give when it pleases you (at your leisure). to stay = to await.

5. O! let me suffer, being at your beck,

suffer = endure. With further meaning of 'be subjected to pain'.

being at your beck - being at your command. to beck was to give a mute command by a gesture. It is cognate with the word 'beckon'. See the following examples:

Ah, know you not the city favours them,
And they have troops of soldiers at their beck? 3H6.I.1.67-8.
.......O'er my spirit
Thy full supremacy thou knew'st, and that
Thy beck might from the bidding of the gods
Command me. AC.III.11.58-61.
I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in Ham.III.1.124-5.
Look how thy servants do attend on thee,
Each in his office ready at thy beck. TS.Ind.2.31-2.

The phrase 'to be at the beck and call of' OED does not record earlier than 1875. Wyatt's famous poem Madam, withouten many words uses the expression : And with a beck ye shall me call.
See Wyatt's miscellaneous poems.

6. The imprison'd absence of your liberty;

Although the meaning is fairly clear, the grammar of these two lines (6-7) defies analysis. The meaning of this (including the above line) is approximately 'Let me endure, since I am at your command, the self imprisonment that falls on me due to your absence, and as a result of your enjoyment of your own liberty'. As SB points out, absence cannot be imprisoned, so a logical reading of this line is hardly possible. It is the necessity of conveying the ideas in a limited space that creates the compression of thought. Imprisonment calls up the opposite idea of liberty, which the youth enjoys. But the pain and suffering is caused by the loved one's absence and infidelity, which metaphorically imprisons the poet in the dark world of his own tortured reflections. Liberty also carries the idea of wantonness and libertinism, which is at the forefront of the poet's mind.

7. And patience, tame to sufferance, bide each check,

Several interpretations are suggested of this line, which all tend in the same direction because of the basic meaning of the words. The general sense is probably 'And in addition my patience will school itself to permit your charter, and I will endure each restraint you impose on me'. However the meaning may be altered depending on how one reads tame to sufferance, and to a lesser extent on how the line is punctuated. tame could be taken as a verb governing patience, or as an adjective, or as connected directly to patience giving the hyphenated adjective patience-tame. sufferance may be the undergoing of pain, or the granting of permission, the latter meaning being brought more to the forefront because of the legal language connected with charter which follows. Another likely interpretation is therefore 'And having patience, which is mild and schooled to endure suffering, [I will] put up with each restraint [which you impose] without etc.'
bide each check = endure each restraint. bide is now only used in the phrase to bide one's time. Here it means to endure, or to put up with. As in :
Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm. KLIII.4.28-9.

check = restraint on one's liberty, an obstruction, a rebuff, a military repulse.
Perforce against all checks, rebukes, and manners,
I must advance the colours of my love MW.III.4.79-80.
The word seems originally to come from the game of chess and putting a king 'in check', and from military usage.

8. Without accusing you of injury.

accusing - this introduces the legal terminology of the next four lines. Apart from his determination to endure patiently all wrongs (which are not wrongs) the poet will not accuse the youth of mental cruelty for the reasons which follow.

9. Be where you list, your charter is so strong

where you list = wherever you desire to be. to list is an obsolete verb, meaning to desire or to wish. (OED.v.(1). 2.b.) It is more often used in an impersonal construction, as in 'wheresoever it listeth him to go' meaning 'wherever he wishes to go'.
charter = a legal document, a permit granted by the appropriate authorities. The word originally meant a leaf of paper, and by transference came to mean the legal document written on that paper or parchment. The Great Charter is a term used for the Magna Carta signed by King John in 1215 at Runnymede, defining the rights and privileges of the barons. Shakespeare uses the word in connection with privilege in Richard III.
Then, taking him from thence that is not there,
You break no privilege nor charter there. R3.III.1.53-4.

10. That you yourself may privilege your time

privilege your time = grant to your own free time the privilege to do what it chooses. Thus, grant freedom to yourself to do as you will when you choose. Shakespeare uses the word privilege as a verb three times in all:

...he took this place for sanctuary,
And it shall privilege him from your hands CE.V.1.94-5.

Such neighbour nearness to our sacred blood
Should nothing privilege him, nor partialize
The unstooping firmness of my upright soul: R2.I.1.119-21.

Wilt thou be glass wherein it shall discern
Authority for sin, warrant for blame,
To privilege dishonour in thy name? Lucrece.619-21.

11. To what you will; to you it doth belong

To what you will = to do as you please (with your time). 'What You Will' is the secondary title of 'Twelfth Night', and there may be some hidden connection. will - here, as elsewhere, is suggestive of sexual desire and license, and given the surrounding references to liberty, charter, privilege and self-doing crime it inevitably bears that secondary meaning.

12. Yourself to pardon of self-doing crime.

A strong charter would no doubt make a baron or Lord unassailable in the courts, and he would be in a position to pardon himself of any and every crime. In reality the hearing would not even reach the courts and the pardon would be granted before the summons was drawn up.

13. I am to wait, though waiting so be hell,

I am to wait = I must wait, I must attend upon your wishes. though waiting so be hell = though waiting is such hell. The unusual construction also allows the meaning 'though waiting in these conditions is such hell'.

14. Not blame your pleasure be it ill or well.

blame = reproach, rebuke; accuse. Cf. :
I cannot blame thee for my love thou usest;
But yet be blamed, if thou thyself deceivest Sonn.40.
your pleasure - the word pleasure is innocent enough in isolation, but the suggestion that it might be ill, i.e. evil, no good, illicit and a sexual betrayal is enough to condemn it.

1. If there be nothing new, but that which is

'There is nothing new under the sun' is proverbial and may be traced back to the Bible. (See extract below of a letter from Sir Thomas Bodley to Sir Francis Bacon 'upon his new Philosophy', written in 1607). The syntax encourages one to read at first 'If all that is new is that which now is..' but the mind modifies this meaning on reaching the second line.

2. Hath been before, how are our brains beguil'd,

beguiled = deceived, tricked. See note on line 4 below

3. Which labouring for invention bear amiss

labouring - the metaphor is from childbirth. The poet labours to give birth to his new ideas (invention). But he is mistaken and suffers a miscarriage (he bears amiss).

4. The second burthen of a former child.

burthen = burden. An obsolete spelling.
second - because it is a repeat performance. Someone else has already produced a similar 'invention' in a former age, hence a former child'.

The result of the birth pangs is an infant which has already been born to another (in former times). It is worth mentioning that the necessity of producing heirs in noble and royal families could result in deceitful practices. A suppositious babe, with the connivance of a mifwife, could be introduced and passed off as the true birth of a wife who failed to conceive for whatever reason. The babe would have been recently born to some other woman in the locality and slipped in secretly for the purpose of substitution if the birth went wrong, or if nothing was produced. At royal births various men of high rank would be present to ensure that this did not occur, and that the birth was genuine. Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary) endured what appears to have been a phantom pregnancy in her desperation to produce an heir. (See OED supposititious 1.b. and supposition 4.a ). The possibility of a reference to this practice is supported by the use of beguiled in line 2 above.

5. Oh that record could with a backward look,

record = the historical record, writing.
with a backward look - i.e. delving far back into the historical record.

6. Even of five hundred courses of the sun,

Even of - of at least (as a bare minimum).
five hundred courses of the sun - probably six hundred years. The old English hundred was apparently 120, so five of these add up to 600. According to some this was the figure of the Platonic cycle, after which all earthly events supposedly repeated themselves. It is doubtful if Shakespeare gave any credence to it, knowing his fondness for the old chronicles which described events much more remote than 600 years and yet avoided repetitions (e.g. King Lear, Cymbeline).

A course of the sun was one year, during which time the earth completes its orbit.

A sibyl, that had number'd in the world
The sun to course two hundred compasses,
In her prophetic fury sew'd the work; Oth.III.4.70-2

7. Show me your image in some antique book,

image - a descriptive image. One tends to think of a painted portrait also, but the following lines seem to rule that out.

8. Since mind at first in character was done,

mind = thoughts, ideas.
in character = in letters, in the written word.
Since mind etc. = since first history began to be written down as recorded thoughts.

9. That I might see what the old world could say

the old world = antiquity; ancient Greece and Rome; times past. Probably not a reference to The Old World, signifing the Eastern hemisphere, as distinct from the New World of America.

10. To this composed wonder of your frame;

composed wonder of your frame - handsomely moulded and wondrous creation. to frame was to produce or make. A frame was a structure, but it was also used as a synonym for a body, animal or human (OED.9.a.). See:

Since I suppose we are to be made no stronger
Than faults may shake our frames MM.II.4.131-2.

..............We smothered
The most replenished sweet work of nature,
That from the prime creation e'er she framed. R3.IV.3.17-19

11. Whether we are mended, or where better they,

mended = improved, made superior.
where better they = in what ways they were superior to us. Some editors emend to whe'er for whether, giving a 'whether... or whether ' construction, proabably not necessary as in reading the alternative meaning could no doubt be heard even without the emendation.

12. Or whether revolution be the same.

Or whether the cyclical revolution of time has brought us round to the same pre-existing circumstances; or whether fortune's wheel has produced the same results as in former times. The word revolution is not used by Shakespeare in the sense of 'the overthrow of established government'. It is found only in four places in the corpus, and the following gives an adequate idea of its meaning.

O God! that one might read the book of fate,
And see the revolution of the times
Make mountains level, and the continent,
Weary of solid firmness, melt itself
Into the sea! 2H4.III.1.45-9.

13. Oh sure I am the wits of former days,

The couplet expresses scepticism that anyone of former days could have been as beautiful as the youth. If any wonderful descriptions are to be found, they are based on inferior subjects.
wits = inventive brains. OED.2.b. The sense of wit = humour was not in use until much later.

 

 

 

14. To subjects worse have given admiring praise.

subjects worse = worse subjects, worse themes, persons, etc.
The couplet rhyme days, praise is also used in 38, 62 and 106. The word praise is understandably not uncommon in the sonnets, occurring 35 times (including related forms). 

 

1. Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,

Like as In like manner to the way in which; make towards = proceed in the direction of (OED 35.b.) make as a verb of motion is not common, and perhaps derives form the word in combination, as below:

Make we our march towards Birnam. Mac.V.2.31.

It is still found in modern usage, as e.g. 'You make for the train while I make for the ticket office'.
pebbled - editors generally emend Q's pibled to pebbled. There were many old spellings for pebble, of which pible was one.

2. So do our minutes hasten to their end;

The imagery is of the disappearance and dissipation of each wave as it beats on the shore. The sea as such is not an obvious simile of human life, as it continues almost forever, whereas our life so patently has an ending. But the individual waves mimic the disappearance of the minutes. (See the comment on our minutes above in the Introductory note).

3. Each changing place with that which goes before,

Waves appear to change place with each other. As one rolls away, another takes its place.

4. In sequent toil all forwards do contend.

In sequent toil = in consecutive laborious procession. toil suggests exhausting labour, and perhaps the harshness of life's journey. The word toil is often connected with the strife of battle, (OED.n(1).1 & 2), and the idea is perhaps of the waves marching forward to contend, or fight, as lines of troops do in a battle.

5. Nativity, once in the main of light,

Nativity = birth. Here a new born child is implied, and nativity is abstract for concrete. Compare the similar use by Falstaff:

I hope good luck lies in odd numbers. Away I go. They say there is divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance, or death. Away! MW.V.1.4-5.

the main of light - the full glare of light. the main refers to the sea, and being in the main implies being in the open sea. In the main of light is therefore 'in the open sea of light', 'where the light is most bright and unhindered'.

6. Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,

Crawls - as a baby crawls. Also suggestive of slowness, as the years of youth seem wonderfully long until they are gone. And in addition of the slowness and crabbedness of age.
wherewith = with which i.e. maturity.

7. Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,

Crooked eclipses = malignant eclipses of sun or moon. Any heavenly eclipse was considered to be a dangerous event. Reversals of fortune could be attributed to their influence. eclipses therefore has a general meaning of 'blight caused by ill fortune', 'setbacks' etc. An eclipse may also be described in terms of the struggle of darkness against the light, as here, where the darkness fights against the glory of the sun, but figuratively against the glory of youth and maturity.
his glory - his refers to nativity, maturity, youth, perfection.

8. And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.

his gift - Time's gift is presumably life itself, but all the accessories of life could be included, wealth, comfort, long age, posterity and so on.
confound = destroy, overturn, . See 5, 8, 63, 64. The basic meaning is from Latin confundere - to pour together, to mingle things together in disorder. (OED 6) The general idea is that the elements that make up an individual are subsequently mingled together in the common mass.

9. Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth

As SB points out the meaning is fairly evident but explaining it is another matter. flourish may be taken as the 'heyday of perfection, the glory (of youth)', derived from the Latin verb florere, to bloom, to blossom, to be in one's prime. It is used in related meanings, frequently, for example, as a stage direction - Flourish of trumpets - meaning a fanfare of trumpets, or else simply as the single word Flourish. That is its most common use in Shakespeare. Here it suggests something like superlative appearance, supreme perfection, the ornament of youthfulness. There are no comparable uses elsewhere in Shakespeare. In
Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but mean,
Needs not the painted flourish of your praise LLL.II.1.13-4.
and
Poor painted queen, vain flourish of my fortune! R3.I.3.241.
'flourish' does not appear to have the same signification. Onions gives 'ostentatious embellishment, gloss, varnish', but those meanings are somewhat too harsh and pejorative to fit with ease here.

transfix usually means to run through, to pierce, as with a lance or sword, hence, by extension, to destroy. Time is the enemy which cuts down and destroys all things that are beautiful and transfixes them in perpetual rigor mortis.

10. And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,

delves the parallels = digs the furrows. parallels were defensive ditches often used in siege warfare. The imagery here, with the word delve, and mowing in line 12, seems more to refer to husbandry and the parallel lines drawn by the plough in the field., or by the spade, if ploughs were not used. These lines are compared to the wrinkles which line the forehead as 'beauty' grows older.

11. Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,

the rarities of nature's truth - the image appears to be that of a beast or monster feeding on rare items. The presence of truth in the line and the difficulty of explaining the meaning of the phrase nature's truth may be partly due to the necessity of rhyme. truth always rhymes with youth in the Sonnets, whenever either word occurs at the end of the line. (6 times). Shakespeare does not use the phrase elsewhere, but I assume it is similar to the truth of honour in

....she, having the truth of honour in her, hath made him that gracious denial which he is most glad to receive. MM.III.1.162-4.

and it acts as an intensifier, as if it were 'pure, uncorrupted honour'. Thus nature's truth = nature itself, nature in its infinite expansion and perfection.

12. And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:

stands = exists, grows (as in the phrase 'standing corn' for corn which has reached maturity).
his scythe = Time's scythe. The scythe was used for mowing hay. Time and Death were frequently portrayed carrying a scythe. (See the woodcut engraving above).

13. And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand

stand - see above. Also with the sense of 'stand up to', 'defy', since to times is to be taken with the verb. Thus 'my verse, as a beacon of hope, will stand against all consuming time, both now, and for all times in the future'.

14. Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.

thy worth - although the poem in a sense leads up to this, it is the only mention of the youth in the poem. the rarities of nature's truth and the flourish set on youth however may be taken as elliptical references to the beloved.
his cruel hand - Time's cruel hand.

1. Is it thy will, thy image should keep open

Is it thy will = do you desire that;
thy image = the image of you (which is ever present in my thoughts)

2. My heavy eyelids to the weary night?

heavy eyelids = eyelids which are heavy with sleep.
weary - reinforces the idea of tiredness and need for rest. The night that must be endured is weary and long.

3. Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken,

broken, open - what might be termed, in Wilfred Owen's phrase, an oblique rhyme.

4. While shadows like to thee do mock my sight?

shadows like to thee - images or ghosts or spirits of you, or like you. They are images which the poet's imagination creates. They mock his vision because they are not real, but give the impression that they are so. They also mock his sight (his eyes), as he desperately tries to close them in sleep. Within the sonnet tradition, and in neo-Platonic philosophy generally, there was much discussion of the shadow/substance duality.

5. Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee

spirit = ghost, apparition. But it could also mean character, desire. 'Is it your wish to send abroad to pry into my doings?'

6. So far from home into my deeds to pry,

into my deeds to pry - much of the language of this sonnet recalls that of 57 and 58, watching the clock, questioning with jealous thought, the hell of waiting, the far off absence of the beloved's liberty. See sonnet 58.
into my deeds to pry = to scrutinise minutely and pruriently all my doings.

7. To find out shames and idle hours in me,

shames = shameful behaviour, sins, deeds of which one might be ashamed.
idle hours = time spent in idleness, by implication time ill spent. A common proverb was 'the devil finds work for idle hands'.

8. The scope and tenor of thy jealousy?

This line seems to be in apposition to line 5, requiring the mental addition of 'Is this'...'Is this the scope and tenor of your jealousy, that it spies out everything I do?' Editors take the tenure of Q to be an old variant spelling of tenor meaning 'purport, import, effect, drift', (OED.A.I.1.a.), but scope and tenure does have a legal ring to it indicating the extent of legal rights of holding and possession. Cf.:
POR. Take thrice thy money. Bid me tear the bond.
SHY. When it is paid according to the tenour.
It doth appear you are a worthy judge;
You know the law. MV.IV.1.229-32.
Where a legal interpretation is clearly required.

I therefore suggest an alternative meaning of this line: 'Is this the extent of the power and right to jurisdiction that your excessive jealousy claims over me?'

9. O, no! thy love, though much, is not so great:

Here the poet takes a backward step, and accuses himself of jealous watchfulness. He manages to make a virtue of it by insisting that it is the greatness of his love which forces him to remain wakeful, rather than any jealous impulses. But these impulses are all too apparent from the previous lines, and reappear again in the closing sestet.

10. It is my love that keeps mine eye awake:

My love and mine own true love, in the next line, although ostensibly referring to his love for the youth, could also be taken as the youth himself. Thus, as SB observes, 'the lines contain a reassertion of the very theory they deny'.

11. Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,

that doth my rest defeat = that prevents me from sleeping. A reminiscence of 27, 28, 43.

12. To play the watchman ever for thy sake:

to play the watchman - the subject of to play is my love in line 10, and I in the next line. Thus 'I take the part of a watchman, and keep watch over you'. A watchman was a sort of civic sentry who patrolled the streets at night. OED 4 gives : One of a body of men formerly appointed to keep watch and ward in all towns from sunset to sunrise. During the night they would call out the hour, and also the state of the weather.

13. For thee watch I, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere,

watch I = I keep watch, or guard (over you); I stay awake, remain sleepless. The latter was the most common meaning. The two meanings are here telescoped into one.
thou dost wake elsewhere = you remain awake and carouse somewhere else. The sense of to wake meaning to revel and carouse is found in
The king doth wake tonight and takes his rouse Ham.I.4.8,
where the reference is to Claudius and his boorish drinking habits.

14. From me far off, with others all too near.

From me far off = far away from me.
others - other friends and companions, other potential or actual lovers.

1. Sin of self-love possesseth all mine eye

Sin of self-love - Presumably not quite the same as selfishness. In Christian morality it is the opposite of loving one's neighbour, and hence a sin against Christ's greatest commandment. In AWW, Shakespeare calls it the worst sin in the canon, albeit in a light hearted exchange between Helen and Parolles.
Besides, virginity is peevish, proud, idle, made of
self-love, which is the most inhibited sin in the canon. AWW.I.1.134-5.
where inhibited = prohibited.
possesseth all mine eye - the eye is perhaps chosen because it is much involved in self-worship. It also stands for the soul or personality, as being the most expressive or radiant part of the face. Note also the pun on 'all mine I', i.e. all of me. to possess, apart from its more common meaning of 'to own' was a term used to signify madness, 'being possessed', and also in relation to the soul being inhabited by the devil. Hence 'To be possessed by the devil' was to have one's soul taken over by the devil.

2. And all my soul, and all my every part;

My entire soul and every single and individual part of me. A similar expression of entirety is found in Sonn. 31:
And thou, all they, hast all the all of me.

3. And for this sin there is no remedy,

this sin = the sin of self love.
no remedy - in a general sense it means 'no cure', and figuratively, no way of putting the matter right, no alternative. (OED.2.b.) Possibly here, because of the theological context, it also means 'no absolution, no forgiveness'.

4. It is so grounded inward in my heart.

It has taken such deep root in my heart. GBE points out the resemblance to 'grafted inwardly in our hearts' in one of the Collects for the Communion Service in the Book of Common Prayer.

5. Methinks no face so gracious is as mine,

Methinks = an old word meaning 'I think that...'
gracious = full of grace, beautiful.

6. No shape so true, no truth of such account;

No shape so true - no bodily shape as perfect, right, proper, correct (as mine is).(OED4.b.) true is still used as an adjective signifying correctness, closeness to a pre-defined standard, as in 'true North', true to the line'.
no truth of such account = no perfection being of such value and so highly esteemed.

7. And for myself mine own worth do define,

I act as judge and jury in determining my own merits.

8. As I all other in all worths surmount.

As = to the extent that, so that.
I all other in all worths surmount = I surpass everyone in any and every quality. other is an old plural form. We would say 'others'.

9. But when my glass shows me myself indeed

my glass = my mirror.
indeed = in reality, as I really am. The looking glass is used several times in the Sonnets to bring the speaker, or the beloved, face to face with supposed reality. It is implied that it gives a more faithful and reliable picture of reality than words, or imagination can do.

Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewest
Now is the time that face should form another; 3

My glass shall not persuade me I am old,
So long as youth and thou are of one date; 22

Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear,
Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste; ....
The wrinkles which thy glass will truly show
Of mouthed graves will give thee memory; 77

Look in your glass, and there appears a face
That over-goes my blunt invention quite, .....
And more, much more, than in my verse can sit
Your own glass shows you when you look in it. 103

10. Beated and chopp'd with tanned antiquity,

Beated = beaten. This is an old form of the past participle.
chopped = hacked, scarred.
with tanned antiquity = as a result of old age (antiquity) with its tanned and dried skin. The tanning in this case does not refer to a sun-tan, but to the operation of tanning or curing leather, which was done in a tannery. The adjective is here applied to the agent, rather than to the object which is tanned, the skin. Beating and chopping may have been operations which were done in tanneries to make the leather usable. The skin of an old man, which the poet considers himself to be here, is stretched and wizened with age, as skin would be stretched on frames in a tannery.

11. Mine own self-love quite contrary I read;

quite contrary - sc. contrary to my former assessment of it.
I read = I interpret, I understand.

12. Self so self-loving were iniquity.

were iniquity = would be sinful in the extreme (in the circumstances just indicated, where it is self-love directed to a tanned and wrinkled old man).

13. 'Tis thee, myself, that for myself I praise,

thee, myself, ... myself - an assertion of the oneness of lovers. See for example:
What can mine own praise to mine own self bring?
And what is 't but mine own when I praise thee? 39.
which contains the same idea. The couplet turns the sonnet on its head by declaring that what appeared to be self love was in fact the altruism of praising the beloved.

14. Painting my age with beauty of thy days.

Painting my age - adorning my aged self;
with beauty of thy days - by association with your beauty. painting my age could also refer to verbal descriptions, (word paintings), or to the use of cosmetics. Since painting is in apposition to praise of the previous line, the entire couplet may be paraphrased: 'I praise myself, because in doing so I praise you, and it is as if I were painting myself in renewed colours borrowed from you, which make me appear as beauteous as you are, both to myself and to others'.

1. Against my love shall be as I am now,

Against = in preparation for (the time when)

2. With Time's injurious hand crushed and o'erworn;

Time's injurious hand - Time is personified once again as the reckless destroyer of all things. Of the 126 sonnets to the youth, time as the invidious tyrant or fickle cheat appears in 17. For the record, the sonnets in which Time is mentioned in a pejorative context are 5, 12, 15, 16, 19, 22, 55, 60, 63, 64, 65, 77, 100, 115, 116, 123, 126. The word does not occur at all in the sonnets to the dark lady.
crushed and o'erworn - the poet perceives himself, having looked in his glass in the previous sonnet, as one who is more than past his prime. It is worth mentioning that, if the sonnets were written prior to 1600, Shakespeare would have been 36 at the most. Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that the ageing process was more rapid in Elizabethan England than it is today, owing to poverty of diet , poor housing and primitive medicine. A thirty year old man could therefore consider himself well advanced towards old age. In addition it was the necessity of convention that the addressee of a love sonnet would be more beautiful and youthful in comparison to all earthly things. Therefore those who admired were always, by reflection, crushed and o'erworn.
o'erworn = worn out.

3. When hours have drained his blood and filled his brow

drain'd his blood = emptied him of blood. It was thought that, as one aged, the blood became thinner, colder, and that there was less of it. The final act of Time and Death was to empty the body of blood completely. fill'd his brow - since the Q spelling is fil'd there could be a reference to the use of a file. The lining of the forehead by Time with wrinkles was for poets the typical act of desecration of beauty which symbolised his (Time's) destructive rage against human achievement.

4. With lines and wrinkles; when his youthful morn

The movement from youthful morn to age's steepy night is very swift, without any intermediate steps. Once started on the downward slope there is no stopping. The speed of the decline is repeated in lines 6-7, where the immortal beauties of youth flash once before one's eyes and then vanish. The repeated word vanish (line 7) gives the impression of a flickering fire, which flickers briefly and is gone.

5. Hath travelled on to age's steepy night;

travelled - travail and travel were the same word in Shakespearian times. See 27, 34, 50. (See Q's spelling). Hence 'moved wearily along on its journey'.
age's steepy night - the steep decline of age into night, darkness and lifelessness. The word steepy is not a neologism, and is recorded by OED before Shakespeare's usage of it. It seems to be synonymous with steep. There could be a connection with steeping objects in fluids so that they become flavoured or imbued with the liquid (in this case with night).

6. And all those beauties whereof now he's king

wherof now he's king = over which he now reigns. The particular aspects or characteristics of beauty which the youth possessed were in a sense under his power, as if he were the ruler of them all. But like all earthly things power is illusory, and in the next line they vanish almost as soon as they make their appearance.

7. Are vanishing, or vanished out of sight,

vanishing (ed) - the repetition of the word makes the process more consciously visual. As one looks, the beauties so much vaunted, disappear before one's gaze.

8. Stealing away the treasure of his spring;

Stealing away - has the transitive meaning of (Time) robbing the youth of all his treasures (his beauty), and the intransitive sense of to steal away, in which the beauty of the youth creeps away imperceptibly, furtively disappears, before anyone has noticed its absence. In the second sense the treasure of his spring would be in appostion to all those beauties or his youthful morn, or both.

9. For such a time do I now fortify

fortify = take up a defensive position by building fortifications. The fortifications become the black lines of l.13. The word is also used in Sonn 16:
And fortify yourself in your decay
With means more blessed than my barren rhyme?
But the fortifications seem woefully inadequate in both cases.

10. Against confounding age's cruel knife,

confounding = destroying. See Sonn 60, line 8, note. Age and Time were comparable, interchangeable destroyers, armed as often with knives as with scythes. Sonn. 100 lists both weapons:

Give my love fame faster than Time wastes life;
So thou prevent'st his scythe and crooked knife. 100.13-14

11. That he shall never cut from memory

he = age, time.

12. My sweet love's beauty, though my lover's life:

The use of my sweet love's beauty and my lover's life has proved difficult for commentators who are not too keen on open admissions of love between men. It is clear that the understanding of the terms love, or lover, differed from that of modern times, and there are instances in the plays where men address each other or refer to each other in such terms without any emotive content. But as so often in writing, it is the context which determines what the words mean. Here, with the sonnet devoted to the means by which something precious might be preserved, and so much emphasis being placed on the admired beauty of the youth, there is no doubt that love and lover mean approximately what they do in modern English, although lover has the more general sense of one who is loved, without the unavoidable modern overtones of one with whom one has had sex. There is no doubt that my love and my lover are meant to carry the full range of emotional overtones which any deep love for another person brings with it. In John Lyly's Euphues : The Anatomy of Wit, published in 1578, Euphues takes as his special friend Philautus, and the two declared their love for each other. They used not only one board, (table) but one bed, one book (if so be it they thought not one too many). Their friendship augmented every day, insomuch that the one could not refrain the company of the other for one minute. Lyly. p.19, Leah Scragg ed.

See commentaries on Sonnet 20 and the extended commentary on Sonnet 13.

13. His beauty shall in these black lines be seen,

Blackness and beauty seem to be opposites. Partly it is the blackness of night and oblivion, set against the brightness of his youthful morn. Partly it may be that
In the old age black was not counted fair,
Or if it were, it bore not beauty's name; 127.
The blackness of course in this case is that of ink, which here manages to preserve greeness and vitality, against all the odds.

14. And they shall live, and he in them still green.

And they shall live - the lines of verse shall continue to live (when all else is dead). he in them still green - he (my love) shall always be flourishing in them with youth and vitality.

1. When I have seen by Time's fell hand defaced

1. fell = savage, fierce;
defaced = disfigured, smashed. Probably a reference to the defacement of idols - the destruction of any images of saints or divinity, which were a special target of Puritan and Reformist zeal. There are many defaced statues on the continent. In this country the destruction was more effective and very little evidence remains.

2. The rich proud cost of outworn buried age;

This probably refers to monuments in churches and graveyards, which expressed the pride and grandeur of wealth. Many monuments and sepulchres were from ages long since gone, outworn buried age, and were subject to ruin and decay, as well as human vandalism.

3. When sometime lofty towers I see down-razed,

sometime = sometimes; Alternatively sometime = formerly, which would refer to the lofty towers, and this would then give the meaning 'when I see towers which were formerly lofty now razed to the ground'.
down-raz'd = razed to the ground, ruined. The destruction of the monasteries was a comparatively recent event, and fresh in memory.

4. And brass eternal slave to mortal rage;

eternal can refer either to brass, or to slave, probably both.
mortal rage = deadly rage. Being a slave to mortal rage would imply being under it's power, rather than being merely its servant. The latter meaning is difficult and does not entirely make sense, as it is not clear what services brass could perform as the minion of mortal rage, other than to be molested by it. mortal rage could also mean 'destruction caused by mortals'. See further commentary on this above.

5. When I have seen the hungry ocean gain

The imagery is that of an advancing army, gaining land by pushing its forces forward.

6. Advantage on the kingdom of the shore,

The army secures a foothold on the land, an advantage over the enemy.

7. And the firm soil win of the watery main,

the watery main = the ocean, the open sea.

8. Increasing store with loss, and loss with store;

Increasing store with loss - can be the object of win in the line above, increasing being adjectival, in that the land wins an increasing store of territory from the ocean, with some losses. Then it receives further losses, with some gains. Or increasing can be a present participle referring to the firm soil, giving the meaning 'the firm soil triumphs in its battle against the sea, increasing its holdings, albeit with some loss, then increasing its losses with some compensatory gains (not as much as the losses)'. With either grammatical interpretation the meaning is fairly evident. Perhaps more important is the fact that the sound of the line is like the sound of a wave approaching and then receding, approaching and receding.
store = a holding, something kept, something reserved to be put aside.

9. When I have seen such interchange of state,

This takes up the idea of kingdom from line 6. States and governments are subject to change and ruin, and especially to changes in the power structures.

10. Or state itself confounded to decay;

Confounded has the meaning of being brought to ruin as well as the meaning of thwarted and blocked.. Cf. Sonn60 line 8 and the note.

11. Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate

ruminate to consider, speculate, ponder. Its closeness in sound to ruin and ruinate is no doubt deliberate.

12. That Time will come and take my love away.

The contrast here is between the complex latinate words of the previous lines - interchange, confounded, ruminate - with the simple mono-syllabic Anglo-Saxon words of this line, underlining the brutal harshness of the reality. Time's classical destructive powers have the immediate non-literary effect of taking away all that is dearest to us, over and above its capacity to operate in the historical world with temples, monasteries, monuments, bronzes, kings and vast empires.

13. This thought is as a death which cannot choose

This thought is as painful as the thought of death. which seems to refer to thought rather than to death.

14. But weep to have that which it fears to lose.

The thought (or the poet himself) must weep for his beloved's mortality, even though, through love, he possesses him and holds him in his thoughts. 

1. Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,

brass, stone, are the paradigms of long lasting substances. earth and boundless sea are also long lasting, and superior in that they are of near boundless extent. These are all things which ought by their nature to be capable of holding out against mortality.

2. But sad mortality o'ersways their power,

sad mortality = mortality which causes sadness; solemn, ugly, hideous mortality.
o'ersways their power = has greater power than they have. 'To exercise sway over' is to rule over. The term is not much used nowadays in this sense (OED.n.5.) but is found in such phrases as 'to hold sway over'. to oversway is to be superior to one who already holds sway.

3. How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,

rage is used in two previous sonnets in a similar context, to exemplify the blind fury of Time's destructiveness.
And barren rage of death's eternal cold? 13.
And brass eternal slave to mortal rage; 64.
It is suggestive of the madness of an unreasoning tyrant, or the irrationality of someone who has gone berserk.
hold a plea - hear a plea, as in a court of law, where an action might be advanced for a stay of execution. SB thinks it is a misapplied term, the precise meaning being '"to try an action" - i.e. to have jurisdiction, to be judge' (SB p.246.n.3.) OED 1.b. does indeed give the definition 'to try an action' with various examples, e.g.
1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 182 Having a court...in which they hold plea of all causes and actions, reall and personall, civill and criminall.
But one suspects that the meaning is the more general one of sustaining or defending a plea, which the average layman might take it to be. OED also gives under "hold" (3.d.) the meaning: "To sustain, bear, endure, ‘stand’ (some treatment)". with the following examples:
1606 W. Crawshaw Romish Forgeries Aija, If the matter will not hold plea, and if my proofe be not substantiall. 1607 Shakes. Cor. iii. ii. 80 Now humble as the ripest Mulberry, That will not hold the handling.
The fact that the first example contains the phrase 'hold plea' works in favour of taking a more general sense of the phrase, rather than the restricted one given as OED.1.b. The imagery is that of a timorous subject defending an action before an enraged and absolute judge who is clearly not going to take any notice of the plea offered.

4. Whose action is no stronger than a flower?

action - the legal terminology continues. The legal action undertaken by beauty to prevent destruction is no more effective than a flower attempting to stop the march of time. The metaphor ranges beyond the merely legalistic, and sets up the image of the flower being trampled by the boot of the tyrant.

5. O! how shall summer's honey breath hold out,

summer's honey breath = the balmy, perfumed breezes of summer, the scent of flowers.
hold out - an echo of hold a plea above.

6. Against the wrackful siege of battering days,

wrackful - bringing devastation, wreckage and ruin. Full of such disasters. Based on the word wrack, meaning ruin and devastation (OED.n.1.2.a.) An alternative spelling perhaps to wreckful (although OED does not give it as such).
the wrackful siege of battering days - the image is of siege warfare, and the battering ram, which was a large beam of wood swung with great violence against the gates of a city to batter them down . The end of a successful siege (from the attackers' point of view) was the capture and destruction of the city.

7. When rocks impregnable are not so stout,

rocks impregnable - i.e. they are impregnable to any human agency, but time can overpower them. impregnable - unassailable. A word often applied to fortresses and other strong military defence points.

8. Nor gates of steel so strong but Time decays?

gates of steel - the defence of a walled city. Shakespeare describes Troy's gates in Troilus and Cressida:
.........Priam's six-gated city,
Dardan, and Tymbria, Helias, Chetas, Troien,
And Antenorides, with massy staples
And corresponsive and fulfilling bolts,
Sperr up the sons of Troy. TC.Pr.15-17.
They protect the inhabitants for the interim but are no defence against the ravages of time.
but Time decays - but even them Time causes to decay. Decay is not normally a transitive verb, and here it is left uncertain as to how Time achieves its end of universal decay.

9. O fearful meditation! where, alack,

fearful - to be feared, causing fear. The fearful meditation is that which has already been stated, and the fears which are about to be stated.

10. Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?

Time's best jewel - the most precious thing in the world; the beloved youth.
Time's chest = the treasure chest in which Time stores all the things it steals. A coffin.

11. Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?

The hand/foot imagery suggests the possibility of a) tripping up Time as it speeds on its way; b) the helplessness of a hand raised in a useless and abandoned attempt to stop a far stronger and swifter adversary.

12. Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?

spoil = spoliation, despoilment, disfigurement. SB defends the Q reading of who his spoil or beauty can forbid. He takes it to mean 'Who can deny Time the enjoyment of his loot (spoil) and who can forbid the youth to be beautiful?' (SB.p.247.n.12).

13. O! none, unless this miracle have might,

O none - this is the answer to the two questions posed in lines 11-12. No answer is given to the first question of lines 9-10, where ... shall time's best jewel from time's chest lie hid? But in a sense all three questions are answered, if we allow the miracle that the jewel may be hidden in the lines of this (and other) sonnets, that the poet will hold back the swift foot of time, and that the despoliation of beauty will be made good by the descriptions of his beauty to be found in these verses.

14. That in black ink my love may still shine bright.

my love = you, the beloved youth; my love for you. The blackness of the ink opposed to the shining brightness of the youth described in the sonnets is part of the miracle of his preservation. 

 

1. Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,

Tired with all these = exhausted, wearied, disgusted with all these - then follows the list of social evils with which he is tired. Possibly with a suggestion of attired with, in the sense that the evils cling to him like clothing, and he cannot divest himself of them.

2. As to behold desert a beggar born,

As = as, for example, all these following.
desert = a deserving person, a worthwhile person. In each succeeding line either praiseworthy or degenerate qualities are personified. Thus needy nothing, purest faith, gilded honour, maiden virtue, right perfection etc. all refer to the person or persons endowed with such characteristics.
a beggar born = born into poverty.

3. And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity,

needy nothing = a nonentity who is needy because he is lacking in all good qualities. At first glance it appears that the phrase suggests the opposite of that intended, for being in a list of socially desirable types whom society has downtrodden, one automatically accepts it as being of the correct type to fit the general flow of the poem i.e. one of the better and praiseworthy examples. Further consideration shows that this is not so, and needy nothing turns out to be one of the nasties who has managed to get himself kitted out in the latest fashion, no doubt at the expense of desert in the line above .
trimm'd in jollity = (undeservingly) done up in frivolous and expensive clothes and ornaments.

4. And purest faith unhappily forsworn,

purest faith = one who exhibits trust and trustworthiness; one who is pure in heart.
unhappily = through evil fortune, unluckily; wretchedly.
forsworn = tricked by false promises, betrayed.

5. And gilded honour shamefully misplaced,

As in line 3, gilded honour is not an example of virtue ill-treated, but of unworthiness well rewarded. Gilded honour stands for the pomp and paraphernalia of office and authority, the gold regalia of office, but here it is misplaced, because it has been bestowed on those who are not fit to receive it.

6. And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,

maiden virtue = unblemished virtue; an innocent maiden.
rudely strumpeted = forced to become a whore, proclaimed a whore. Figuratively, virtue is forced into evil ways. The resemblance of the word strumpet to trumpet hints at the possibility of public shaming of the innocent.

7. And right perfection wrongfully disgraced,

right perfection = genuine, honest perfection.
wrongfully = sinfully, evilly, unjustly.

8. And strength by limping sway disabled

strength = the strength of knowing the right course of action.
limping sway = influence, which is typified by a crippled, shuffling figure working behind the scenes. The irony is that strength, which is hale and hearty, is disabled by influence and corruption, which is limping and crippled, but nevertheless manages to make strength like himself. KDJ sees a possible reference to the authority of the ageing Elizabeth in restricting the activities of young male courtiers, for example the Earl of Essex in 1600/01. But it is unlikely that Shakespeare would have needed to look to the very top of society for examples of young talent and enterprise suppressed by the aged and infirm. Youth in any age can feel itself repressed by precedent, tradition, and the influence and authority of those already in power. In Elizabethan England, being of the right family and having contacts with those who could pull strings was vital for success, and many talented youths must have discovered that their prospects were severly blighted by the conventions of the times and the limited prospects for advancement.

9. And art made tongue-tied by authority,

art = skill, knowledge. A person who possesses these. The word was less often applied to what we would call the creative arts.
authority = a person in authority. SB mentions that this could refer to censorship, which did operate in Elizabethan times, albeit rather erratically.

10. And folly, doctor-like, controlling skill,

folly = stupidity, ignorance.
doctor-like - as an academic doctor; pretending to be learned. Skill is used by Shakespeare of the physician’s art also, so the reference could here be to a doctor of medicine.
………There's something in't,
More than my father's skill, which was the greatest
Of his profession AWW.I.3.233-5
Sir, I will use
My utmost skill in his recovery, Per.V.1.73-4.
controlling = restraining, exercising authority over, restricting, hampering. skill - used in a general sense to signify those who have knowledge, those who are skilled in a branch of science. But perhaps the reference is more to an academic situation, in which a person flaunting academic dress controls those who are more knowledgeable than him, but who do not have such a high academic standing. In the traditional personification of Folly, such as that depicted in Erasmus’s In Praise of Folly, he was given learned pomposity and academic garb to suit it. See SB.p.249.n.10.

11. And simple truth miscalled simplicity,

simple truth = plain truth, unadorned truth. miscalled = wrongfully named.
simplicity = stupidity, idiocy.

12. And captive good attending captain ill:

captive = having been captured; enslaved, having no freedom; attending = serving in a menial capacity; taking instruction from.
captain ill = evil (an evil person) in a position of authority. The title referred to a military rank, but was often used in a more general sense to mean a military person in high authority,
Who does i' the wars more than his captain can
Becomes his captain's captain AC.III.1.21-2.

13. Tired with all these, from these would I be gone,

Wearied with all this graft and corruption, I wish to escape from it all.

14. Save that, to die, I leave my love alone.

Save that = except that.
to die = by dying; if I die.
I leave my love alone = I abandon my love and leave him defenceless; the only thing that I regret leaving is my love.

 

Robinetta.  Stipple Engraving by John Jones, after Sir Joshua Reynolds. 

Published 1797. 

1. Ah! wherefore with infection should he live,

wherefore = why, with what justification.
infection = sin, immorality, corruption. A reference to the evils detailed in the previous sonnet. There seem to be three or four (at least) nuances of interpretation to this question. 1. Why should he be forced to endure the indignity of living with this age? 2. Why should he tolerate it (i.e. let him spurn it, give it the boot.) 3. Why should fate be so unkind as to place him in this age, and not in another? 4. Why does he allow himself to be tainted with and participate in the sins of the age (his character is not all that it seems to be). The first three are predominant, but the development of the question gives rather more force to 4. It shows him living comfortably alongside sin.

2. And with his presence grace impiety,

And give a blessing to the evils of the age simply by living amongst them.

3. That sin by him advantage should achieve,

sin - equivalent to infection in line 1.
Advantage should achieve = should secure an advantageous position, should be given a boost, should be promoted.

4. And lace itself with his society?

lace = embellish, adorn, (as one adorns garments with lace hems and edges). In the Elizabethan age lace was much valued. A lace collar of fine workmanship would be highly valued and wearing it was a means of showing off and declaring one’s wealth. (For elaborate lace collars see the portrait of Mary of Lorraine at the top of the page and the self portrait by the miniaturist Oliver above). Various sumptuary laws were passed in Elizabeth’s reign restricting the amount of money that could be spent on a ruff (a lace collar). The laws were usually ignored or circumvented.

5. Why should false painting imitate his cheek,

false painting = cosmetics. Possibly portrait painting. The practice being castigated is that of artificially attempting to fake a beautiful face, using face painting, in order to copy the beauty of the youth on one’s own cheek. Portraiture seems to be less of a target than the vanity of self adornment.

6. And steal dead seeming of his living hue?

dead seeming - cosmetics are not a living reality. They steal the image of a living beauty (a living hue), but they themselves are dead substances. Hue = colour, appearance. See Sonnet 20.

7. Why should poor beauty indirectly seek

poor = indifferent, second-rate, unfortunate (not blessed by good fortune).
indirectly seek = seek out by dubious means, or by means of an intermediary. These two lines (7,8) are obscure. There are neo-Platonic references to shadow and substance, as in 37, 43, 53. Poor beauties are presented as copies of the real thing, the ideal form of the rose itself, from which they have to borrow their characteristics. The youth is the absolute and true Rose, the Platonic abstract form of rose, on which all others are based. Hence what they achieve in their quest is limited and they are only roses of shadow, or have achieved such characteristics, but never the real thing.

8. Roses of shadow, since his rose is true?

his rose is true = he is the true, absolute and ideal rose, the Platonic form on which all others are based.

9. Why should he live, now Nature bankrupt is,

Why should he live - takes up the refrain of line 1, but the connection is not exactly clear. This whole quatrain is obscure and various emendations have been suggested for line 12. The implication here is that Nature has run out of supplies, and is no longer capable of creating beauteous things. Therefore, in the midst of this dereliction, the youth is subjected to unworthy constraints and degradations. Why should Nature force him to live and undergo such humiliation?

10. Beggared of blood to blush through lively veins?

Beggared = impoverished, made a beggar. Deprived of her stores (of blood). Presumably Nature is now only capable of creating bloodless people, those with no life in their veins. The times are so bad that no one alive today is anything but a bloodless shadow (apart from the beloved youth).

11. For she hath no exchequer now but his,

she = Nature;
exchequer = treasury, store of wealth.

12. And proud of many, lives upon his gains.

The subject is still ‘Nature’, but the meaning of the line is not clear. Possibly ‘Nature, being proud of the many rich treasuries she has bountifully bestowed upon past ages, now has only the youth’s assets to distribute.’ The word gains is used by Shakespeare elsewhere in the sense of profit, rewards.

He hath disgraced me, and
hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses,
mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, MV.III.1.46-8.

We thank thee, gentle Percy, for thy pains;
And to thy worth will add right worthy gains. R2.V.6.11-12.

Clarence still breathes; Edward still lives and reigns:
When they are gone, then must I count my gains. R3.I.1.161-2.

O well done! I commend your pains;
And every one shall share i' the gains; Mac.IV.1.39-40.

Here I would interpret it to mean assets, or riches. Nature has nothing left but the riches of the youth to distribute to the rising generations. The idea is somewhat far-fetched, and the meaning is in any case dubious. Various emendations have been proposed, such as priv’d of many = deprived of many (things); priv’d of money = bankrupt.

13. O! him she stores, to show what wealth she had

stores = keeps in store, keeps aside for future use. OED.2.a. gives : provide for the continuance or improvement of (a stock, race, breed). she refers to Nature.

14. In days long since, before these last so bad.

before these last so bad = before these recent days and times which have been so appalling. The lament that times are degenerating dates back to at least as far as Hesiod, c.700BC, whose epic poem Works and Days described the gradual decline of the human race from the golden age into the age of Iron. One suspects that here Shakespeare is parodying the tedious complaint of the elderly that, in their day, life, customs, people, behaviour, were all much better. If it is not so, one might wonder if there is perhaps a specific reference here to harsh times, Southampton’s imprisonment for example, or plots against the Queen, or famine, or natural disasters. We shall never know, but it is a strange conclusion to a sonnet which deals with the supernatural glory of a youth that one should focus on the times which are, it seems, irremediably bad. To a certain extent the conclusion harmonises with the theme of 66, that everything in the world is evil, or subject to evil, but here, not only is the state of affairs evil, but all is worse than it has been before. Perhaps it is just a moment of despair, or perhaps the next few sonnets will resolve the problem.  

 

1. Thus is his cheek the map of days outworn,

cheek - stands here for the face. That the face could be seen as a map of personality was a popular Renaissance idea.
Ah, uncle Humphrey! in thy face I see
The map of honour, truth and loyalty 2H6.III.1.202-3.
days outworn = days long ago which are now abraded from memory. The youth is an image or record of past history, a golden age when things were more beautiful than in these bad times.

2. When beauty lived and died as flowers do now,

i.e. without external means of beautification, but with their own inherent splendour, as flowers live and die naturally.

3. Before these bastard signs of fair were born,

bastard signs of fair = false, misleading means of beautifying one’s face or appearance; cosmetics.
bastard - (an adjective) because they were supplanting natural and legitimate beauty.
born = given birth to; worn (as clothing or adornments). More probably the latter, although the imputation of bastardy and illegitimacy points more to the former meaning. Shakespeare did not like the use of cosmetics, as they seemed to be the outward symbol of a false persona. The Puritan dislike of them was rooted more in an intense prejudice against frivolity of any kind. Cosmetics here includes not only face painting but other adornments also, such as wigs. They were bastard signs of fair in that they were not born with the person, but came into being as a subsequent birth alongside the individual they adorned, something born the wrong side of the blanket, as it were. Yet they were worn by the person, hence borne, or carried, by her/him. (Note Q's spelling, borne).

4. Or durst inhabit on a living brow;

durst = dared to;
inhabit = occupy, place itself (on);
brow = forehead, head, face. Cosmetics would inhabit a face by dwelling on it, being placed on it.

5. Before the golden tresses of the dead,

This is a reference to wigs being made from hair removed from corpses. Whether or not this was the chief source of hair used in wigs is uncertain. Presumably barbers would have supplied some of it. Golden was the desired colour for hair, but any shade approximating Elizabeth’s fading red hair was acceptable. The following is from a chapter on costume in Shakespeare’s England Oxford 1916, p.96.

"True golden hair was held in the highest estimation, but naturally all shades of auburn and red were favoured in a court whose Queen set the fashion by her own Tudor tresses, supplementing them as they faded with various wigs of these tints. … … … Women of fashion incurred much censure from the pulpit and scorn from the satirist for the general practice of dyeing their hair and wearing wigs. Face-painting was common among women and at court, and evidently was carried much farther than ever before. Harrison, Stubbes, Stow, Gosson, and other writers of the time see in it a token of a depraved mind, and imply that the use of face-paint is incompatible with moral behaviour."

Cosmetics to enhance facial colour were used by men also in the Elizabethan period.

6. The right of sepulchres, were shorn away,

The right of sepulchres - the hair of the dead should rightly be buried with them. A sepulchre is a tomb or burial place, a building, vault or excavation made for the internment of the dead. (OED 1.)
shorn away = cut off. Shakespeare’s pre-occupation with this subject may also be illustrated by the following from the Merchant of Venice:

… … … Look on beauty,
And you shall see 'tis purchased by the weight;
Which therein works a miracle in nature,
Making them lightest that wear most of it:
So are those crisped snaky golden locks
Which make such wanton gambols with the wind,
Upon supposed fairness, often known
To be the dowry of a second head,
The skull that bred them in the sepulchre. MV.III.2.88-96.

Other links to the sonnets from this scene of MV have already been noted. See especially Sonnet 37. 
An old ballad which sings of the changing times under Queen Elizabeth tells of a flourishing gallant who came to this land:
With a new lady whose face is beautiful and fair,
Who never knew what belongs to housekeeping or care,
But purchased seven new fans to play with the air,
And seventy new dressings of other women’s hair;
From MS. Ashm. 38, fo. 113, (The Bodleian) quoted in Shakespeare’s England p.41 (see above). The seventy new wigs might well not be excessive in terms of the outlay of a fashionable lady. Queen Elizabeth probably had more.

 

7. To live a second life on second head;

The vituperative homily against wigs continues. KDJ notes that Shakespeare’s interest in the matter might arise because he himself was a bald actor, and because he lived for a time in Silver Street, the home of the wig trade in London.

8. Ere beauty's dead fleece made another gay:

fleece - perhaps suggested by shorn in line 6. The thought of lines 5-7 reiterated. There may also be a reference to the golden fleece of classical legend, a prize which tempted Jason and the Argonauts.

9. In him those holy antique hours are seen,

those holy antique hours - times of antiquity before the world was corrupt; the golden age.

10. Without all ornament, itself and true,

A restatement of Platonic perfection, recalling line 8 of the previous sonnet. Although the antecedent of itself is doubtful, it probably refers to the youth. The thing itself is the unadorned and perfect creature. In King Lear’s eyes, (probably, but not certainly, written later than the sonnets) the naked Edgar was the epitome of the ‘true man’. Clothing and adornments obscure what is real and true. All that is missing in Lear’s raging tirade against hypocrisy is a reference to wigs.

Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou owest the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume. Ha! here's three on 's are sophisticated! Thou art the thing itself: unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor bare, forked animal as thou art. KL.III.4.102-6.

SB thinks also that there may be a bawdy reference in all ornament to female pubic hair. Hence the line would also imply ‘you are more perfect than a woman’.

 

11. Making no summer of another's green,

Not adorning himself with the borrowed green and freshness of someone else’s growth and vigour.

12. Robbing no old to dress his beauty new;

old = old tradition; older person (by taking their hair). The emphasis is on the youth’s freshness. He has nothing that is outworn or dead on him, no cosmetics and no other adornments.

13. And him as for a map doth Nature store,

Resuming the statement of line 1. The couplet is similar in its argument to the couplet of the previous sonnet:
O! him she stores, to show what wealth she had
In days long since, before these last so bad.
The homily against deception of the previous lines peters out into a conclusion that was foretold in line 1, with the addition that Nature has deliberately set aside the map of his face as a record in the ultimate hope of regenerating lost beauty from it as from a copy. store is used in the sense of keeping aside for improving the stock as in
Let those whom Nature hath not made for store, 11.
and in the previous sonnet:
O him she stores, to show what wealth she had 67
where the word is used in a similar sense.

14. To show false Art what beauty was of yore.

false Art = cosmetic painting; those who use it.
what beauty was of yore = what real beauty was like long ago (before these last times which have been so bad).

1. Those parts of thee that the world's eye doth view

those parts of thee = your outward, visible appearance.
the world's eye = public opinion, the common viewpoint.

2. Want nothing that the thought of hearts can mend;

want nothing = lack nothing, are not deficient in anything.
the thought of hearts = heartfelt thoughts, sincere and loving thoughts.
can mend = are (not) able to supply. Modern usage would be 'lack nothing that cannot be supplied or put right'.

3. All tongues, the voice of souls, give thee that due,

All tongues = everyone, all who speak; everyone in all languages.
the voice of souls - in apposition to all tongues. The thought is probably wishful rather than a statement of fact. It could mean 'in so far as they (the tongues) are the voice of souls'. Dissembling is so much a part of various characters in Shakespeare's plays that it is not possible to credit him with the view that all speech is the direct utterance of the soul's thoughts. The statement here encourages us to focus our attention on the inner worth of the man, in contrast to the outward appearance.

due - end in Q is thought to be a misprint which fails to preserve the rhyme. In Elizabethan secretary script d looks like e and u like n. (See SB p.253. n.3).

4. Uttering bare truth, even so as foes commend.

bare truth = unadorned truth, the plain facts.
even so as foes commend = even to the extent that enemies have to admit that it is so. Even enemies commend the speakers for giving a true account.

5. Thy outward thus with outward praise is crown'd;

Thy outward = your outward parts, the part of you that is visible (as distinct from your inner self). outward here functions as a noun. Its second use is adjectival (outward praise). The line contains an example of the frequent thy/their misprint.

6. But those same tongues, that give thee so thine own,

those same tongues - the speakers of line 3.
give thee so thine own - describe your outward aspect so faithfully. They are only returning to you what is your due. Cf. 37 & 38.

7. In other accents do this praise confound

other accents - with additional hints, or suggestions. accents indicates a further use of speech to describe the youth, but lines 8-12 suggest that it is only in thought that they find fault with him.
confound = bring to nothing, undermine, confuse.

8. By seeing farther than the eye hath shown.

By seeing into the inward heart, which is not directly visible to the eye. The phrase farther than the eye hath shown encapsulates the idea that the eye, on seeing, can report (show) what it has seen.

9. They look into the beauty of thy mind,

They - presumably the people who possess the tongues and who have confounded the praise they first offered.

10. And that in guess they measure by thy deeds;

that = the beauty (or lack of it) of your mind.
in guess = by guessing. They look at your deeds and deduce from them what your mind is really like.

11. Then, churls, their thoughts, although their eyes were kind,

Then, churls, their thoughts - Q does not have the commas. churls could therefore refer to the speakers (tongues) of lines 3 & 6, or to the thoughts of this line. A churl was a boorish peasant, but the term could also be used pleasantly, as in And, tender churl, mak'st waste in niggarding. (Sonn 1.) By attributing the churlish thoughts of denigrating the youth's moral perfection to the perfidy of churlish men, the poet neatly avoids the reproach of being the one who casts the first stone.

Although their eyes were kind - despite the fact that they might be kindly disposed towards you; despite having praised your appearance.

12. To thy fair flower add the rank smell of weeds:

the rank smell of weeds - weeds were symbolic of rottenness and corruption, probably because they destroyed the labours of cultivation. OED 15a gives for 'rank' - of a strongly marked, violent, or virulent type; absolute, downright, gross. (Used to add force to terms implying the existence of bad qualities in a person or thing.) Shakespeare uses the term quite frequently, especially in Hamlet, to describe inner corruption.

Oh my offence is rank, it smells to heaven. HamIII.3.36.

It is often applied to weeds, having the sense of over luxuriance and excessive growth.

Crown'd with rank fumiter, and furrow weeds. KL IV.4.3.

Or it simply means foul and loathsome, (OED 14a) as:

Repent what's past; avoid what is to come;
And do not spread the compost on the weeds,
To make them ranker. Ham.III.4.150-2.

Thou mixture rank, of midnight weeds collected,
With Hecate's ban thrice blasted, thrice infected, Ham.III.2.251-2.

Finally, the line provides a link to the famous couplet of Sonnet 94

For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

Composted weeds do not in fact smell more or less unpleasant than other decaying vegetable matter. Shakespeare's use of weeds as metaphors of a festering body or soul springs partly from the awareness of the damage that weeds can do to an agrarian economy, and partly from the fact that some weeds have unpleasant smells. Black horehound (otherwise known as Stinking Roger), stinking chamomile, and stinking hellebore are relatively common. Nowadays, as the countryside is more and more enveloped by the city, they are valued as wild flowers rather than dismissed as weeds.

13. But why thy odour matcheth not thy show,

thy odour - figuratively, your reputation, your essence. In sonnet 54 the odour of the rose is equated with its inner, eternal qualities. The idea is given greater relevance by the prior mention of smells coming from weeds.

14. The soil is this, that thou dost common grow.

soil - this is the usual emendation of Q's solye. Editors explain it as deriving from the verb assoil, to solve, explain (OED.6.). Hence, 'the explanation is this'. But there must also be a connection with its common meaning of 'earth', especially as the line continues with a mention of common, a word that brings in associations of common land, or land owned, tilled and pastured by villagers as a community . Soil can therefore here have the figurative meaning of 'the basic stratum, the basic underlying reason (as to why thy odour matcheth not thy show)'. There is also the additional meaning of 'taint, stain', as in these lines from Troilus and Cressida:
But I would have the soil of her fair rape
Wiped off in honourable keeping her.TC.II.2.148-9.
The word common in its modern sense of low-class, vulgar (OED14b) only dates from the 19th century. Its usual meaning for Shakespeare is 'public, widespread', but often also with pejorative associations of baseness, depending on context, as in the following.

The earth can yield me but a common grave, Sonn.81

And sweets grown common lose their dear delight. Sonn102

Why should my heart think that a several plot
Which my heart knows the wide world's common place?
Sonn.137

You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate
As reek o' the rotten fens, whose loves I prize
As the dead carcasses of unburied men Cor.III-3.122-5. (Coriolanus shouting at the mob.)

.......should I, damn'd then,
Slaver with lips as common as the stairs
That mount the Capitol; Cym.I.6.103-5.

The imputations of unpleasantness in all of the above are quite strong. One should also remember that the adjective was applied to prostitutes, as in 'common customer' AWW.V.3.284, and 'common house', meaning a brothel. MM.II.1.41-3. It is possible that the youth is being accused of either resorting to prostitutes or becoming a male prostitute himself. If that was deemed to be too insulting the poet could always claim that he meant nothing of the sort, and had suggested only that the youth's acquaintances were not as exalted as his social position required them to be. 

 

1. That thou art blamed shall not be thy defect,

That thou art blamed = the fact that certain people (the tongues of the previous sonnet) find fault with you.
shall not be thy defect = shall not be counted as a defect, or as a blot on your character.

2. For slander's mark was ever yet the fair;

slander's mark = the target of slanderous tongues. slander is here personified.
was ever yet = always was, and still is.
the fair = those who are beautiful.

3. The ornament of beauty is suspect,

Suspicion always accompanies beauty, such that it seems to be a natural adornment of it. suspect is a noun, equivalent to the modern word 'suspicion'. Describing suspicion as an ornament of beauty is rather odd, since ornamentation itself is supposed to beautify the object. It may be that the title is applied ironically, or there may be a suggestion that all ornaments are false and should be the object of suspicion.

4. A crow that flies in heaven's sweetest air.

Suspicion (suspect) taints beauty in the same way that a crow taints the air of heaven by flying through it. A crow was considered to be a bird of evil omen, mostly because of its blackness. Thus in Macbeth
Light thickens, and the crow
Makes wing for the rooky wood;
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse,
Whiles night's black agents to their preys do rouse. Mac.III.2.50-3.

5. So thou be good, slander doth but approve

So thou be good = You only have to be good (in order to be a natural target); if you should choose to be good, or if you could only remain good.
approve = prove, confirm.

6. Thy worth the greater, being wooed of time;

Thy worth the greater = that your worth is greater (than previously thought).
being wooed of time = time also is in love with you. The phrase does not seem entirely apposite here, in that it does not follow on from the rest of the sentence. Commentators have struggled to find its meaning. The phrase may mean nothing more than 'you are beautiful, in that time has bestowed gifts on you'. JK suggests that the corruptions of the age set out to seduce the youth (he is wooed by time), but when they do not succeed, since he remains good, the envious tongues of slander merely prove that he is even more worthy. The allurements of time are fickle (126) and it is not to be trusted. The line has the additional difficulty of the their/thy misprint.

7. For canker vice the sweetest buds doth love,

canker vice = vice, which is like a canker (a destructive maggoty worm). The gardener would no doubt complain that canker often attacks the best blooms.

8. And thou present'st a pure unstained prime.

thou present'st = you present to the world, you show, or have shown (because the youthfullest days appear to have passed, according to the next line).
a pure unstained prime = a springtime of youth which is chaste and unsullied. unstainéd - the 'ed' is pronounced.

9. Thou hast passed by the ambush of young days

ambush - temptations lying in wait which are set by the world and the devil. It is not clear how young young is in the poet's mind, or how old the youth is now. It is hardly worth mentioning that the statement is a flat contradiction of 35, 40-43. Perhaps all has been forgotten or the poet still feels a duty to exonerate the youth whatever happens, especially as the accusations are made by alien tongues who have no right to do so. Only those may criticise who have been wounded, and they have the right to forgive.

10. Either not assailed, or victor being charged;

not assailed - not attacked by temptation.
victor being charged = victorious when charged in battle. The metaphors are military, but there may be a suggestion of a legal attack, with slanderous tongues drawing up a charge sheet.

11. Yet this thy praise cannot be so thy praise,

this thy praise = the praises of you listed above, chiefly that you are unstained, and that slander misses its mark.
cannot be so thy praise = cannot forever be so powerful as praise (that it succeeds in tying up envy).

12. To tie up envy, evermore enlarged,

envy - the motive of the slanders of 'tongues' is suggested.

evermore enlarged = perpetually at liberty. Envy is personified as a wild and raging beast which cannot be confined.

To enlarge = to set free.
Enlarge the man committed yesterday
That railed against our person.  H5.II.2.41

13. If some suspect of ill masked not thy show,

suspect = suspicion, as in line 3.
ill = evil, sin, bad character.
masked not thy show = did not cover your appearance, as with a mask.

14. Then thou alone kingdoms of hearts shouldst owe.

owe = own, possess. If some stain, whether justified or not, were not attached to you, then you would reign in love over multitudes of people. (Whereas now I alone am your slave, and enjoy the privilege of being the one who loves you).

1. No longer mourn for me when I am dead

No longer = For no longer a period than etc. Normally the period of mourning would last for several weeks, more or less depending on the closeness of kin to the dead person.

2. Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell

the surly, sullen bell - the death bell. Although frequently referred to in literature, it is seldom heard nowadays. The tenor bell of a peal is used, which is heavy and of a sombre tone. It was tolled at the rate of about one stroke every half minute, either before or immediately after a funeral service. For important people the death bell might be tolled once for each year of their life. For kings, once for each year of the reign. In a world in which noise was so much less than in our own, the sound of the death bell tolling was especially noticeable and memorable. All would have experienced hearing it. Even in London it would be heard above the sound of daily life. It is thought that Shakespeare paid for the bell to be rung at the funeral of his actor brother Edmund in 1607. (KDJ p.252.n1-2).
surly = gloomy, melancholic, grudging.
Or if that surly spirit, melancholy,
Had baked thy blood and made it heavy-thick, KJ.III.3.42-3.
sullen = sombre, unresponsive, dull sounding.
Yet the first bringer of unwelcome news
Hath but a losing office, and his tongue
Sounds ever after as a sullen bell,
Remember'd tolling a departing friend. 2H4.I.1.100-4
The passing bell was supposedly rung at the hour of a person's death. OED gives, for 'passing bell' -‘The bell which rings at the hour of departure, to obtain prayers for the passing soul: often used for the bell which rings immediately after death’.   The next line possibly implies that the poet refers to the passing bell, rather than the bell tolled at burial.

3. Give warning to the world that I am fled

Give warning - the death bell was rung to notify the world of a death, but also as a memorial and a reminder of mortality. As in Donne's famous line: Therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

4. From this vile world with vilest worms to dwell:

vile world - Sonnet 66 gives ample reasons for thinking the world a vile place.
with vilest worms - worms eat the body when it is buried in the ground. vildest (Q) is a variant form. Cremation is a 20th century practice, but inhumation was the usual practice for Elizabethans. Worms are mentioned by Shakespeare almost always in association with death.
....................shall I believe
That unsubstantial death is amorous,
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
For fear of that, I still will stay with thee;
And never from this palace of dim night
Depart again: here, here will I remain
With worms that are thy chamber-maids; O, here
Will I set up my everlasting rest, RJ.V.3.102-110.

5. Nay, if you read this line, remember not

Nay - used as an introductory word (OED A.1.d.), but also as a word which denies or objects to a preceding statement. Here it could be taken to imply an expected protest on the part of the friend -'Of course I will remember you!  In any case I have your verses as reminders'.

6. The hand that writ it, for I love you so,

the hand that writ it = my hand that wrote these verses, hence me. Some at least of Shakespeare's sonnets circulated in manuscript long before they were published.
for I love you so - the simplicity and directness of the Anglo-Saxon words seems to underline the utter hopelessness and completeness of the self-abnegation, as well as the totality of the poet's all-consuming love.

7. That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot,

in your sweet thoughts - nothing can be sweeter than being in the thoughts of one's beloved. Even that delight the poet offers to relinquish. would be forgot = desire to be forgotten. forgot is an old form of the past participle.

8. If thinking on me then should make you woe.

should make you woe - might cause you distress, might make you sorrowful.

9. O! if, I say, you look upon this verse,

O! if, I say, - The interjection I say adds a further touch of pathos, by reminding the reader (and the youth) that this is not only a poem, not even primarily so, but that it is a personal testament, a cry from the heart, an appeal made in the intimacy of love's confidences.

10. When I perhaps compounded am with clay,

When I am intermingled with the clay in which I have been buried. HV draws attention to the progressive reduction of the lingering memory, which is not to be preserved, from me in the first line, to hand, then to this verse, then mere dust compounded with clay, and finally only a poor name. But even that last remnant of the poet must be forgotten.

11. Do not so much as my poor name rehearse;

Do not even repeat my name. poor emphasises the poet's sense of his own worthlessness. Even his name is poor. But there is also a suggestion that he is poor and wretched because of abandonment by the beloved.
reherarse = repeat, say over.

12. But let your love even with my life decay;

When my life ends, let your love end also. decay returns to the imagery of the tomb and the body's corruption. The advice offered is painful because of the lingering suspicion that it is not needed. The youth was going to forget him anyway.

13. Lest the wise world should look into your moan,

Lest = for fear that;
the wise world - ironic. There is a suggestion that the world is overwise, a busybody and a know-all, and that it is not wise at all.
should look into your moan = might investigate the cause of your sorrow. The prying world becomes like an Inquisition. moan is used elsewhere in the sonnets to signifiy sorrow. Compare:
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan, 30
and
Thou hast finished joy and moan. Cym.IV.2.274.

14. And mock you with me after I am gone.

mock you with me = mock you on account of your friendship with me (and on account of my unworthiness); mock you and me together.

1. O! lest the world should task you to recite

lest the world = for fear that the world might . A continuance of the idea voiced in the concluding couplet of the previous sonnet. The prying and interfering world might seek to know more details of our love, might conduct an inquisition.
task = command, force, give the task to. As in King John where it is used also in connection with forced interrogation:
What earthy name to interrogatories
Can task the free breath of a sacred king? KJ.III.1.147-8.

interrogatories = questions put, as part of the interrogation process, to be answered on oath.
to recite = to declare, to speak out.

2. What merit lived in me, that you should love

What merit lived in me = what merit there was in me;
that you should love - that can refer to the merits which the beloved loves in the poet, in which case should means 'ought to', or 'might'; or that could be a conjunction, and the meaning becomes 'what merits there were in me that caused you to love (me, them)'. Both meanings are appropriate. Q gives no comma after love, although many modern editions have one. Without the comma the sense of this line carries on into line 3, allowing the beloved to continue loving after death. Punctuating with a comma tends to restrict the after my death clause to line 3.

3. After my death,--dear love, forget me quite,

dear love, forget me quite - this can function as a command almost independently of after my death. 'Whatever else has preceded, dear love, forget me now completely'. The use of dear love recalls some of the earlier moments of tenderness, beginning with dear my love, you know 13; dear friend 30; dear religious love 31; our dear love 39; thou best of dearest, and mine only care 48. It is the appearance of these simple declarations in the midst of so much complex thought that makes the sonnets so overwhelming in their effect. As with for I love you so in the previous sonnet, no amount of analysis can explain why such a simple phrase should work so magnificently - partly it is the unexpectedness of its appearance here, for what we have been led to anticipate is a feast of verbal richness, when suddenly we are presented with the thing itself, love shorn of all pretensions, nothing other than the basic and unadorned declaration, which means everything that the poet has been trying to say all along. 'I love you so that I would even wish you to forget me, for love has no before and after, no death, and no ending.' Or as John Donne expressed it a few years later
Love, all alike, no season knows, nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of Time.

4. For you in me can nothing worthy prove.

nothing worthy = nothing that has any worth; with a possible pun on 'worth thee'. prove = establish by testing or trial or argument(OED 5); but probably also includes a hint of 'to approve'; i.e. there is nothing in me of sufficient worth that could make you approve of me (or it). prove and approve derive from the same root, (Latin probare) and Shakespeare frequently uses the latter in the sense that is closely related to prove. The most common usage of prove in Shakespeare is with the meaning 'to turn out to be' (OED 8).

And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain R3.I.1.28-30.

This would yield an additional meaning to the line - 'For you, being united with me, (as lovers are one and the same person), can only turn out to be of no worth, since I am worthless'. This chimes more with the theme of these two sonnets, 71-2, than the other interpretations.

 

5. Unless you would devise some virtuous lie,

I have retained Q's punctuation of line 4, which makes Unless the start of a sentence.
would = were to;
devise = invent;
virtuous lie - virtuous in the sense that the beloved is charitable in trying to preserve the memory of his friend. The sinful lie would therefore have a good intention. virtuous also has the meaning of 'forceful'. The virtue of a plant was its efficacy and the power of its healing properties (OED 9.b).
.......no cataplasm so rare
Collected from all simples that have virtue
Under the moon, can save the thing from death Ham.IV.7.143-5.

(simples = herbs).
Hence 'a potent lie'. The oxymoron also plays a part in suggesting that the youth is virtuous and would not normally resort to lying. A suggestion that is further enhanced by the word plays on truth and untruth in lines 8-10.

6. To do more for me than mine own desert,

Sc. - than my own desert or merits can do for me (by way of preserving my memory). desert was pronounced desart.

7. And hang more praise upon deceased I

hang more praise upon - figuratively, in the sense that praise bedecks a person with words. A reference also to the practice of hanging written epitaphs on tombs of the recently deceased. In Much Ado Claudio hangs an epitaph (which he first reads) on the tomb of Hero. MA.V.3.
more = more than I deserve.
upon deceaséd I = upon me when I am dead. The ungrammatical use of I instead of me suits the rhyme and is understood easily enough.

8. Than niggard truth would willingly impart:

niggard = miserly, sparing. Truth cannot tell more than what is, therefore a person recalling the deceased could limit themselves only to the bare fact, without any of the embellishments that a lover might add. But here mere truthfulness without any adornment could be construed as a failure of love.

9. O! lest your true love may seem false in this

This quatrain mirrors the first one, using the same opening exclamation.
true love = loyal and devoted affection; the one you truly love; the one who is your true love, as in My true love hath my heart and I have his etc. If one takes the two latter meanings, the sentence unfolds to imply 'For fear that your beloved may seem falsely described, do the following to prevent it happening '. The first meaning is straightforward and may be paraphrased as 'For fear lest your true affection may be compromised, do this etc.'.
in this = this undertaking to speak well of me, as described in lines 5-8 and 10.

10. That you for love speak well of me untrue,

untrue = (although it is) untrue; untruthfully. The adverbial use (the second meaning) is uncommon, but attested in OED.

11. My name be buried where my body is,

My name be = Let my name be, allow my name to be. One cannot physically bury a name, but metaphorically the meaning is to consign it to oblivion, as the body is consigned to the earth and no longer lives.

12. And live no more to shame nor me nor you.

And live no more = and let my name live no longer. There is however a lurking secondary meaning of 'You yourself should not live any longer, shaming both of us by your refusal to speak of and acknowledge our love.
nor...nor = neither ... nor.

13. For I am shamed by that which I bring forth,

I am shamed = I bring shame and dishonour upon myself;
that which I bring forth = my offspring, my verses. Perhaps also my thoughts and actions. The latter is less likely, since the poem is about a hypothetical time when he is dead and buried.

14. And so should you, to love things nothing worth.

And so should you = and you too would be (shamed);
to love things nothing worth = as a result of loving worthless nonentities; if you loved such dross.

 

 

1. That time of year thou mayst in me behold

You may observe in me that time of life which is like the time of year when etc. The word behold, meaning 'to see or to observe', is mostly literary and not often used nowadays.

2. When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang

The line, by its pauses, almost re-creates the blowing away of the last resistant fading leaves by the autumn wind. Only a few stalwart ones finally remain. Cf. Coleridge
The one red leaf, the last of its clan,
That dances as often as dance it can. Christabel. 49-50
There is a suggestion also of the faded, yellowing papers with the poet's lines written on them, as in Sonnet 17:
So should my papers, yellow'd with their age.
The poet is like a tree with his decaying, worn out verses being dispersed in the wind.

3. Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,

shake against the cold = tremble in anticipation of cold days to come; shiver in the actual cold; shake in the cold blast of the gale. against is used in the sense of 'in anticipation of, in preparation for' in Sonnets 49 and 63.

4. Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

4. The emendation of Q's rn'wd quiers to ruined choirs is generally accepted. 'Choir' was the spelling adopted from the close of the 17th century. In Shakespeare's day it was quyre, quire, or quiere. The choir is the part of the church at the top, eastern end, the chancel, where the choristers stood and sang. Shakespeare uses the word seven times, only twice with this meaning.
......The rich stream
Of lords and ladies, having brought the queen
To a prepared place in the choir, fell off
A distance from her; H8.IV.1.62-5. and
Our valour is to chase what flies; our cage
We make a quire, as doth the prison'd bird,
And sing our bondage freely. Cym.III.3.42-4
Elsewhere the meaning is that of a group of singers, presumably choristers, as in this from 2H6:
myself have limed a bush for her,
And placed a quire of such enticing birds,
That she will light to listen to the lays, 2H6.I.3.86-8
In Midsummer Night's Dream it is used to mean a company of friends or gossips:
The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale,
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me;
Then slip I from her bum, down topples she,
And 'tailor' cries, and falls into a cough;
And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,
And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear MND.II.1.51-6.

Since the publication of Empson's Seven Types of Ambiguity in 1930 (the extract is given at the bottom of this page) commentators tend to agree that the imagery recalls the many ruined abbeys and churches which were left to decay after Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. Churches were also vandalised or abandoned at various times in Elizabeth's reign. In the early years of the reign there were few parish priests, and later, after the religious settlement and with the spreading influence of European reformist ideas, churches could be seen as symbols of popery and reaction and of the old religion. Enclosures of common land, with the consequent abandonment of villages, would also have caused some churches to fall to ruin. However it is not possible to say with certainty that the image of a ruined chancel was primarily what Shakespeare had in mind. He tends not to use the word ruin(s) or ruined other than in a figurative or general sense, as in:
Ruin hath led me thus to ruminate Sonnet 64
or in
..........The king has cured me,
I humbly thank his grace; and from these shoulders,
These ruin'd pillars, out of pity, taken
A load would sink a navy, too much honour. H8.III.2.380-3.
But the above is the only instance where the word specifically refers to a building or a part of a building, and the lines were possibly written by Fletcher. Generally Shakespeare is more interested in wreckages of human personalities -
.............She once being loof'd,
The noble ruin of her magic, Antony,
Claps on his sea-wing, AC.III.10.18-20.
(loofed = with the head of the ship turned towards the wind).
Perhaps the most famous line featuring ruin is from Julius Caesar, when Antony speaks over Caesar's corpse:
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times. JC.III.1.257-8.

I remain unconvinced that the rich stream of suggestions listed by Empson in Seven Types of Ambiguity, (see below), which has led to much debate on this line, is entirely justified. It is a mattter of opinion whether branches of trees look very much like ruined abbeys. Readers must judge the matter for themselves. Other fleeting references in the line may be to quires of paper which contain songs and sonnets. Or to the composer William Byrd, who moved away from London in the 1590's, probably owing to his Catholicism.

5. In me thou see'st the twilight of such day

of such day = of such a day of late autumn or winter as I have been describing. Or day could be a synonym for 'light', allowing the meaning to run on to the next line. 'In me you see such a time of life which is like twilight, when the daylight, after sunset, fades away in the West'.

6. As after sunset fadeth in the west;

See note above.

7. Which by and by black night doth take away,

Which = the twilight.
by and by = fairly rapidly; soon. Cf. Hamlet's response to Polonius - I will come to my mother by and by. Ham.III.2.373.
take away = As well as the meaning of 'remove' there is also the implication of doing away with, killing, destroying by underhand means. Thus Macbeth, contemplating the murder of Duncan, fears that Duncan's virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking off. Mac.I.7.19-20.
Night kills off the daylight, as a murderer kills his victim.

8. Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.

Sleep is often portrayed as a second self of Death, or Death's brother. Compare:
Care Charmer Sleep, son of the sable Night,
Brother to Death, in silent darkness born:
Samuel Daniel, Sonnets to Delia, liv. (c 1600).
But in this sonnet Night takes the place of sleep as the grand slayer. Three images are possibly condensed here. That of sealing a coffin; sealing a letter, or a will, or a sentence of death, (i.e. folding it up and using sealing wax to seal it: envelopes were a later invention); covering over the eyes (seeling), as one did with tamed birds of prey. Similar imagery is used in Macbeth:
..........Come seeling Night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day. Mac.III.2.46-7.
But the thought in Mac. is somewhat different, being concerned with Macbeth's determination to ally himself with evil forces in Nature.

9. In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,

such fire = such as is seen at twilight; such as is described in the next line.

10. That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,

his youth = the fire's youth. The possessive 'its' was not yet in use in Elizabethan England, so we should not assume that the word 'his' adds more to the sense of personification than if it had been 'its youth'.

11. As the death-bed, whereon it must expire,

As the death-bed - the ashes of his youth are as a death-bed; whereon it must expire = on which it, the fire, or the youth, must at last die.

12. Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.

Consumed with that = consumed, eaten away, at the same time as; eaten away by those things (which also nourish it). Similar to the line from Sonnet I :
Feeds thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel.
Life's progress from beginning to end is summed up in one line.

13. This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,

Possibly a wish, rather than a statement of fact. 'When you perceive this, it will strengthen your love'. this presumably refers to the poet's waning life, described in the quatrains.

14. To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.

that = that person, spirit, dream of your imagination, me, the poet. Alternatively - your youth and freshness which is doomed to the same fate.
well - could include a pun on Will, the poet's name.
leave = depart from, abandon; give up. A sidelong glance also at 'to come into leaf'. SB points out that the couplet could have a bawdy interpretation.

 

1. But be contented when that fell arrest

But be contented - The poem either may be construed as continuing immediately from the preceding one: 'You perceive that I am in the sere and yellow leaf, and soon must die, but do not dismay yourself etc.' Or the but may be taken as relating to some antecedent argument and discussions with the beloved, stemming from the original declaration of 71
No longer mourn for me when I am dead.
Note the punctuation of Q, which does not put a colon after contented. It is followed here, apart from the removal of the comma at the end of the line. See SB p.261.n.1-2 for notes on alternative punctuation.

when that fell arrest - i.e death.
fell = savage, cruel, terrible.
arrest = the same as the modern meaning of a seizure, or taking into custody. Death is personified as the official who carries out a court's decree. See OED 7,8, & 13. But there is also more than a hint of the other meaning, the act of stopping something in its course. Hamlet uses the words before his death in the same sense as here.
Had I but time, as this fell Sergeant, Death,
Is strict in his arrest--Ham.V.2.328-9.

when - links both forwards and backwards: But be contented when that fell arrest etc. But also: when death comes my life has an interest, a title, a share in this line etc.

2. Without all bail shall carry me away,

Without all bail - this continues the legal terminology. Bail could in some cases be offered to free a person from arrest. The system was already well established in Elizabethan England. See for example The Comedy of Errors when Antipholus of Ephesus is arrested.
Officer. I do arrest you Sir; you hear the suit.
Ant.E. I do obey thee till I give thee bail. CE.IV.1.80-1.

carry me away - as an arresting officer takes the person away to prison. See also note to line 7 of previous sonnet.

3. My life hath in this line some interest,

this line = this verse, these verses. Also with a reference to life line which has a variety of meanings - the thread of life spun by the Fates; the life line on one's palm; the family line or tree. interest = share, property tie, legal title. The modern meaning of 'desire to know about' or 'concern for' is later. But there is probably a secondary pun on the word interessed meaning 'intertwined with', as in Lear:
...................Now our joy,
Although our last and least; to whose young love
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy
Strive to be interessed: KL.I.1.81-4.

4. Which for memorial still with thee shall stay.

for memorial = as a memorial;
still = always, for evermore; nevertheless, in spite of death.

5. When thou reviewest this, thou dost review

reviewest = view once again, look over once more. The meaning of 'to write a criticism of a book or work of art' is much later.
this = my verse.

6. The very part was consecrate to thee:

The very part = precisely that part of me, i.e. my spirit, my love for you. See the note to Sonnet 39
O, how thy worth with manners may I sing,
When thou art all the better part of me?
was consecrate to thee = which was consecrated, dedicated to you. consecrate is an old form of the past participle (now 'consecrated'). The verb was used to describe the ordination of priests and bishops (OED 3) and also in connection with the transformation of the bread and wine, in the Mass, into the body and blood of Christ (OED 2). The consecration of the host in the Catholic Mass is achieved by the utterance of the words hoc est enim corpus meum - for this is indeed my body. The Protestant faith under Elizabeth had a similar communion service. There could therefore be a blasphemous suggestion here that 'this verse' has become the body of the poet by the 'reviewing of it'. He lives again in the lines he has written, the word becomes flesh and dwells amongst us. SB sees 'no sacrilege here, or contempt of Christian doctrine'. I do not think there is, for it is not so much a matter of dogma as of enrichment of the poem by suggestion. The idea of transubstantiation seems to be relevant to this sonnet, yet it would have been difficult, in Shakespeare's day, to have alluded to such matters in a love sonnet and avoided the charge of blasphemy. It is probable that, because it only hovers in the background, and is never made explicit, that Shakespeare cleverly avoids the 'lie direct'. The late publication date of the sonnets, coupled with the fact that they were not reprinted, may indicate that there was too much in them that was controversial. This could be one of many such passages, which lie hidden for the most part, but when one stumbles upon them they are like mines in the undergrowth.

7. The earth can have but earth, which is his due;

This recalls parts of the burial service, 'earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes', Book of Common Prayer 310, and the Catholic Lenten ritual of Ash Wednesday, memento homo, quia pulvus est, et in pulverem reverteris - remember man that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return. The use of consecrate in the line above with its connotations of religious doctrines, has already introduced the religious theme.
his due = its (the earth's) due, that which belongs to it, that which it has by right.

8. My spirit is thine, the better part of me:

spirit - perhaps the nearest modern equivalent is 'soul'. spirit is used 12 times in the sonnets, but its meaning is indeterminate. Onions gives five meanings: vital energy, life; anger; intellectual power; exquisite sense; and various uses in the plural form. Here its meaning is implied by the better part of me, and perhaps one should interpret it in a Neo-Platonic sense - the essential or ideational essence of the person. The contrast is quite clearly being drawn between the spiritual and corporeal parts, the latter being consigned to worms and the wretch's knife.

the better part - see the note to line 6 above. Probably also a humorous reference to 'my better half' meaning 'the wife'. See OED better 3.c. The phrase is used by Sidney (1580 ) [Argalus to Parthenia, his wife] My deare, my better halfe (sayd hee) I find I must now leaue thee. Arcadia iii. 280

9. So then thou hast but lost the dregs of life,

but = only;
the dregs of life = the foul sediment which remains after the pure wine has been drawn off from the barrel. Hence the filth and discardable residue of life, when all that is of value has been removed. Shakespeare uses it often to denote the baser material of a person. The word is synonymous with 'lees' and I give an example of each below

He, like a puling cuckold, would drink up
The lees and dregs of a flat tamed piece; TC.IV.1.63-4.

The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees
Is left this vault to brag of. Mac.II.3.93-4.
The beloved, through the death of the poet, has lost, or would lose, when the eventuality occurs, only the lover's body, not his soul.

10. The prey of worms, my body being dead;

The prey of worms - a biblical description of the body after death. It also recalls the first sonnet of this group of four
No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Then you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell: 71
The association of death with worms and corrupting decay was a commonplace. In Sonnet 6 the youth is urged to fight off death:
Be not self-will'd, for thou art much too fair
To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir. 6
Hamlet in the graveyard is the locus classicus of the thought.

To what base uses we may return, Horatio! Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander till 'a find it stopping a bung-hole ...... ........ to follow him thither with modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it: as thus: Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth into dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam; and why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel? Ham.V.I.197-206.

11. The coward conquest of a wretch's knife,

A much discussed line, for it is uncertain whether the wretch is, perpetrator or victim, Time, or a common murderer, the wretch who dies in a tavern brawl, or the suicide in a garret. The line obviously refers to the body, being dead, and it could be read as an injunction to the youth to regard the poet's body, when dead, as nothing more than something slain in a back alley. All that matters is his spirit. If Time is intended, then he (it) is portrayed as a coward brandishing a crooked weapon, approaching people unawares and slaying them in a cowardly manner. See GBE p.181.n.11 for a full discussion of the possibilities.

12. Too base of thee to be remembered.

Too base to be remembered by you. base here has the meaning of 'earthy', 'lowly', but the meaning of 'low-born, socially inferior' perhaps lurks in the background. The body is not worth remembering anyway, but the spirit survives, even if it is that of a person on a lower rung of the social ladder.

The -ed of remembered is pronounced, to rhyme with dead.

13. The worth of that is that which it contains,

that - The word play between that and this which is developed in the couplet begins in line 3 with this line, i.e. my verses. Here that probably has as antecedent my body, being dead, a thing which essentially has no worth, unless it is invested with spirit (that which it contains). But the phrase could perhaps have a more general meaning -'The worth of that thing, the worth of anything, is only that which is its essence'.

14. And that is this, and this with thee remains.

And that is this = And that which it contains is, in this case, this verse, which is my spirit, my essence, the better part of me.
and this with thee remains = and this verse remains (indestructably) with you. The fact that that and this are here so deliberately intermingled allows various other interpretations, leaving some uncertainty as to precisely what, if anything, is expected to survive, or what that indefinable thing is that has intrinsic worth.

1. So are you to my thoughts as food to life,

As food is necessary to life, so are you necessary to my thoughts.

2. Or as sweet-season'd showers are to the ground;

sweet-season'd = sweet smelling; of the sweet season of the year i.e. spring or summer. 'You are as beneficial to my thoughts as spring showers are to the ground'.

3. And for the peace of you I hold such strife

And for the peace of you = In order that you might live an undisturbed life; in order that I might enjoy the peace of being with you. Probably there is a pun intended on piece. Compare Hamlet:
BARNARDO. .........Say --
What, is Horatio there?
HORATIO A piece of him. Ham.I.1.18-19.

I hold such strife = I strive to be vigilant. strife implies contention, disputation, fighting, but one must bear in mind that it is partly the exigencies of rhyme which have forced the use of the word. A miser strives to guard his treasure from all comers, and the contrast is also drawn between the peace of the beloved and the strife which his worshippers endure.

4. As 'twixt a miser and his wealth is found.

'twixt = betwixt, between. We still occasionally hear the phrase 'betwixt and between'. The relationship between the miser and his wealth is equivalent to that between the poet and his friend, as explained in the following lines.

5. Now proud as an enjoyer, and anon

The next eight lines describe the miser's sensations, using him as a simile for the lover's joy's and anxieties.
as an enjoyer = as the miser enjoy's his wealth; as I enjoy being with you. Words such as proud, enjoyer, treasure, counting, pursuing, possessing, had, and all have secondary sexual meanings and play the base fiddle to the main part of the sonnet. They provide a light-hearted counterpoint to the serious questions that the lover asks himself.

anon = immediately afterwards

6. Doubting the filching age will steal his treasure;

Doubting = suspecting, fearing that;
the filching age = the miser's contemporaries, who, in his eyes, will steal anything. filching = stealing.

7. Now counting best to be with you alone,

counting best = considering it to be best. Also with a suggestion of the miser counting his treasure.

8. Then better'd that the world may see my pleasure:

better'd that = made better because; feeling better in that. Notice that there is a change from the indirect third person of his treasure (referring to the miser) to the direct my pleasure. All the references from now on are to the writer, the miser being relegated to the background and only present by virtue of the experiences described, which are such as the miser might experience with regard to his locked up treasures.

9. Sometime all full with feasting on your sight,

Sometime = at times.

10. And by and by clean starved for a look;

And by and by = very shortly afterwards. See note to line 7 Sonnet 73.
clean starved = utterly, totally starved. starved has the final ed pronounced.

11. Possessing or pursuing no delight

no delight = no other delight, no other pleasure.This is governed by possessing or pursuing. 'I neither pursue nor seek to possess any delight except that which I might have and enjoy with you'. Some editors put a comma after delight, which implies 'There is no delight in possessing or pursuing any thing at all. Only what is had from you is enjoyable'. This line and the next are a foreshadowing of the description of lust in Sonn.129
Mad in pursuit and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;

12. Save what is had, or must from you be took.

See note above.
took = taken. The past participle in this form is common in Renaissance English. 'Except what is had from you, or must be taken from you'.

13. Thus do I pine and surfeit day by day,

pine = waste away, starve (OED 4).
surfeit = overeat, eat abundantly, eat to excess (OED 3).

14. Or gluttoning on all, or all away.

Or ... or = either ... or.
gluttoning = feeding gluttonously.
on all = on all my treasures.
all away = having all locked away, innaccesible to me. 

1. Why is my verse so barren of new pride,

so barren of new pride = so unadorned with new ideas and conceits. barren suggests an unproductive desert, or a womb unable to conceive. Poets often refer to their verses as their children.
pride - OED.II.7. gives: Magnificent, splendid, or ostentatious adornment or ornamentation. The metaphor is one of ornamentation in general, especially of clothing - the verse is bare of new styles of literary decoration. The clothing metaphor is further developed in line 6. Pride as clothing occurs also in Sonnet 52

Or as the wardrobe which the robe doth hide,
To make some special instant special blest,
By new unfolding his imprison'd pride. 52

It also has the sexual meaning of being on heat (in pride), or of being swollen, as in Sonnet 151

But, rising at thy name, doth point out thee
As his triumphant prize. Proud of this pride,
He is contented thy poor drudge to be, 151

2. So far from variation or quick change?

So far from = so far removed from, so different from (verses which display the qualities listed).
variation = variation of style, syntax, grammar etc.
quick-change - possibly a metaphor from dancing or music. Both variation and quick-change seem to be musical terms, but OED gives the former in its musical sense as dating from only 1801. (OED.14.a.) However for OED.11.a. there is the following:

'An instance of varying or changing; an alteration or change in something, esp. within certain limits.........
1611 Cotgr., Nuance, change, alteration; and particularly, a variation, or change of notes in singing.'

Interestingly, under quick-change, although not as a separate entry, but as a compound with 'quick', OED gives the following: 'quick-change, attrib. as epithet of an actor or other performer who quickly changes costume or appearance in order to play a different part; v. intr., to perform a ‘quick change’; trans., to change (clothes) quickly;' The uses cited are early 19th cent. but one suspects that in the world of the theatre its use was known much earlier, and Shakespeare, as an actor and playwright, would have been well acquainted with all the techniques and quick-changes need for any production.

 

3. Why with the time do I not glance aside

with the time = in accordance with the fashion of the times.
glance aside - figuratively, be deflected in a different direction, as a projectile striking a surface. OED 1 gives the following example from 1590: Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 30 Most of their volees of arrowes should have...glaunced or lighted upon the piques. But the additional meaning of 'to look briefly away' must also be present.

4. To new-found methods, and to compounds strange?

new-found methods = newly discovered methods, or ways of composing, new styles of verse.
compounds strange = artificially constructed words, neologisms, literary and rhetorical devices, odd combinations of metre and rhythm in poetry. compound words were those with a pre-fix added to the 'simple' or basic word. A method was also a medical cure or nostrum. In this case it would be a cure for barrenness and tedious repetition. The idea is augmented by the use of compounds strange, which suggests the physician or the apothecary mixing strange potions in his workshop from simples (herbs) and other ingredients. compound as a noun is used with various meanings in Shakespeare, but most commonly in the medicinal sense:

There is thy gold, worse poison to men's souls,
Doing more murders in this loathsome world,
Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not sell. RJ.V.1.80-2.
OED.2.a. gives the meaning of a substance made by mixing other simple substances as dating from 1611, with an example from Cymbeline,
These most poysonous compounds. Cym.I.5.9.
but the above from Romeo & Juliet pre-dates it by at least ten years.

5. Why write I still all one, ever the same,

Why write I still = Why do I always write; why do I continuously write? Here, as elsewhere, still = always;
all one, ever the same = one and the same thing every time. all one possibly includes a pun on 'alone', in the sense that 'I alone am writing in this style, whereas everyone else is following current fashion'.

6. And keep invention in a noted weed,

invention - a technical term in rhetoric, being the first element and prime mover in the creation of a speech. The original meaning derives from Latin invenire 'to find out, discover' and involves, in rhetoric, the selection of a topic for discourse. Shakespeare's use here indicates the meaning 'style of writing', and it matches that in Sonnet 38:
For who's so dumb that cannot write to thee,
When thou thy self dost give invention light?
noted weed = well known garment or style of dress.

7. That every word doth almost tell my name,

That = so that;
tell = declare, speak out. Perhaps also with reference to a clock 'telling' the hour, so that the monotonous ticking of a clock is hinted at. Note that tell is an emendation of Q's fel, so perhaps 'spell' was intended. (Although telling of line 14 introduces an echo of tell in this line).

8. Showing their birth, and where they did proceed?

Showing their birth - their resemblance to each other shows their parentage;
and where they did proceed = the lines of their inheritance, or genealogical tree, from which they derived their characteristics.

9. O! know sweet love I always write of you,

The rhetorical finery of the first two quatrains gives way to the direct simplicity of these two lines, as if to underline the fact that new found methods are essentially false and artificial, whereas 'true love is a durable fire, in the mind ever burning, never sick, never old, never dead, from itself never turning'. It does not need to re-state itself in new forms.

10. And you and love are still my argument;

still my argument = always and forever the subject of my verse. argument = subject matter.

11. So all my best is dressing old words new,

all my best = all my best verse, efforts, inventions; the better part of me.
dressing old words new - suggests re-using old garments, or clothing old words in new clothing, i.e. the same thoughts in a new poem.

12. Spending again what is already spent:

The imagery is essentially that of money, which has already been spent, but which is being re-circulated for other purchases, or is valueless once expended, as if purchases were being made from an empty coffer. There is also an innuendo of sexual emissions and repeated intercourse.

13. For as the sun is daily new and old,

The sun dies at night, but is reborn the following morning. Each morning it is therefore like a new-born babe, but in the evening it reaches old age. Sonnet 7 describes the sun's pilgrimage from youth to age.

14. So is my love still telling what is told.

my love = my love for you; you, the beloved.
still telling what is told = always recounting the same old story. The phrase also suggests the repetetiveness of a tolling bell.

The couplet insists that love does not change, that it is the same essentially, but always renewing itself, like the sun (and the Phoenix) and that there are no other ways to celebrate it.

1. Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear,

Thy glass = your mirror. The mirror seems to be used by Shakespeare in the sonnets as the touchstone of what is true. One may imagine oneself to be all manner of things, but a quick glance in the mirror brings one instantly face to face with reality. The instances in the sonnets in which Shakespeare uses glass in the sense of 'mirror' are listed below.

Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewest ......

Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime: 3.

My glass shall not persuade me I am old,
So long as youth and thou are of one date; 22.

But when my glass shows me myself indeed,
Beated and chopp'd with tann'd antiquity, 62.

Look in your glass, and there appears a face
That over-goes my blunt invention quite, ...........

And more, much more, than in my verse can sit
Your own glass shows you when you look in it. 103.

O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power
Dost hold Time's fickle glass, his sickle, hour; 126.

In the final sonnet of the beloved youth series, (126), Time itself appears to have a glass, which however is fickle. The beauties it shows do not last, and beauty itself is not to be trusted. Here in this sonnet also some of that idea is present, for the glass is beginning to show lines and wrinkles, hints of old age and of mortality.
wear - Q gives were which would give a pun with wear anyway, but the rhyme with bear does suggest that wear is the correct reading. Strictly speaking the glass does not show anyone how their beauties were (or wear), for it shows the present, not the past. It is better to have the pun the other way round. Beauty wears out and decays as clothes and other artefacts wear out and decay.

2. Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste;

Thy dial = your clock or watch face, or sundial. Possibly the reference is not to a sundial, since a sundial was more of a public instrument than a watch or clock. 'Thy sundial' and the other descriptions of looking in a glass suggest private possession of those things, and private meditation. A pocket sundial would be rather difficult to use, as one would need to know in advance in which direction to point it. However shady stealth of line 7 seems to lean more towards a sundial, as the gnomon casts a shadow from which the time was told. But a clock with its insistent ticking never ceases to tell one how the precious minutes go to nothing.
waste = decay, waste away, are spent and wasted.

3. The vacant leaves thy mind's imprint will bear,

The vacant leaves - the blank pages of a notebook. Or blank spaces in the book of the poet's sonnets. (See notes to following line). 

thy mind's imprint = the result of your thoughts, the words which spring from them and are written here, on these vacant leaves. imprint suggests that the mind gives its imprimatur to the things written on the vacant leaves.

4. And of this book, this learning mayst thou taste.

of this book = from this book. One has to suppose that a blank book (a table or tables, see Sonnet 122) accompanies the sonnet as a gift, or in some other way is the subject of the sonnet. It has been suggested that the glass and the dial were also a gift. At any rate some antecedent situation such as the despatch of a gift must be supposed if we are to explain the existence of the book. KDJ suggests that the book is that of the sonnets, with some blank leaves. This would help to give better meaning to the concluding couplet, which hardly makes sense as it stands. Or perhaps the youth had been given a blank book (tables) by someone else, a parent even, with a suggestion that it be filled with aphorisms and useful thoughts, as was the fashion of the time. The discussion then was to decide how to fill it, or to explain why it had lain unused for so long. Another explanation is that the blank leaves are the empty unwritten pages of the young man's mind. (See Ham.I.5.95-107, where Hamlet, as well as talking of 'his tables' also describes his mind as a book).

And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with baser matter: Ham.I.5.102-4.

It must be admitted, however, that the antecedent situation is unknown, and that the book may be entirely imaginary, or it may be a gift of tables (a blank book), or a gift of the poet's sonnets, or something already in the youth's possession.

this learning = the thoughts which your mind commits to the book.
mayst thou taste = you will be able to enjoy, sample, mull over.

5. The wrinkles which thy glass will truly show

This quatrain expands the thought of lines 1-2. The first two lines tell the youth what his glass will show him, and what that implies. Similarly for 7-8, which return to the observations of the dial. The wrinkles - lines in the forehead and elsewhere on the face.

6. Of mouthed graves will give thee memory;

mouthed graves - graves were often described as gaping. As in
O braggart vile and damned furious wight!
The grave doth gape, and doting death is near; H5.II.1.58-9.
Wrinkles themselves are visually not much like gaping graves, but they remind the possessor that old age, death and burial are near at hand. mouthed has the final ed pronounced.
give thee memory = remind you, bring to your memory, give you a reminder.

7. Thou by thy dial's shady stealth mayst know

dial's shady stealth - if a sundial is referred to, the shadow of the gnomon moves imperceptibly, hence stealthily. The hand(s) on a clock face could also be meant. They cast a shadow on the face, and move imperceptibly.

8. Time's thievish progress to eternity.

The stealthy movement of the shadow on the dial, or the hands over the face of the clock is reminiscent of the stealthy movement of a thief, who seeks not to be discovered.

9. Look what thy memory cannot contain,

Look what = whatever. See 9.9 and 11.11 for a similar use.

10. Commit to these waste blanks, and thou shalt find

Commit to = write down on, entrust to.
waste blanks = empty sheets of paper. The emendation of Q's reading blacks to blanks is generally accepted.

11. Those children nursed, delivered from thy brain,

Those children (thoughts), which were born (delivered) from your brain, have been nursed and looked after (by this book).

12. To take a new acquaintance of thy mind.

Observations made in times past (children of your brain) will newly acquaint themselves with you, when you have an opportunity to scan these leaves in future years.

13. These offices, so oft as thou wilt look,

These offices = these exercises, or duties of observing the clock's face or the mirror's reflection, and noting them down. Possibly the office or duty is that of reading the book now filled with his observations. A sideways glance is also probably intended at the religious practice of reading offices (prayers) at fixed times of the day from the breviary.

14. Shall profit thee and much enrich thy book.

and much enrich thy book - the enriching of the book (if it is a blank book) is presumably done by writing observations in it. Here it is suggested that merely looking in it enriches it. If it is totally blank, then looking on blank leaves is a totally fatuous exercise and enriches neither observer nor observed. The looking however could be in the glass or the dial, and making philosophical observations thereon. KDJ suggests that the book is the book of the poet's sonnets, which will have blank spaces and pages in it, and that the poet's self-effacement allows him even to pretend that his sonnets are so many empty lines, leaving the pages blank. Nevertheless his thoughts filter through in some way, and the youth couples them with his own thoughts on mortality, thus enriching the book and his experience at the same time.
The meaning and setting of the sonnet, however, because we are uncertain of the nature of 'thy book', remains rather mysterious.

1. So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse,

So oft = so often;
invoked thee for my Muse - called upon you as a Muse to inspire my verse. It was customary in antiquity to call upon the Muse to assist the poet in his creation. The most famous examples are from Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey:
Sing, oh Muse, of the wrath of Achilles Iliad 1.1.
Sing to me , oh Muse, of the man of many wiles Od.1.1.
And of course Virgil in the Aeneid:
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso
Quidve dolens regina deum tot volvere casus
Insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores
Impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae? Aen.I.8-11.

Bring to my mind, oh Muse, the causes, through what injured power of godhead, or brooding on what slights, the Queen of the Gods involved in so many disasters the man so notable for virtue, and drove him into such toils.

Renaissance learning was based on the literature and philosophy of Greece and Rome and poets naturally followed some of the models. Shakespeare's sonnets are remarkable for their lack of classical allusion, although this theme of the beloved youth supplanting the old nine Muses of antiquity as the chief source of inspiration has already been raised in Sonn.38.
Be thou the tenth Muse, ten times more in worth
Than those old nine which rhymers invocate;

2. And found such fair assistance in my verse

The beloved, as an alternative Muse, gives inspiration to the poet. fair - refers to the youth's beauty and to his excellence as an aid to the poet's inspiration.

3. As every alien pen hath got my use

As = so that; so that it seems as if.
 every alien pen = every stranger who writes anything. It is not clear what exactly is meant by alien in this context. Perhaps it means 'all those who are not admitted to the intimate circle of your friends'. An extreme interpretation would be 'anyone other than me, since I alone, through my love for you, am entitled to call upon your aid'. There are only two other instances of the use of the word in Shakespeare:

Thy place in council thou hast rudely lost,
Which by thy younger brother is supplied,
And art almost an alien to the hearts
Of all the court and princes of my blood 1H4.III.2.34

It is enacted in the laws of Venice,
If it be proved against an alien
That by direct or indirect attempts
He seek the life of any citizen MV.IV.1.343-6.

In the above alien is a noun, whereas here it is an adjective, so the precedent is not helpful. The Q text has Alien in italics, (see above), which suggests some special use, but the italicization of words in Q is notoriously difficult to relate to any particular philosophy or modus operandi. One is therefore driven back to the general conclusion that alien means 'all and sundry who do not belong to the enchanted circle (of me and you), remote, strange, hostile. KDJ suggests that it might refer to writers translating non-English (alien) works.

hath got my use = has started to copy me; has usurped my position. The meaning of the phrase is not certain, although use usually means 'habit, custom, practice'. The pen referred to is a quill pen, but it stands for the writer, the rival poet or poets. There is also potential for a bawdy interpretation of pen, use and under thee in the following line. See Partridge p.163, who quotes The Merchant of Venice:
I'll mar the young clerk's pen MV.V.1.237
when Gratiano responds to his wife, who has threatened to sleep with the clerk. (Also Partridge p.211, under, and use, p.214).

4. And under thee their poesy disperse.

under thee = under your authority, by your power or inspiration, through your patronage. It is suggested that the phrase relates directly to the custom of authors seeking patronage from members of the nobility. Both Southampton and Pembroke, the two chief contenders for the position of the beloved youth, were well known patrons of literature. poesy - an old word for poetry.
disperse = scatter abroad, give out, make known to a wider audience.

5. Thine eyes, that taught the dumb on high to sing

the dumb; heavy ignorance; the learned; grace - these are all personifications of qualities which are improved by contact with the youth. Thus the dumb = a dumb person, those without the power of speech. But here, it probably also refers directly to the speaker, the poet, as also does heavy ignorance, for, in the closing couplet, that is how he categorises himself. The word dumb is not used in Shakespeare with the sense 'stupid, ignorant', a meaning which is probably later. OED gives some early examples in Latin, but nothing substantial till the 19th. century. A typical use in Shakespeare is given below.

No, so God help me, they spake not a word;
But, like dumb statues or breathing stones,
Gazed each on other, and look'd deadly pale. R3.III.7.24-6.

on high to sing - as angels sing in the heights of heaven. on high could also mean 'aloud'. The poet was considered to be a singer, and his/her verse referred to as song. See the quotations from Homer in the note above to line 1.

6. And heavy ignorance aloft to fly,

heavy ignorance = those who are slow of wit and know little. (See previous note). A dull and lumpish person would not be expected to soar aloft into the sky. All these metaphors are referring to ungifted poets.

7. Have added feathers to the learned's wing

Adding feathers to the wing of a bird of prey to make it fly better was called 'imping'. The practice of falconry was much more widespread then than it is today.
the learned = people of learning, scholars. Scholars are often said to be dull poets. There may be a reference to specific learned poetasters of the day, such as Nashe or Chapman.

8. And given grace a double majesty.

grace = people of gracious and elegant manners and style of writing; people of Christian grace and virtue.
a double majesty - the first majesty is the natural elegance of their verse, the second is the additional majesty and grace added by using the beloved as a source of inspiration.

9. Yet be most proud of that which I compile,

In this quatrain the poet claims that his verse is more deserving than that of all the other poets since it owes its inspiration entirely to the beloved. It is not just a case of embellishment or improvement, but of life and being. compile =compose, create, put together.

10. Whose influence is thine, and born of thee:

whose influence = the directing force of which. whose refers to his verses. influence is an astrological term relating to the power and motive force of a planet or star over human life. Cf. Sonn 15
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
The youth therefore exercises power over his lover's inspiration in the same way that the planets and stars rule over mortal life.

11. In others' works thou dost but mend the style,

In other's works = in the verses of other poets;
thou dost but mend the style = you do no more than improve the quality of their verse.

12. And arts with thy sweet graces graced be;

arts = poetic skills.
graced - pronounced grac

13. But thou art all my art, and dost advance

You are all my art. The poet obviously enjoys the pun on art, (= are) which, in addition, seems to say 'You are art also, and your art creates mine and makes it what it is'. But it also echoes lines from other sonnets, such as
For nothing this wide universe I call,
Save thou, my rose; in it thou art my all. 109
You are my all the world, 112.
dost advance = you raise to the top, improve, bring to the forefront of success.

14. As high as learning, my rude ignorance.

At this point the poet seems to equate himself with the dumb and ignorant of lines 5-6. Until, that is, he comes under the influence of his beloved, who then puts him on the level of the learned scholars of line 7. Before that he had been in the pits, a mere ignoramus struggling to write. The point is that whereas he is, or was, dumb and ignorant, but by the youth's inspiration was elevated to the status of chief poet and admirer, the other's were already learned, and have merely polished their verse a little. An achievement no doubt to be accredited to the youth, and worthy of comment, but nevertheless superficial and nothing compared with the wonders he has created with this poet's verse, in which he is the all in all.

1. Whilst I alone did call upon thy aid,

When I was the only one who called upon you as the inspiration for my poetry.

2. My verse alone had all thy gentle grace;

all thy gentle grace = all your beauty and elegance. gentle often has the meaning of 'coming from gentle stock, being nobly born'.

3. But now my gracious numbers are decayed,

my gracious numbers = the elegant phrases and metre of my verses. As in Sonn.17:
If I could write the beauty of your eyes
And in fresh numbers number all your graces
The term 'numbers' was often used to refer to the metrical units and lines of poetry, (OED 17b), hence to poetry in general.
decayed = fallen to ruin and penury; reduced in quantity and worth.

4. And my sick Muse doth give an other place.

my sick Muse = my inspiration, which clearly is now become sick and feeble. The word Muse was used for poetic inspiration in general, or to indicate one or all of the nine Muses of classical antiquity.
doth give another place = yields its (her) supremacy to another.

5. I grant, sweet love, thy lovely argument

thy lovely argument = you, as the subject of a poem, (whom we all know as the loveliest of beings).

6. Deserves the travail of a worthier pen;

travail = toil. Note however that the original meaning of labour, suffering, (OED.1.) is here absolutely predominant, without any of the associated meaning of 'making a journey', as in
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired; 27
When what I seek, my weary travel's end, 50

pen = implement for writing, but, by transference, the writer himself. A pen in those days was a goose quill. For the bawdy implications, see the note on pen in the previous sonnet, line 3.

7. Yet what of thee thy poet doth invent

Yet what of thee = yet whatever material concerning you;
thy poet = evidently the newly adopted poet, the rival. Possibly used in a general sense as 'Whatever any poet invents about you'.

8. He robs thee of, and pays it thee again.

He robs thee of - in other words, he does not invent it at all, but merely steals it.
and pays it thee again - i.e. he gives you what was your own already (there is a strong suggestion of duplicity here, of stealing someone's possessions and then flogging them back to the victim).

9. He lends thee virtue, and he stole that word

The implied accusations of theft and trickery continue. The usurping poet pretends to lend something (virtue) which he had already stolen from the youth.

10. From thy behaviour; beauty doth he give,

The apparent ending of the sentence, or at least the sense of part of the sentence, in the middle of this and the following line, evokes the sensation of a breathless catalogue of crimes which the usurper commits. There are so many crimes that the speaker does not have time to arrange them in a proper and intelligible sequence, and they all come tumbling out in his speech.

11. And found it in thy cheek: he can afford

and found it in thy cheek - your cheek (face) is the type and pattern of all that is beautiful, hence the poet found that beauty there and uses it as his theme.
afford = give, present, offer. But since so much of the language of the previous lines is of lending, paying, robbing and stealing, it is inevitable that this word conjures up associations of penury. The rival poet is poor in imagination, rich only in that the beloved provides him with the material sustenance for his verse, and rich only in so far as he has stolen so much.

12. No praise to thee, but what in thee doth live.

but what in thee doth live = except that which you already possess, except that which is naturally inherent in you.

13. Then thank him not for that which he doth say,

Then thank him not = so do not thank him
that which he doth say - i.e. for his verses.

14. Since what he owes thee, thou thyself dost pay.

The financial imagery which was started in lines 8-9 continues here, giving the impression partly that the relationship between poet and patron in this case is entirely mercenary, one sided, and to the disadvantage of the youth. He even has to pay the rival poets debts for him.

1. O! how I faint when I of you do write,

I am overcome with faintness and diffidence when I write of you (because a better spirit, person, poet, praises you, and makes my efforts look weak by comparison).

2. Knowing a better spirit doth use your name,

a better spirit = a better poet. But in view of what is stated in Sonnet 86, (which also uses the ship imagery), the spirit also refers to the supernatural influence which 'nightly gulls him with intelligence', 'him' being the rival poet. The rival poet is a spirit who is possibly using demoniacal powers.
use your name = uses you as inspiration, has you as patron. See Sonnet 78: As every alien pen hath got my use, and the note thereon.

3. And in the praise thereof spends all his might,

in the praise thereof = in praising your name.
spends all his might = expends all his energies.

4. To make me tongue-tied speaking of your fame.

It is not clear if the speaker or the rival poet is speaking of the youth's fame. Both meanings are acceptable, for the syntax allows either 'He makes me tongue tied when I attempt to publish your fame', or, 'He makes me tongue tied when he starts publicising your fame and qualities'.

5. But since your worth, wide as the ocean is,

The next two quatrains use a metaphor from the sea, comparing the poets' flights of fancy and creation to ships sailing on the ocean - either small inferior barks, which the speaker modestly and humbly claims as an adequate description of himself, or else massive galleons, lofty and proud (and perhaps riding for a fall as the Spanish ships of the armada). But the ocean is the symbol and metaphor of the worthiness of the beloved and of his capacity to inspire his poets and admirers. It is on that ocean that these metaphorical ships of poetry set sail.

6. The humble as the proudest sail doth bear,

sail = ship, vessel. See OED n.(1).4.a.

7. My saucy bark, inferior far to his,

My saucy bark = my impudent, foolhardy boat. Continuing the sailing metaphor which depicts, or pretends to depict, the poetry of both contenders for the post of poet in residence. The poet claims that the ship he sails is nothing more than a ketch in comparison with that of his rival.

8. On your broad main doth wilfully appear.

your broad main = the vast open sea that you, figuratively, are, for a poet looking for subject matter.
main = open sea.
wilfully = stubbornly, provocatively.

9. Your shallowest help will hold me up afloat,

I only need the shallowest water to remain upright, which you easily can supply.

10. Whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride;

He, being a ship of much deeper draught, sails upon your open deep water.
soundless = unable to be sounded. So deep that the lead plummets which the mariners use for taking soundings do not reach the bottom, hence such waters are effectively bottomless.

11. Or, being wracked, I am a worthless boat,

wracked = wrecked. An old spelling, but still occasionally used today. Being homophonous with racked it does suggest the torture the writer undergoes in his quest for the youth's loyalty.

12. He of tall building, and of goodly pride:

His is a stately boat, built very tall, and consequently worth saving from shipwreck. There was a huge increase in shipbuilding in the Elizabethan period, so these references would have had immediate relevance for many readers.

13. Then if he thrive and I be cast away,

Then if he should thrive and I should be cast away.
thrive = prosper, come off safely.

be cast away = be shipwrecked, thrown onto the strand or shore. As in Merchant of Venice:
.......................Antonio
Hath an argosy cast away coming from Tripolis.  MV.III.1.105.

14. The worst was this, my love was my decay.

The worst was this = the worst aspect of the calamity would be this (that I now describe).
my love was my decay = my love would have been the cause of my fall from grace, my ruin.
decay = decline, loss of power, ruin. Used 11 times in the sonnets (including decayed etc), of which typical is Sonn 13. Who lets so fair a house fall to decay?

1. Or I shall live your epitaph to make,

Or ... or = whether ... or. Usually the meaning is 'either ... or', but in this case both the sense and the sequel require another meaning. Hence: 'Whatever happens, whether you or I die first, death will not obliterate your memory because etc.' The interpretation, that since one of the two events is sure to happen, therefore the statement is banal, seems to miss the point. For this is not a philosophical proposition of the type 'if not a then b', but a consideration of what might follow in either event, and to boot a perfectly normal and heartfelt human concern 'What will happen when either of us two lovers predeceases the other?'

 

epitaph = an inscription on a grave or monument. The word is from the Greek, and was originally applied to a funeral oration. SB stresses the Greek origin, giving the derivation - epi = on, and taphos = tomb, grave. Strictly speaking the word is derived from epitaphion, being the neuter of the adjective and applied to a speech given as the oration over a tomb. (See OED). The most famous example is that of Pericles over the fallen dead in the first year of the Peloponnesian War, although the word itself is not used there. (Thucydides.II.36 on). One must question how much of this Shakespeare might have known, given his 'small Latin and less Greek', or, supposing him to know it, how much it was relevant to him in this poem. He may have had the more English custom in mind, that of writing an epitaph in verse, and publicising it, as Ben Jonson did, for example, for his son. (See below). In any case the word had the more general meaning of an inscription on a tomb, and figuratively that of a commemoration of a dead person. Here in the context of the sonnets already written in praise of the youth, and those declared as a monument for the ages yet to come, the most likely epitaph would be the collection of sonnets written with the youth as inspiration, this one included.

Ben Jonson ON MY FIRST SONNE

Farewell, thou child of my right hand and joy;
My sin was too much hope of thee, loved boy,
Seven years thou wert lent to me, and I thee pay
Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.
O, could I lose all father now. For why
Will man lament the state he should envy?
To have so soone scaped world and flesh's rage,
And, if no other misery, yet age?
Rest in soft peace, and, asked, say here doth lie
BEN. JONSON his best piece of poetrie.
For whose sake henceforth, all his vows be such,
As what he loves may never like too much.

2. Or you survive when I in earth am rotten,

As in Sonns. 71 & 74, the poet stresses the body's decay, a prospective fate which he applies zealously to himself, not however to the beloved, who, as it were, only dies by implication, and scarcely seems to rot. In any case the youth will have immortal life through these poems.

3. From hence your memory death cannot take,

From hence = from this world, from these poems.
your memory death cannot take - a reversal of word order - 'Death cannot take our memory of you away'. As in all these reversals, it is worth considering what the alternative might mean. Here it would be 'The memory of you, the knowledge of what you are and were, is not sufficiently strong to take death away, to obliterate it altogether'. The meaning is not entirely innapposite to the theme of the sonnet.

4. Although in me each part will be forgotten.

By contrast I will disappear completely and every part of me will be forgotten.

5. Your name from hence immortal life shall have,

your name - it is supremely ironic that the youth's name is never mentioned, unless in some discreet and arcane way. The only immortality, such as it is, which accrues to anyone from the poems, is to the poet himself, a point probably not lost on the writer. The conceit was in any case a common one in poetry. One suspects that a man who made no effort at all to publish his plays when he was alive must have written with tongue in cheek when claiming immortal life for the subject of his sonnets, however much it might have suited the perceived relationship between lover and admired youth.

from hence = from this moment on (?); stemming from these verses (?).

6. Though I, once gone, to all the world must die:

to all the world must die = will die and be forgotten by all the world (while you, by contrast, will be remembered).

7. The earth can yield me but a common grave,

yield = give me, supply me with. The use of the earth which is usually synonymous with the world, is here suggestive of humble burial in the earth, in a churchyard.
a common grave = a grave which is like that of all other men of the common mould. Not necessarily a pauper's grave, but certainly an undistinguished one. In fact Shakespeare lies buried in some style in Holy Trinity church, Stratford on Avon, as a man of wealth and fame. But the exigencies of poetic style and the stance of humility which any sonneteer worth his salt had to adopt in the face of his beloved is enough to justify the self effacement which the line implies. The contrast is between that of the common grave which has no memorial, and that of the celebrated worthy whose memorial is his decorated tomb, or his reputation, or poems written in his honour.

8. When you entombed in men's eyes shall lie.

entombed - many tombs in churches were elaborate, and had carved alabaster or marble figures on top. They therefore were rather conspicuously prominent, visible to the eyes of parishioners who came to worship on Sundays and feast days. However the meaning here is more that of being entombed gloriously in these verses, as the following line makes evident.

9. Your monument shall be my gentle verse,

The idea of verse being a perpetual monument dates back at least to classical times. One of the earliest memorials in verse is that written by Simonides for the Spartan dead at Thermopylae, circa 480 BC: Stranger, tell the Spartans that we lie here, obedient to their laws. Monuments of a more traditional kind, which are here hinted at, were to be found in abundance in churches and cathedrals throughout the country. (See illustration opposite).

My gentle verse - perhaps it is gentle (mild) in contrast to the furious cruelty of time. The word in Shakespeare's day often had a similar meaning to the modern one, as the following examples show:

As sweet as balm, as soft as air, as gentle,-- AC.V.2.

Her voice was ever soft,
Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman. KL.V.3.

But apart from that there was a strong leaning to its original meaning of 'well born, belonging to a family of position in society' (OED.1.a.) Consequently here it may be 'gentle verse' since only such would be fitting for a man in an elevated social position such as that which the youth is implied to have held.

10. Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read;

eyes not yet created ... tongues to be - future generations. They are figuratively represented by the parts that are involved in reading and declaiming the verses.

11. And tongues to be your being shall rehearse,

rehearse = repeat, recite publicly.
your being, = you, as described in these poems.

12. When all the breathers of this world are dead;

the breathers of this world = those who are alive now. You will still be alive (through my verse) when all who are alive today are dead and gone.

13. You still shall live, such virtue hath my pen,

still = always, for evermore, continuously.
such virtue = such power and essential vitality. such virtue has my pen - the poet temporarily lets slip the mask of modesty which he usually adopts in relation to his own merit as a poet. It completely contraverts the humility shown in the rival poet(s) sequence in the midst of which this sonnet is placed.

Q's punctuation allows these two lines to be read as a continuation of line 12, and it is at least as justifiable as that adopted here.

14. Where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men.

Where breath most breathes - rather an odd phrase, but it condenses the fact that breath is necessary for life, and also necessary for reciting poetry, so that the beloved lives in the place where life is most vital, through the mouths of men who recite his glory. 

 

1. I grant thou wert not married to my Muse,

thou wert not married ... and therefore - the implication is that no breach of marriage vows is involved. The youth may look on the seductive words of other love poems and be tempted by them, without loss of faith. my Muse = me as a poet; my poems.

2. And therefore mayst without attaint o'erlook

without attaint = without being convicted of sin or crime. The term is a legal one derived from the verb 'to attain' (see OED attain.v.3.). o'erlook = look over, view, look upon. In connection with the marriage obligations which are said not to apply here, there is a suggestion of a sexual peccadillo, that of eyeing a woman up and down to assess the enjoyment of having her as a sexual partner.

3. The dedicated words which writers use

The dedicated words = words dedicated to portraying (your) beauty; words used in a dedicatory preface, as for example that of Shakespeare to the Earl of Southampton in Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. If the latter meaning is intended, then fair subject of the next line could encompass any subject or theme of which the author wrote, and not refer to the youth himself.

4. Of their fair subject, blessing every book.

of their fair subject - 'to their fair subject' seems to make better sense. The lines however are not easy to interpret. (See the note above). If the dedicated words are simply those which describe and praise the youth, in any book, then any and every book which contains such material is blessed by possessing it. But it is not self-evident who or what is doing the blessing. It could be the youth himself, the over-arching sense being 'I grant that you may look at the words of other authors describing fair subjects, and that you may without penalty bless all such productions'. A patron, (usually one of the nobility) when approached by an author, might 'bless' the enterprise of the publication by letting it be known that he approved, and even by giving the author some money, or advancing other favours.

5. Thou art as fair in knowledge as in hue,

The meaning seems to be - 'Not only do you excel in beauty, but also you excel in knowledge and understanding, therefore you discover that etc.'
hue = appearance, colour (see 20).

6. Finding thy worth a limit past my praise;

Finding thy worth a limit past = and discovering that your worth exceeds the scope of; limit = region, territory, as in
From limits far remote, where thou dost stay. Sonn.44.

7. And therefore art enforced to seek anew

And therefore you are compelled to seek again a replacement (for the outworn poet).

8. Some fresher stamp of the time-bettering days.

Some fresher stamp = a newer, livelier form of poetry, or poet.
stamp = impression, tool for making an impression (e.g. a seal); hence, figuratively, a record, a written description, a writer.
time-bettering days = days which improve as time goes by; days which are more advanced and better than previous times. But with an added flavour of superciliousness, since we know that the poet has a low opinion of time, and the phrase is reminiscent of time-servers and other duplicitous and shallow types.

9. And do so, love; yet when they have devised,

they - presumably those who have been selected as fresher stamps.

10. What strained touches rhetoric can lend,

strained touches = artificial and awkward figures of speech, or neologisms, or new styles of poetry.
lend = provide, offer, give. As in
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; H5.III.1.8-9.
and
And you, but one, can every shadow lend. Sonn.53.
It also has the modern meaning of 'give as a loan' which is perhaps partly activated here, giving to the art of rhetoric a slightly mercenary and usurious connotation.
rhetoric - Q gives Rhethorick. The art (or science) of making speeches. It was a major component of education in ancient times and still held a lofty place in the curriculum of the Renaissance. Nevertheless it tended to attract some scorn as being the art that enabled dullards to speak and clever but unscrupulous people to attain evil objectives. In the words of the Greeks it made the lesser truth seem the greater, and was especially open to abuse in the law courts.

11. Thou truly fair, wert truly sympathized

sympathised = accurately portrayed (so that the picture seems to sympathise with you as you are).
truly ... truly ... true ... true-telling - the repetition seems to hammer home the point that it is only truth that matters, suggesting, without actually stating it, that the other poets are liars and that the youth is deceiving himself.

12. In true plain words, by thy true-telling friend;

thy true-telling friend = me (for I alone am able to describe you as you are).

13. And their gross painting might be better used

gross painting = indecent, inaccurate descriptions. Exaggerated pictures.

14. Where cheeks need blood; in thee it is abused.

Where cheeks need blood - i.e. they would be better employed using their talents to flatter lifeless and bloodless folk who need puffing up with falsehoods.
in thee it is abused = applied to you it is misuse, misrepresentation and deception (and an abuse of your true qualities).

1. I never saw that you did painting need,

painting = description, such as is found in poetry. Also with a hint that the youth does not need to embellish his face with cosmetics.

2. And therefore to your fair no painting set;

to your fair no painting set = did not attempt to paint your beauty, did not set your beauty off in a painting (as one shows off the beauty of a jewel by its setting), did not attempt any further improvement on your fairness (by describing it with extravagant similes).

3. I found, or thought I found, you did exceed

or thought I found - the qualification suggests disillusion with the youth. It implies that he loves flattery, and is not interested in genuine devotion.
you did exceed = your merits were superior to, you were above the need of, or desire for.

4. The barren tender of a poet's debt:

barren tender = fruitless and profitless offer.
a poet's debt - the poet presumably owes the praise that he includes in his poetry to the youthful beauty of the young man. The writer's modesty compels him to claim also that the offering is worthless. It may be implied however that the 'barren tender', the offering of empty verse, is made by the rival poet(s), whose exaggerated praise misses the mark, and who are doing the youth a disservice by falling far short of his actual worth.

A poet might also be indebted to a wealthy patron for financial assistance, although the help was often no more than honorary.

5. And therefore have I slept in your report,

And therefore I have been remiss by not reporting you to the world through my verse. slept implies being asleep when one should have been attentive and on duty.

6. That you yourself, being extant, well might show

That = in order that;
you yourself, being extant = you yourself, in your own person, while you are still alive, while you are here present.
well = easily, effectively.

7. How far a modern quill doth come too short,

a modern quill = a shallow, trite style of writing. quill = quill pen, a goose feather, was the main writing implement in use for many centuries. Here used to mean the writer himself who uses the quill. modern in Shakespeare usually means, 'trite, commonplace'. As used by Jacques in As You Like It describing the seven ages of man:
.....And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances, AYL.II.7.153-6.
justice = magistrate; saws = proverbs; modern instances = commonplace examples.
However the meaning of 'up to date' seems appropriate as well here, since the rivals are accused of using all the new forms of poetry that may be devised by the wit of man.
doth come too short = falls short of (proclaiming adequately your excellence).

8. Speaking of worth, what worth in you doth grow.

These two lines, 7-8, are syntactically complex. They convey the general meaning 'An ordinary writer would, when speaking of your worth, fall short of an adequate description'. SB points out that the construction deliberately and wittily falls short of expressing the thought fully, (one would expect an additional phrase, such as 'when he attempts to describe what worth etc.'), as if underlining the failure of the second rate poet and his shortcomings. JK thinks that the uncharacteristic awkwardness of syntax suggests a questioning of the youth's worth. In fact the break of sense in the middle of the line does almost cause the reader to think that 'What' is the start of a question - 'What worth is there in you after all?'

9. This silence for my sin you did impute,

This silence = my silence in not writing your praises, which, as I stated, was to allow you to shine forth and show up the inadequacies of the poets and flatterers surrounding you.
for my sin = as a sin of omission on my part;
you did impute = you laid to my charge. 'You imputed to me my silence as a sin'. The usual construction is 'to impute (something, a crime, a fault) to (someone)'.
...Impute it not a crime
To me or my swift passage, that I slide
O'er sixteen years WT.IV.1.4-6.

10. Which shall be most my glory being dumb;

i.e my silence in this case will be my glory.
being dumb - this merely reiterates the fact of his silence. 'I shall be a glorious dumb statue'.

11. For I impair not beauty being mute,

For, in this condition of silence, I do not by attempting to describe or praise your beauty, fail in the attempt, and hence do damage instead.

12. When others would give life, and bring a tomb.

would give life = undertake, promise, or hope to give life'
and bring a tomb - instead succeed in enclosing you in a tomb. One tends to think back to sonn. 81, where he described his own verse as if it were a mausoleum.
Your monument shall be my gentle verse,
Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read
and even further, to sonn.23:
O, let my looks be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,
Who plead for love and look for recompense
More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.
Dumb silence can speak with more eloquence than artificial verse. But not all verse is artificial, and some speaks from the heart. There is a vibrant contrast between what the true heart speaks and what the poet schooled in rhetoric can devise. (The latter being the hall mark of the rival poet(s)).

13. There lives more life in one of your fair eyes

One suspects here an echo from a proverbial saying, such as 'There is more wit in his little finger than there is in your entire brain'.

14. Than both your poets can in praise devise.

both your poets - probably the speaker and his rival, although it could imply two rival poets. Since the speaker currently claims that he is dumb and silent (although the presentation of this poem alone undermines that claim), or that he only writes the truth, not rhetorical praise, it could be that two other poets (others would give life, l.12) were engaged in devising conceits with which to amuse the youth and win his allegiance. The word devise is used here and in the previous sonnet.
...yet when they have devised,
What strained touches rhetoric can lend,
It is suggestive of trickery and deception, or, at the very least, false praise. As in sonn.72:
Unless you would devise some virtuous lie,
To do more for me than mine own desert,
And hang more praise upon deceased I
Than niggard truth would willingly impart
a sonnet which also discusses the art of showing things in a false light with false praise.

1. Who is it that says most, which can say more,

Lines 1 - 4 are ambiguous, complex, opaque and elusive all at the same time. They could be read as a series of four questions, each beginning with an interrogative pronoun Who?, Which?, In whose?, Which?. The meaning would then be (approximately) - Who amongst your admirers praises you most? Which person can say more than this in praise of you, that you are absolutely and inescapably yourself? In what person is there walled up such a store of wit (as to praise you adequately)? Which poet could provide a copy such as might equal you in all your perfection? Editors however generally do not give this interpretation, and variously split the lines with question marks after most, you or grew, and take in whose as referring to the youth. Lines 3 and 4 are then taken as placed in apposition to you of line 2, and descriptive of the youth's excellent qualities.

The Q punctuation unfortunately is not helpful, for here where a question mark or two might be useful in indicating the sense of the lines, none are given, whereas in some other sonnets, e.g. 76, they are spread quite prolifically. Another interpretation is obtained by taking the which of this line to refer back to the poet who says most, and the meaning then becomes 'Whoever that person is who seems to be saying most, cannot in effect say more than this simple statement, that etc' A somewhat awkward interpretation, but the best that can be managed. Some editors follow the suggestion of Malone by placing a question mark after most and you, thereby focusing attention on the preliminary phrase 'Who is that person or poet who is most fulsome in his praise? How can he in fact say more than the truthful praise that you are yourself?' Then, if we take lines 3-4 as merely being descriptive of you, the sentence pans out as given in the note to 3 below.

2. Than this rich praise, that you alone, are you,

See above. you alone are you contains echoes from the Catholic Mass - tu solus sanctus, tu solus altissimus, tu solus dominus - you alone are holy, you alone are the most exalted, you alone are the Lord. It therefore treads a thin line between blasphemy and praise, a feature which has already been noted in earlier sonnets, 8, 34, 52, 74, and occurs later in 105 & 108.

3. In whose confine immured is the store

If we take the antecedent whose to be you above, then 3-4 can be read as meaning 'within the confining limits of your person is walled in (immured) the reservoir (store) from which an example or copy might be built up as if to equal you in growth and stature'.

4. Which should example where your equal grew?

See above. example = provide an example of, exemplify.

5. Lean penury within that pen doth dwell

Lean penury = poverty, which is thin i.e. lean (through lack of food); that pen = the pen of that writer who etc.; that poet.

6. That to his subject lends not some small glory;

to his subject = to his theme or subject matter. But with a suggestion perhaps of a monarch ennobling his subjects by his mere presence.
lends = gives, provides. As in 82:
What strained touches rhetoric can lend,

7. But he that writes of you, if he can tell

tell = narrate, give an account. There seems to be an undercurrent of accounting, financial and legal phraseology - store, penury, lends, writes, tell, copy, writ, add.

8. That you are you, so dignifies his story.

so = in that way, simply by doing that.
dignifies his story = adds dignity to his poem, description

9. Let him but copy what in you is writ,

what in you is writ = your features, the way you appear and may be described (written down) - this takes up again the biblical echoes of lines 2 and 8. The young man is as beautiful as Holy Writ.

10. Not making worse what nature made so clear,

clear = bright, serene, glorious, shining, unspotted, innocent. (All these meanings are given in Onions' Shakespeare Glossary).

11. And such a counterpart shall fame his wit,

counterpart = copy, replica of you.
fame = make famous. His inventive ingenuity will be made famous by the copy he makes of you simply by describing you as you are (saying you are you).

12. Making his style admired every where.

style - primarily refers to style in writing, but with a pun on 'stylus', a writing instrument, the equivalent of 'pen' of line 5. Possibly a bawdy pun - his prick is everywhere admired.

13. You to your beauteous blessings add a curse,

beauteous blessings - these could be the youth's innate qualities, or, more specifically, they could refer to the blessings he bestows on various authors by his patronage. (See 82, line 4). The latter in some ways seems more appropriate to what follows, since an author's dedication of a book to a patron usually contained undiluted praise.
curse = fault, blemish. Perhaps a suggestion of womanish frailty, since women traditionally require praise of their beauty, and curse = the menstrual period.

14. Being fond on praise, which makes your praises worse.

The meaning seems to be that, being so avid of praise, the youth attracts false flattery, far worse than if the truth were told, which would itself be praise.
being fond on = being madly devoted to, being foolishly hooked on.
which makes your praises worse = which ensures that praise levelled at you is artificial and corrupt.

1. My tongue-tied Muse in manners holds her still,

in manners = from politeness and self restraint;
holds her still = keeps herself silent, remains silent. However, since still in its adverbial use had the meaning 'always' or 'nevertheless' the line could also mean 'My tongue tied Muse continues to behave in the same manner as previously (by remaining silent as before)'. The Muses in classical antiquity were nine maiden goddesses, each overseeing one branch of poetic composition.

2. While comments of your praise richly compiled,

comments of your praise = treatises praising you. A comment was an expository treatise or commentary (OED 1). The reference here is however to poems in praise of the youth.
richly compiled = put together with great learning and stylistic skill and flourishes.

3. Reserve thy character with golden quill,

Reserve thy character - I have adopted the emendation of thy for their, a common error in Q. Reserve = preserve, as in 32:
Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme, (i.e. my verses).
character = appearance, characteristics. As in
I will believe thou hast a mind that suits
With this thy fair and outward character TN.I.2.50-1.
However, character also means 'written letters of the alphabet' and is used with that meaning in 59:
Show me your image in some antique book,
Since mind at first in character was done.
So that the whole could mean 'Commentaries praising you preserve you richly in writing'.
golden quill - a quill pen, golden in the sense that it enriches what it describes. Possibly suggestive of an effete and over elaborate composition.

4. And precious phrase by all the Muses filed.

precious phrase = rich phrases and sentences. phrase is here a generic term relating to any or all of the words put together by the rival poet(s).
by all the Muses filed = polished, smoothed and finished by all of the nine Muses. The drift of these four lines is to concede that richly compiled poems praising the youth are at least as precious to the youth as the rich praise of 'you alone are you'. But there is clearly an element of hyperbole which seeks to undermine the validity of these rival attempts. Since it is all so precious, refined, smoothed, gilded and inspired it is probably too good to be true. The following lines continue to sow the seeds of doubt, for they imply that the polished words are not the heralds of good thoughts, but only the breath of words. Only those whose thoughts give the lead to what they say should be respected, and that seems to be the abiding message of this poem.

5. I think good thoughts, whilst others write good words,

others - 'other' of Q is a standard plural form. This appears to confirm that there is more than one rival poet attempting to secure the affections and patronage of the young man.

6. And like unlettered clerk still cry 'Amen'

unlettered clerk - a low ranking cleric who cannot read or write. Education was limited to the upper classes and to the wealthy. There must have been many lay assistants in churches in country districts who could not read, but who would know the responses to prayers by heart. In Elizabeth's early days, as Shakespeare was growing up, it was difficult to find enough educated clergy for the many country parishes, and unlettered clerks probably filled the vacancies.
still = always, continually.
Amen - the traditional conclusion to a prayer, usually taken to mean 'Let it be so!'. A similar thought to that of this line is found in 'The Great Frost. Cold doings in London, except it be at the Lottery', (published 1608) where the countryman thanks the citizen of London in the following terms:
I gladly and from my heart play the clerk, crying "Amen". I have been bold and troublesome to you, Sir.
Reproduced in 'The English Garner, Vol I, 1877, p. 93.'
The work, which is a description of the great frost of 1608, is thought possibly to have been written by Thomas Dekker.

7. To every hymn that able spirit affords,

hymn - paean of praise.
that able spirit affords - that any gifted and inspired person provides; that that particular inspired poet provides. This line is thought probably to refer to George Chapman, one of the chief contenders for the title of rival poet. He published in 1596 The Shadow of Night - Containing Two Poeticall Hymnes. See also 86.5-12.

8. In polished form of well-refined pen.

A reinforcement of the description of the output of the golden quill and precious phrases filed by the Muses in the lines above.

9. Hearing you praised, I say ''tis so, 'tis true,'

'tis so, 'tis true - An Anglicisation of the Hebrew or Aramaic 'Amen, Amen'. Perhaps here a biblical echo is intended of something like 'Amen, Amen I say unto you. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away'.

10. And to the most of praise add something more;

the most of praise = the best, the most superlative praise.

11. But that is in my thought, whose love to you,

But that - but that which I add (the something more of the previous line).

12. Though words come hindmost, holds his rank before.

come hindmost = follow behind;
holds his rank before = i.e. my thought (of love for you) precedes any words, as being of higher rank. The phrase could also hint at 'holds on to his former rank, i.e. his former prime position in your love'. The metaphor conjures up the image of a procession in which the social rank of the participants dictates their position, those of higher rank being at the front.

13. Then others, for the breath of words respect,

the breath of words - i.e. the sound of the spoken words, rather than their meaning. An attempt to belittle the effect of words composed by the rival poets. But in 81 he told a different story:
You still shall live--such virtue hath my pen--
Where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men. 81.

The implication is that the rival poet's verses are empty because the heart does not speak in them. Compare Lear, when Kent criticises false and hypocritical speech in others and praises Cordelia for her plainess:
Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound
Reverbs no hollowness. KL.I.1.151-2.

14. Me for my dumb thoughts, speaking in effect.

in effect = in reality; in the effect they have, or should have, on you. The suggestion is that his dumb thoughts are of more value and more effectual than all the empty words of the rival's verses.

 

1. Was it the proud full sail of his great verse,

The image is that of a galleon (or possibly a whole fleet, see below), attempting to capture something on the high seas. In 1596 Essex had raided the Spanish port of Cadiz, captured it and carried off much booty. Such exploits were widely renowned, and other grandiose expeditions, such as one to the Azores the following year, in the hope of capturing the Spanish treasure fleet, would have caused a great stir of excitement as they set off from the Channel ports in proud full sail, with one hundred or more ships often taking part. GBE sees the reference as possibly a denigrating one, in that it has mercenary overtones, but the glory accruing to any privateer or bucaneer who damaged Spanish interests in the years after the armada was huge. The Queen herself was usually a shareholder in such expeditions, and they were launched with semi-official blessing.

proud full sail - a swelling sail, puffed out by the wind. proud and full also have sexual meanings. In Midsummer Nights Dream Shakespeare likened a bellying sail to a pregnant woman.
When we have laughed to see the sails conceive
And grow big bellied with the wanton wind. MND.II.1.128-9. However sail could also stand for the whole fleet, (OED.4.a.)a sight and spectacle which would be far more majestic than the appearance of a single galleon Thus in King John:
So by a roaring tempest on the flood
A whole Armado of convicted sail
Is scattered and disjoined from fellowship.KJ.III.4.2-4

The whole sonnet was possibly read on suitable occasions with ribald innuendos, an underlying set of double entendres (spirit, pitch, countenance, line, matter etc.) being available which efface its seriousness. This line for example, with a little twisting, could be read as
Was it the proud full sail of his great arse? etc.
See also SB, additional notes, p.579, n.16.9.

2. Bound for the prize of all too precious you,

Bound for = heading for;
the prize = the technical meaning of a ship or goods captured at sea is the predominant sense here. OED(3)2.b. cites for 1588: Greene Perimedes 9 'Carrying away, both vessell and marriners as a pryse'.

3. That did my ripe thoughts in my brain inhearse,

ripe thoughts - presumably thoughts which are ready to be put into a poem.
inhearse = enclose in a tomb or coffin.

4. Making their tomb the womb wherein they grew?

In other words, they (his thoughts) die where they are engendered, in the womb of his brain. The image of thoughts as the poet's children was commonplace, although this idea of a miscarriage was somewhat rarer.

5. Was it his spirit, by spirits taught to write

These lines. 5-10 are thought to refer to one particular poet, quite possibly George Chapman. He published seven books of his translation of Homer's Iliad in 1598, and boasted subsequently that he was inspired by the spirit of Homer himself. 'I am (sayd hee [Homer] that spirit Elysian,/ That ... did thy bosome fill'. See GBE pp.193-4 for fuller details. The evidence is not conclusive, and it is quite possible, given the incomplete state of our knowledge, that another poet was intended. (See the comment above).
by spirits - the ghosts which prompted his imagination (spirit) and caused him to write.

6. Above a mortal pitch, that struck me dead?

Above a mortal pitch = higher than the normal flight of human fancy. The imagery is probably taken from falconry, the pitch being the topmost point of flight of the falcon before stooping. As in the following:
Between two Hawks, which flies the higher pitch.1H6.II.4.11.

But what a point, my lord, your falcon made,
And what a pitch she flew above the rest! 2H6.II.1.5-6.

7. No, neither he, nor his compeers by night

his compeers by night - the spirits which aid him in his composition. compeer is an old word meaning a companion of equal standing. Here it is used somewhat contemptuously. If Chapman is the rival poet, the spirits or ghosts which appeared to him in nightly visions were Musaeus, Marlowe and Homer. Chapman claimed a special affinity with the night in his poem The Shadow of Night published in 1594. He therefore is one of the chief contenders of all those put forward for the title of the rival poet.

8. Giving him aid, my verse astonished.

astonished = struck dumb. Pronounced astonish

9. He, nor that affable familiar ghost

He, nor = neither he, nor. Repeating the statement of line 7.
affable familiar ghost - the rival poet evidently claimed that the spirit that appeared to him was friendly (affable). familiar was a term which was applied to spirits, often those associated with the devil. Witches were supposed to have dealings with them, their familiars often taking the form of a cat. The use of the term here attaches to the person being referred to the dubious distinction of probably being in touch with the devil. (See OED.A.2.d & B.3)

10. Which nightly gulls him with intelligence,

nightly - evidently the familiar spirit appeared to the rival poet in the hours of darkness.
gulls him = dupes and decieves him. Possibly also 'stuffs him full, crams him.
intelligence = information, knowledge.

11. As victors of my silence cannot boast;

As victors of my silence = As victors who are responsible for silencing me.
cannot boast - the subject is he, (the rival poet), and his 'affable, familiar ghost'. They cannot boast themselves to be the victors who forced me to silence.

12. I was not sick of any fear from thence:

sick = ill, unable to write.
from thence = from him and his spiritual assistants.

13. But when your countenance filled up his line,

countenance = face, appearance, descriptions of you. As with all words beginning with 'count' there is a potential for bawdy innuendo which Shakespeare was usually not slow to make use of. In All's Well for example, the clown puns on duke and constable.

COUNTESS Have you, I say, an answer of such fitness for all
questions?
CLOWN From below your duke to beneath your constable, it will fit any question. AWW.II.2.27-30.

His reply might be paraphrased as 'From below your dick to beneath your cunt's table'. The irrelevance of the pun to the matter in hand does not usually count for much, as long as the pun is made. On the stage it would no doubt usually be accompanied by a suitably obscene gesture. It is hardly possible to guess what the pun would have meant here, only that it was lewd, since line could be interpreted as 'loin' or 'loins'.

14. Then lacked I matter; that enfeebled mine.

matter = subject matter for my sonnets (since you had abandoned me in favour of the rival poet's verse).
that enfeebled mine - that (your absence) was what weakened my verse, and made it unable to stand. No doubt a bawdy meaning also intended here.

1. Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing,

too dear = too precious. Also too costly, too expensive; too damaging. An echo perhaps of:
Was it the proud full sail of his great verse,
Bound for the prize of all too precious you, 86
for my possessing = for me to possess. There is also a paradoxical sense which hovers in the background 'You are too much loved by me (too dear) for me to be able to possess you in love'.

2. And like enough thou know'st thy estimate,

like enough = it is probable that, probably. The expression however conveys a sense of doubt. Perhaps the reasons are not those shortly to be stated, and could be even worse (e.g. the youth is faithless).
thy estimate = your worth in other's eyes, the value people put on you, your absolute worth independently of other's opinion.

3. The charter of thy worth gives thee releasing;

The charter of thy worth = a privilege and license legally attached to you because of the qualities and excellence which are inherent in you. The word charter recalls the Great Charter, or Magna Carta, which listed the rights and privileges of the barons under King John. Shakespeare uses the word usually in the sense of 'rights and privileges sanctioned by law'.

releasing = freedom from the duties imposed by the bonds of love.

4. My bonds in thee are all determinate.

bonds - legal agreements, usually such as are made between borrower and lender. Shakespeare also uses the word in connection with the marriage bond and bonds of kinship. Thus Cordelia to Lear:
.....I love your Majesty
According to my bond, no more nor less. KL.I.1.91-2.
Onions gives four meanings of the word: 1. chain, fetter, usu.pl.; 2. tie of duty, obligation of affection; 3. cementing or uniting force; 4. deed by which one binds oneself to make a payment or fulfil a contract. It is often found in connection with some sort of loving relationship. Of 75 occurrences of 'bond' in the Shakespearian corpus, more than half occur in the Merchant of Venice, in connection with the famous bond that Shylock has of Antonio, an agreement that Antonio will pay him one pound of flesh should he default on payment of a loan. In the plural (24 uses, including 3 in the sonnets) the word often refers to a physical constraint. Other than that it describes a moral obligation, or duty of love. The other two uses in the sonnets are as follows:

Accuse me thus: that I have scanted all
Wherein I should your great deserts repay,
Forgot upon your dearest love to call,
Whereto all bonds do tie me day by day; 117

..........not from those lips of thine,
That have profaned their scarlet ornaments
And sealed false bonds of love as oft as mine, 142

In this sonnet the meaning is coloured by legal, financial and loving considerations, and one could paraphrase as 'all contracts I have entered into to love you, (or for you to love me) are now terminated'.

 

 

5. For how do I hold thee but by thy granting?

The use of the present tense here is noticeable, suggesting that the severance has not yet taken place. One would expect For how have I held thee. If one takes these lines in their literal and physical sense, as I believe one has to on occasion, the effect of contemplating the proposed separation is extraordinarily desolate. The emptiness is almost tangible as the poet reflects on the moments of love spent together which are to be no more. The continuation also of the legal and political terminology points the contrast between a simple and direct experience of loving and embracing and that of calculating the cost and benefit, since hold suggests holding a title and granting implies issuing a charter as a permit to love.

 

Lines 5-12 also are unique in their continuous use of the feminine -ing ending, a repetition which seems to hammer home the finality of separation and the desolation which it brings.(See note above).

6. And for that riches where is my deserving?

that riches - riches was often treated as a singular noun, similar to French richesse. Here it refers to the wealth of loving, holding, possessing,

7. The cause of this fair gift in me is wanting,

The cause of this fair gift = the justification for you granting this fair gift of yourself.
is wanting = is lacking, is absent.

8. And so my patent back again is swerving.

patent = A licence to manufacture, sell, or deal in an article or commodity, to the exclusion of other persons; (See OED.2.), where the following example is also given: '1597 in D'Ewes Jrnls. 573 Abuses practised by Monopolies and Patents of priviledge.' Towards the end of her reign in 1601 Elizabeth was petitioned by Parliament to correct the abuse of patents and monopolies granted by her. She professed to be surprised that such grants should act to the detriment of her people. A well known case of a patent 'swerving back' to the originator (usually the Queen) was the monopoly of sweet wines which the Earl of Essex used to enjoy, and which was the chief source of his income. On his return from Ireland Elizabeth did not renew it (1600), and this led directly to Essex's rebellion, in which Shakespeare appears to have been indirectly implicated.

back again is swerving = reverts to the grantor. swerving is unusual in this context but is perhaps pressed into service for the sake of the rhyme with deserving.

9. Thy self thou gavest, thy own worth then not knowing,

Thy self thou gavest - SB notes that this phrase and possessing in line 1 are coloured by ideas of sexual possession and sexual submission. As also had in l.13.

10. Or me to whom thou gav'st it else mistaking;

Q gives a comma after it, but the natural meaning of the line seems to follow on from the previous one: 'Or else you misjudged me, the beneficiary of your gift'. Most editors retain the comma after it and place an additional comma after me.

11. So thy great gift, upon misprision growing,

misprision - OED gives various meanings for this, some of them involving treason and felony. However the continuation of the sentence in the following line more or less confirms that the meaning required is 'misjudgement, error'. The error of misjudgement made is corrected 'on better judgement making'. Compare:

What hast thou done? thou hast mistaken quite
And laid the love-juice on some true-love's sight:
Of thy misprision must perforce ensue
Some true love turned and not a false turned true. MND.III.2.88-91.

upon misprision growing = founded upon misjudgement, becoming more misguided owing to the preliminary misjudgement.

12. Comes home again, on better judgement making.

Comes home again = reverts to the owner;
on better judgement making = when you succeeded in making a true and more realistic judgement.

13. Thus have I had thee, as a dream doth flatter,

Thus have I had thee - In the past then it seems I have loved and possessed you only as etc.
as a dream doth flatter - but only as in a dream, which flatters by pretending to be real. flatter also had the meaning of stroke, caress (OED.1.b.). See Sonn.33.

14. In sleep a king, but waking no such matter.

In sleep a king = being, when I sleep, like a king (who is surrounded by flatterers); when I sleep enjoying all the privileges of royalty (by possessing you).
no such matter = not a king at all; having no such privileges, finding that the situation is in no way as my dream showed it to be.

 

1. When thou shalt be disposed to set me light,

When thou shalt be dispos'd = when your mind is set upon, when you become inclined to.
to set me light = to belittle me, to treat me with contempt.

Nearly all the verbs in the sonnet are in the future tense, indicating that the event of separation and recrimination has not yet occurred. The poet is either unsure of his current status in the eyes of the beloved, or merely wishes to prepare for the rejection since he suspects it will happen, and he is setting himself the task of defining his future reactions. We may imagine that some suggestion of a parting has been raised and discussed, perhaps in jocular company, perhaps in a more intimate setting. This and the subsequent two poems provide the poet's answer to the proposed severance.

 

2. And place my merit in the eye of scorn,

And hold my merits up for ridicule. The scorn could be that shown by the beloved, or that of others who are invited by the beloved to ridicule the speakers merits. The phrase has a biblical ring to it, and suggests Job cast out and scorned:
I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.
Job.12.4.
Also it echoes the words of the Psalms:
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make
me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. Ps. 22.7-9.
But perhaps the most abiding image is that of the suffering Christ, he who lays down his life because he so loved the world and man. The phrase laugh to scorn is used of Christ several times, for example when he brings back to life the daughter of a ruler who had asked for his aid to save her:
He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but
sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. Matt.9.24.
The poet here, as also in the other poems of subservience in this group (87-90) assumes the mantle of the Redeemer who allows himself to be mocked and cast aside as Christ did:
And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon
his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the
knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on
the head.
And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off
from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to
crucify him. Matt.27.29-31.

3. Upon thy side, against myself I'll fight,

Upon thy side - the imagery is mainly that of a court of law, rather than a battlefield. prove, forsworn, upon thy part, attainted are all elements of legal terminology. There is however more than a hint of military belligerence, or perhaps jousting and duelling, as a result of fight, forsworn, win much glory, injuries, vantage. Some of the terms, such as right, wrong, gainer are no doubt common to both disciplines.

4. And prove thee virtuous, though thou art forsworn.

though thou art forsworn = even though, if the situation should arise (of you deserting me), you would be the one who broke your promises. forsworn = perjured. Although HV sees this phrase as 'a quiet bombshell' the grammar does not force us to read it as being a definitive statement. It should be read more as a subjunctive - 'Even though you were to be forsworn, (though indeed you might not be), I would nevertheless prove you to be virtuous'.

5. With mine own weakness being best acquainted,

weakness = sins, faults. Perhaps also the meaning 'frailty, vulnerability' is also intended. There is a strangely Freudian prescience in these words, since most people find it difficult to recognise their own faults. The poet acknowledges that they are concealed, but that he is guilty of them (attainted, l.7.). There is also probably an element of the old philosophy hinted at here, the Ancient Greek maxim, gnothi seauton - 'Know thyself'.

6. Upon thy part I can set down a story

Upon thy part = on your side, in fighting for you, in acting as your legal defendant. However there is a contrary meaning to these two lines (6-7) lurking very close to the surface, i.e. 'I can tell a story about you of your concealed faults for which I stand now accused'.
set down a story = tell a tale, give an account of.

7. Of faults concealed, wherein I am attainted;

faults concealed = hidden vices.
attainted = found guilty and therefore condemned. (See OED attaint.v.6., and attainted 2.). See also the note above to line 5.

8. That thou in losing me shalt win much glory:

That = with the result that;
losing me = suffering the loss of me, abandoning or discarding me; diminishing me in the estimation of the world; setting me free (from to loose; the spellings of lose and loose were interchangeable). Most commentators give also the sense of 'destroying, ruining me' but it is doubtful if that is the primary meaning. The presence of win and gainer immediately after indicates that the meaning is the most common modern one of 'to be deprived of, to suffer loss', i.e. the opposite of 'to keep'. There are over 200 uses of the word in the Sh. corpus, and mostly they relate to loss of battles, honour, maidenhead, money, title, things. Typical are the following:

.....This course I fittest choose;
For forty ducats is too much to lose. CE.IV.3.90-1.

CLEO What should I do, I do not?
CHAR In each thing give him way, cross him nothing.
CLEO Thou teachest like a fool; the way to lose him.AC.I.3.9-10. (Charmian advises Cleopatra how to keep Antony).

9. And I by this will be a gainer too;

by this = by proving this, that the fault is mine.

10. For bending all my loving thoughts on thee,

bending = directing, focusing. Shakespeare also used the word often in connection with bending the knee in subservience. See the note to line 2 above and the NT passage on bowing the knee before Christ.

11. The injuries that to myself I do,

This parallels line 11 of Sonn.49 - And this my hand, against my self uprear. Perhaps the double was intentional, giving two elevens to underline the position of the sonnet, or to refer the reader back to 22, with its fateful warning:

Presume not on thy heart when mine is slain,
Thou gav'st me thine not to give back again. 22.

12. Doing thee vantage, double-vantage me.

Doing thee vantage = helping you, giving you the advantage. OED.1.a. defines vantage as 'advantage, profit, benefit, gain'. There is also a military connection, but here it is not predominant.
double vantage me = gives me a double benefit. The doubling of the benefit is presumably the result of the lover being also in the heart of the beloved, so the two hearts, being at the same time themselves and the other's, are each individually doubly advantaged.

13. Such is my love, to thee I so belong,

to thee I so belong = I belong so utterly and completely to you. The line echoes for I love you so of 71 and the couplet of 36 & 96:
But do not so; I love thee in such sort
As, thou being mine, mine is thy good report.

14. That for thy right, myself will bear all wrong.

for thy right = to prove you in the right; to ensure that you come to no harm. bear = endure. Also with a suggestion of 'bare' all wrong, expose all wrongdoing. The two words were indistinguishable in spelling. 

49		88
Against that time, if ever that time come, When I shall see thee frown on my defects, When as thy love hath cast his utmost sum, Called to that audit by advis'd respects; Against that time when thou shalt strangely pass, And scarcely greet me with that sun, thine eye, When love, converted from the thing it was, Shall reasons find of settled gravity; Against that time do I ensconce me here, Within the knowledge of mine own desert, And this my hand, against my self uprear, To guard the lawful reasons on thy part: To leave poor me thou hast the strength of laws, Since why to love I can allege no cause.		When thou shalt be disposed to set me light, And place my merit in the eye of scorn, Upon thy side, against myself I'll fight, And prove thee virtuous, though thou art forsworn. With mine own weakness being best acquainted, Upon thy part I can set down a story Of faults concealed, wherein I am attainted; That thou in losing me shalt win much glory: And I by this will be a gainer too; For bending all my loving thoughts on thee, The injuries that to myself I do, Doing thee vantage, double-vantage me. Such is my love, to thee I so belong, That for thy right, myself will bear all wrong.

1. Say that thou didst forsake me for some fault,

Say that thou didst = Let us suppose that you were to. A continuation of the discussion of a hypothetical situation outlined in the previous sonnet, which is presented in such a way that one is unsure if the event has occurred or not, or even if the poet knows whether it has occurred. He remains in a state of limbo, but fears the worst.

2. And I will comment upon that offence:

comment = give an exposition and analysis of. See 85.2-3:
While comments of your praise, richly compiled,
Reserve their character with golden quill

3. Speak of my lameness, and I straight will halt,

Speak of = if you were to speak of. Being accused of lameness by the young man he would immediately prove that it was a just accusation by starting to limp. The statement is not a proof that Shakespeare was lame, but, as SB points out, it may be a reference to a criticism of the lameness of his verse, or his own modest assessment of it. halt = limp.

4. Against thy reasons making no defence.

defence and offence are legal terms.

5. Thou canst not, love, disgrace me half so ill,

half so ill = half as badly, half as damagingly, half as much. The simple word love set in the middle of so much analysis keeps the spark of devotion alive. It seems to transport one back instantaneously to a better time, a time when the innocence of love had not been sullied by distrust and betrayal.

6. To set a form upon desired change,

To set a form upon = to put a veneer of politeness on;
desired change = the change you wish to make, i.e. me for another.

7. As I'll myself disgrace; knowing thy will,

knowing thy will = being aware of your wishes. will also had the meaning 'sexual desire', as in 135.

8. I will acquaintance strangle, and look strange;

I will acquaintance strangle = I will cut off all communication and friendship with you;
and look strange = and appear like a stranger.

9. Be absent from thy walks; and in my tongue

Be absent from thy walks = not walk in the places where you normally walk.

10. Thy sweet beloved name no more shall dwell,

in my tongue ... no more shall dwell - roughly equivalent to the phrase 'your name will no longer be on my lips'.

11. Lest I, too much profane, should do it wrong,

too much profane = too impious, too irreverent and vulgar to be admitted into the temple of your worship. The word 'profane' had a technical meaning of 'outside (before) the temple, not being an initiate, and therefore not admitted'. Made famous by such poems as Horace's odi profanum vulgus et arceo - I hate the unititiated throngs and I shun them. do it wrong - i.e. damage your name and reputation, by speaking of you and associating you with my commonness.

12. And haply of our old acquaintance tell.

haply = perhaps, by chance.

13. For thee, against my self I'll vow debate,

For thee = on your side, taking up your case;
against myself I'll vow debate = I vow to fight on your side against myself by arguing for (debating) your defence.

14. For I must ne'er love him whom thou dost hate.

whom thou dost hate - to a certain extent this prepares us for the opening line of the next sonnet, but the violence of the word 'hate' still provides a shock. In connection with his loving the youth, or the youth loving him, this is the ultimate negation of all that has been said and experienced. The word hate is used somewhat sparingly in the126 'fair youth' sonnets, but more fulsomely in the dark lady sequence. I give below the instances where it occurs in a related or similar context.

 

Such civil war is in my love and hate 35
To bear love's wrong than hate's known injury 40
Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now; 90
But shoot not at me in your waken'd hate; 117

 

In the conventions of sonneteering, the beloved's disdain was often described as hatred. Sidney for example (Astrophel and Stella) marvels that Stella can both love and hate him at the same time.

Now I, wit-beaten long by hardest Fate,
So dull am, that I cannot look into
The ground of this fierce Love and lovely hate:
Then some good body tell me how I do,
Whose presence absence, absence presence is;
Blest in my curse, and cursed in my bliss. A&S.60.

1. Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now;

Then hate me when thou wilt - the phrase seems to take up the final line of the previous sonnet:
For I must ne'er love him whom thou dost hate.
Then is more or less equivalent to 'If that is the case, as I have just described it, then hate me etc.'
when thou wilt = when it pleases you. But the thought is immediately corrected, for the pain of separation, if it is to occur, is best endured immediately. The uncertainty of his position, whether or not he still is loved, and whether or not he should cut his losses immediately, thereby preventing a long drawn out agony, carries over from the previous two sonnets.

2. Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross,

bent = intent on, determined to. But also with the suggestion of 'crooked, perverted'.
my deeds to cross = to thwart my plans and activities. It is not known if these references to setbacks and fortune's spite are attributable to any particular event in Shakespeare's life.

3. Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,

Join with the spite of fortune = Ally yourself with the rancorous ill will of Fortune. Spite is linked to Fortune in Sonn 37:
So I, made lame by fortune's dearest spite, 37
and OED gives an early example of the phrase from 1562: With a lustie manly courage he defied the spight of Fortune. The meaning is A strong feeling of .. hatred or ill-will; intense grudge or desire to injure; rancorous or envious malice. (OED.2.a.). Spite of line 10 has the more general meaning of 'malicious harm and injury'.

make me bow - i.e. crush me under the weight of your disfavour; make me humbly bow and bend the knee in submission.

4. And do not drop in for an after-loss:

drop in for an after loss - the phrase is not properly understood. It may be a gaming metaphor, or, in view of rearward, conquered, overthrow, onset, loss, which follow, a military one. SB gives an extensive note with details of slightly later examples from gaming and warfare. The general idea seems to be that of an unexpected loss resulting from a sudden hazard or cast in a game, or an unforeseen development after a battle, when the result was already supposedly determined. The modern meaning of drop in, 'to call on unexpectedly, or casually' is not relevant here, and is not attested until much later.

5. Ah! do not, when my heart hath 'scaped this sorrow,

'scaped = escaped.
this sorrow - presumably the sorrow of being thwarted at every turn by fortune, as in line 3.

6. Come in the rearward of a conquered woe;

The imagery is that of a surprise attack in the rear of an army. However the strict sense seems to imply that the conquering has already been done, and by the poet, who has managed to master his sorrow, rather than the sorrow mastering the man. This new attack reverses the situation and lays low the poet, who is already struggling to survive. Or perhaps it means that the army of woe(s) which seems to be conquered, is suddenly aided by reinforcements from the rear, which threaten to overcome the speaker entirely.

7. Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,

'Do not heap sorrow upon sorrow' seems to be the obvious meaning, although metaphors connected with meteorology can be ambiguous. Both cases here are of bad or ruinous weather.

8. To linger out a purposed overthrow.

To linger out = to drag out (the agony), to cause to continue (something unpleasant) for an excessive time, to delay. Cf. Lear:
................He hates him
That would upon the rack of this tough world
Stretch him out longer. KL.V.3.513-5.

a purposed overthrow = a defeat which is planned (by your rejection of me).

9. If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,

If thou wilt leave me = if you are determined to leave me. The uncertainty still remains.

10. When other petty griefs have done their spite,

other petty griefs = other sorrows and disasters, which, in comparison with the possibility of you abandoning me, are petty.
have done their spite = have injured me as best they can. See the note to line 3 above.

11. But in the onset come: so shall I taste

in the onset = in the first wave of the attack. A continuation of the military metaphor of lines 4, 6 and 8.
taste = experience.

12. At first the very worst of fortune's might;

fortune's might - Fortune was considered to be all-powerful, but endlessly fickle.

13. And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,

strains of woe = species, types, varieties of sorrow. I.e. the sorrows predicated as happening because of Fortune's reversals. With a hint also of the distress (strain) caused by the loved one's imminent departure. strains also could refer to 'strains of music', hence 'other tunes of sorrow'. Compare for example from Twelfth Night:
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour! TN.I.1.4-7.

14. Compared with loss of thee, will not seem so.

All other sorrows, though large at the time, are considered to be minuscule in comparison with loss of the loved one.

 

1. Some glory in their birth, some in their skill,

Some glory in = some men take pride in, boast of, exult in etc. birth = family, descent, nobility of lineage. skill = knowledge, abilities.

2. Some in their wealth, some in their body's force,

body's force = strength. Possibly a reference to the knightly pursuit of jousting is intended.

3. Some in their garments though new-fangled ill;

new-fangled ill = badly made in line with the latest novelties and fashions ; bad, as a result of being new-fangled, i.e as a result of following all the latest fashions with avidity. OED.2. gives 'new fashioned, novel' for new-fangled. The fact of the garments being new-fangled is deemed to make them bad per se. new-fangled seems to be used mostly with a touch of disapprobation. There is probably here an echo from Wyatt, in a poem which also deals with desertion: It was no dream; I lay broad waking:
But all is turned thorough my gentleness,
Into a strange fashion of forsaking;
And I have leave to go, of her goodness;
And she also to use new-fangledness.
But since that I unkindly so am served,
'How like you this?' - what hath she now deserved?

From Sir Thomas Wyatt 1503-42: They flee from me that sometime did me seek. See the Wyatt pages on this web site and the note to Sonnet 139 line 6.

4. Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse;

This line and line 8 are thought possibly to derive from a passage in Xenophon's Memorabilia a work of the 4th Century BC. Socrates is speaking and says ' I myself, Antiphon, just as another man might take pleasure from a good horse, or a dog, or a bird, I take even more pleasure from having good friends'. KDJ sees a biblical reference: 'Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God'. Psalm 20.7.
horse - probably a plural collective noun. Hawking, hunting and equestrianism were the three main activities of a gentleman of leisure of the time. Elizabeth shared these pastimes and especially loved riding.  See the illustration below.

 

 

5. And every humour hath his adjunct pleasure,

humour = character trait, personal whim, temperament, inclination, disposition. The word was much used in a technical sense in medicine and psychology.
his adjunct pleasure = its associated pleasure. adjunct appears to be a Shakespearian neologism, and is a Latinism for 'joined to'.

6. Wherein it finds a joy above the rest:

Wherein it = in which it (humour);
above the rest = superior to all other potential delights and pleasures.

7. But these particulars are not my measure,

particulars = particular activities, as listed in 1-4 above; individual pleasures.
are not my measure = not within my aim, not part of my objective; not the standard by which I wish to be measured; not such as to satisfy me; not the measure which I use to judge happiness.

8. All these I better in one general best.

All these = all these pleasures and occupations;
I better = I surpass, I improve upon;
in one general best = by having one general thing which is the best of all those other possibilities. A statement of what this best thing is now follows.

9. Thy love is better than high birth to me,

This recapitulation of the objects listed in 1-4 is a rhetorical or poetic device known as correlatio, and was popular in sonneteering in the latter part of the 16th century. The poet here omits skill, body's force and hounds in his recapitulation.

10. Richer than wealth, prouder than garments' cost,

Wealth and rich garments are featured also in Sonnet 52. The connection between pride (i.e. display, showiness, grandeur) and garments is also implied there.
Or as the wardrobe which the robe doth hide,
To make some special instant special-blest,
By new unfolding his imprison'd pride. 52.

garments' cost = the expense of maintaining a fancy wardrobe.

11. Of more delight than hawks and horses be;

than hawks and horses be - modern usage would require 'are'.

12. And having thee, of all men's pride I boast:

having thee = being loved by you, possessing you.
of all men's pride I boast = I glory in that which all men, if they were fortunate enough to possess it, would have as their chief source of pride.

13. Wretched in this alone, that thou mayst take

GBE contrasts the wretchedness of this couplet with the proud confidence of that of Sonnet 25:
Then happy I, that love and am beloved
Where I may not remove nor be removed.

wretched = poor, miserable, dejected, outcast.

14. All this away, and me most wretched make.

and me most wretched make = and make me most wretched, an object of pity and contempt. In Elizabethan times a wretch was likely to be a beggar or vagabond, an outcast, often a lunatic escaped from an asylum, and the word 'wretched' was somewhat more forceful than in modern usage. There seems to be a deliberate intention to have the word 'wretched' at the beginning and end of the couplet, to emphasise that it is a state that is all-embracing, and that there is no escape from it.

 

1. But do thy worst to steal thyself away,

This first line links to the concluding couplet of the previous sonnet, where it was suggested that the beloved might take all this away (i.e.his love). Here the situation of that happening is faced, with some sophistry, probably not intended to convince. The 'taking away' of the previous sonnet has become 'stealing away' in this one.
do thy worst - The phrase has almost the same meaning as its opposite, do thy best, but by this inversion the idea is conveyed that the action foreseen is a dubious and dishonest one.
steal thyself away - this conveys the meaning both of 'slinking off' and 'removing something furtively, as a thief does'. Neither image is flattering to the beloved.

2. For term of life thou art assured mine;

term = the period of a contract. term of life is a phrase used in legal documents.
assured - apart from the standard meaning of 'certain, confirmed' there is more than a hint of legal terminology. assured could mean betrothed, or having submitted to a contract of marriage. As the following:
To conclude, this drudge, or diviner, laid claim to me, call'd me
Dromio; swore I was assured to her; CE.III.2.

3. And life no longer than thy love will stay,

When your love departs from me, my life will end. This could be a threat of suicide, or it could be a statement of what the poet feels must happen if he is deserted. Either way it has more than a hint of emotional blackmail. But see note to line 6 below.

4. For it depends upon that love of thine.

it depends upon = it (my life) is controlled by, is subject to, is sustained by etc.

5. Then need I not to fear the worst of wrongs,

Then need I not = therefore I do not need;
the worst of wrongs - from the context of this and the preceding two sonnets we know that this worst of wrongs is the cessation of love and the casting aside of his love by the youth.

6. When in the least of them my life hath end.

in the least of them = as a result of the least of wrongs. Having said above that the withdrawal of love, the worst of wrongs, will cause him to die, it now seems slightly puzzling that the least of wrongs will have the same effect. The poet may be turning his attention to, or even satirising, the parlance of lovers, according to which even the least frown is enough to kill. Compare Rosalind's disclaimers to Orlando in As You Like It:
Ros. Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love.
Orl. I would not have my right Rosalind of this mind, for I protest her frown might kill me.
Ros. By this hand, it will not kill a fly. AYL.IV.1.101-5.

7. I see a better state to me belongs

better state = the condition of being a blessed soul in heaven.

8. Than that which on thy humour doth depend:

humour = whim, caprice; temperament. The word is used in the previous sonnet also.
depend also links to the line above, the conclusion here being that the speaker's current state of dependency is not all that desirable

9. Thou canst not vex me with inconstant mind,

vex = cause pain, trouble, harass;
inconstant mind = fickleness, faithlessness. There seems to be a verbal play on canst not and constant, one being an anagram of the other. Also perhaps a recall of sonnet 89, line 5,
Thou canst not, love, disgrace me half so ill,
which echoes this line.

10. Since that my life on thy revolt doth lie.

Since that = because;
revolt = turning away, betrayal.
doth lie = is dependent on.

11. O what a happy title do I find,

a happy title = a fortunate claim to possession (of you). 'Title' is a legal word, as in 'title deeds', 'title to the throne' etc. The phrase could also mean 'pleasing name (that of being your lover)'.

12. Happy to have thy love, happy to die!

The threefold repetition of 'happy', as KDJ points out, helps to obliterate the memory of the double wretchedness of the previous sonnet. The poet will either enjoy the love of the youth, or if it is denied him, he will die and become one of the blessed saints in heaven. There is also a sexual innuendo which by its levity helps to alleviate the impending gloom, since to have = to possess carnally, and to die = to have an orgasm. Often the most heart rending sonnets are lightened by a submerged tone of ribaldry, as if the speaker is also prepared to laugh at himself and the situation. It is interesting to note that this is one of the rare places in which the Q text uses an exclamation mark!

13. But what's so blessed-fair that fears no blot?

blessed-fair - abstract for concrete - 'a person who is beautiful and fortunate, and blessed with all good things in life'; 'anything that is fair and beautiful and blessed by heaven'.
blot = stain, blemish, moral fault; castigation for a moral failing. This is a word used relatively sparingly by Shakespeare. Nearly all the occurrences are in the early plays and poems. Of 37 places where blot or blots occurs, (mostly used as a noun), 6 are in the Rape of Lucrece, 4 in the sonnets, one in V&A, 24 from the earlier plays, and only two instances post dating 1600 (KL and Tim). I give below the three other examples from the sonnets. In the first it is used as a verb:

And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven: 28

So shall those blots that do with me remain 36

Where beauty's veil doth cover every blot, 95

The use of this word possibly does provide some indication of date of composition. It is however a notoriously difficult task to date the sonnets, and no one has done so successfully. Scholarly conjecture tends to put them between 1593 and 1599. The possibility of later revision for the 1609 publication adds further uncertainty.

14. Thou mayst be false, and yet I know it not.

Thou mayst be false - noticeably the construction could apply to the future, present, or past. The speaker does not know whether he is, has been, or will be rejected.
and yet = nevertheless; and still (I am in ignorance).

1. So shall I live, supposing thou art true,

Continuing from the previous sonnet, this line takes up the suggestion that the beloved might be false.
So shall I live etc. - It seems, therefore, that I will continue to live in the belief that etc. The statement however reads almost as if it were a question: 'Must I then continue to live, like a deceived husband whose faith is betrayed?'. The uncertainty of syntax mirrors the uncertainty of the poet. He does not know if the youth has rejected him, or if he is yet an outcast.

2. Like a deceived husband; so love's face

so love's face = the appearance of love (my love for you, love as it is experienced by many) may also etc. With the suggestion also that it is the beloved's face which could be false, even though it looks as fair as ever.

3. May still seem love to me, though altered new;

Your love for me will still seem to be the true love that it was before, even though in reality it will have changed.

4. Thy looks with me, thy heart in other place:

Thy looks with me = your loving glances, your appearance, and your behaviour, all seeming to approve me and indicating love towards me.
thy heart in other place = but your true feelings and inclinations turned towards others.

5. For there can live no hatred in thine eye,

Even if you did dislike me you appearance would not show it.
in thine eye = in your face.

6. Therefore in that I cannot know thy change.

in that = in any looks of hatred from you; (you may have changed towards me but your looks will not show that you have).
I cannot know thy change = I will be unable to tell if you have changed towards me.

7. In many's looks, the false heart's history

In many's looks = in the facial expression of most people.
the false heart's history = the record of emotional deception and betrayal.

8. Is writ in moods, and frowns, and wrinkles strange.

is writ in = is written as, is recorded by.
wrinkles strange = strange, untoward grimaces and twistings of the face.

9. But heaven in thy creation did decree

It was decreed by heaven at your birth.

10. That in thy face sweet love should ever dwell;

That your face would always be expressive of love; that love (Cupid, Venus, Eros) should always inhabit with you.

11. Whate'er thy thoughts, or thy heart's workings be,

Whate'er = whatever.
thy heart's workings = your inner thoughts and emotions. The heart, then as now, was often thought of as the seat of the emotions, especially in relation to love.

12. Thy looks should nothing thence, but sweetness tell.

Thy looks = your appearance, loving glances from you.
thence = coming from your heart.
tell = give an account of, record, count up.

13. How like Eve's apple doth thy beauty grow,

Eve's apple typified the object of fair appearance that was inwardly harmful or evil. Eating the fruit of the forbidden tree resulted in the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise and other evil consequences. According to Genesis, Eve was deceived by the serpent (the devil) and persuaded that by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree she would have knowledge of good and evil. The fruit was pleasant to look at, but the consequences of eating it were disastrous. See Genesis.3.6:
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Traditionally the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was thought to be an apple, and all paintings show it as such.

14. If thy sweet virtue answer not thy show!

virtue = inner essence, moral character. Also with a reference to behaviour and adherence to moral precepts.
answer not = does not correspond to.
thy show = your outward appearance, your outward behaviour, as distinct from your inner motivations.

1. They that have power to hurt, and will do none,

They that have power to hurt - the hurt which these people can do is presumably on an emotional and personal level, rather than physical, political, social, financial, or whatever. This seems to be confirmed by lines 3-4. HV however characterises the poem as working through 'a tone not of infatuation but of social reproof and moral authority' (p.406) and that the power of the aristocrat to do or not do as he pleases, whereas others of lower class do not have such freedom, is here criticised. Note that this phrase is the subject of a long opening sentence which extends from here to line 8.
and will do none = choose not to do any harm; deliberately do not harm.
none = no hurt, harm, injury, is inferred from the verb. Proverbially it was thought to be noble to have power to act and not to use that power. The Latin tag was posse et nolle, nobile.

2. That do not do the thing they most do show,

the thing they most do show - it is not clear what the thing is that these people most show. SB glosses it as 'what their appearance suggests they are most likely to do'. GBE gives 'that do not exercise the power that they so abundantly appear to possess', and thinks that it refers to physical beauty. KDJ thinks it might refer to sexual activity, since thoughts of such are provoked by the beauty of these people. JK gives a gloss similar to that of SB, but also adds the possibility that the stance described is hypocritical - 'who do not act in the way one is led to expect they will', 'who do one thing, while seeming to do another'. In this case 'the thing' which was threatened to be done may have been the abandonment by the youth of the poet, an abandonment which is prepared for and almost accepted as fact in 91-93. Here it may be that the abandonment is itself abandoned, or at least put on ice, for the poet seems to think that some lurking other motive or hidden corruption may yet be waiting in the future to destroy him. See the introductory note above for further points.

 

3. Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,

moving others - causing emotional upheaval in others? stirring others to action?
are themselves as stone - generally in Shakespeare being 'as stone' was pejorative. Cf.
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!
Oh you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome. JC.I.1.36-7.
And:
My heart has turned to stone. I strike it and it hurts my hand. Oth.IV.1.179-80.
See also comments on the next line.

4. Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow;

These attributes are usually seen as unflattering, for even the virtue of being slow to respond to temptation can be interpreted in a harsh light, as being evidence of an unfeeling heart. A possibly illuminating insight into the type of character alluded to here is Caesar's description of himself shortly before being downed by the conspirators:
I could be well moved if I were as you:
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me;
But I am constant as the Northern Star,
Of whose true fixed and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament. JC.III.1.58-62.
Caesar evidently thought much of himself, but Shakespeare's portrayal of him at this point in the play is obviously critical.

5. They rightly do inherit heaven's graces,

This line reverses the reader's negative attitude to those described, for it invokes the tradition of the beatitudes in which heaven's blessing is foretold for those who are meek and merciful. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matt.5.5. Not that one would assume that in the cold deference of an aristocrat, if that is what is being described, there is anything praiseworthy in a Christian sense, but the mere echoing of these words from the Gospels forces one to reappraise the situation in a more favourable light.

rightly = as of right, justly, appropriately.
inherit = receive as a possession; possess. As in Lear:
But to the girdle do the gods inherit KL.IV.6.125

heaven's graces = the blessings of heaven.

6. And husband nature's riches from expense;

husband ... from = use sparingly, manage with care and economy, protect.
nature's riches = the youth's beauty?; the richness and abundance of nature?
expense = waste, extravagance, ruin. This and the next two lines are puzzling. It is not at all clear what nature's riches are and how those 'who have power' prevent them from being wasted, especially as they are described as having hearts of stone. If the beauty of the youth is referred to as typifying nature's riches, then it would seem that such a one preserves it by not using it, or only using it sparingly. But how does one 'use' beauty, or how, in defiance of this, could one be profligate with it? Is the implication simply that such a pretender does not give himself wholeheartedly to sexual license, but husbands himself from overuse? Or does the phrase refer generally to the wealth and diversity of nature which the powerful of this world control in some way? Thus giving the somewhat diffuse meaning 'They employ the abundant gifts of nature which are bestowed upon them thoughtfully, economically, and with an eye to prudent management. I.e. they look after their own interests first and foremost.'

7. They are the lords and owners of their faces,

This line is generally taken to mean 'They exercise perfect self-control'. However there is a suggestion of hypocrisy, in being not what one seems superficially. They (these lords who have power to hurt) control their faces to present to the world an image by which they wish to be known, but underneath their motives are deeply suspect.

8. Others, but stewards of their excellence.

Another troublesome line. The antecedent of their is either they of the previous line, or stewards of this line. Thus, the others (the other people of this world) are mere accessories to those who are lords and owners of their faces, serving them in a menial capacity, and helping them to make use of nature's riches (with a possible play on the word 'excellence' as a term of address, i.e. his excellence, your excellency, etc.). Or, others who have nature's gifts are not in control of those gifts, but merely administer them as if they were stewards. Steward is used in its old sense of household manager, or as OED.1.a. defines it: 'An official who controls the domestic affairs of a household, supervising the service of his master's table, directing the domestics, and regulating household expenditure; a major-domo'.

9. The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,

The poet considers another analogy. Perhaps these people are like flowers, their life and justification being in themselves. They do not require external approbation, any more than a flower does. Even so a flower contributes to the summer's sweetness. In the same way these lordly faces are sweet to humanity by their mere existence.

10. Though to itself, it only live and die,

This suggests a self-directed and selfish existence. The flower is indifferent to all other things that live and to all events that occur around it, living, blooming and dying in solitary splendour. KDJ notes an echo here from Paul's Epistle to the Romans:
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live we live unto the Lord, and whether we die we die unto the Lord. Rom.14.7-8.
Perhaps as relevant is the implication of virginal aloofness, as in the reference to a nun's life in Midsummer Night's Dream:
But earthlier happy is the rose distilled,
Than that which withering on the virgin thorn
Grows, lives and dies in single blessedness. MND.I.1.76-8.

11. But if that flower with base infection meet,

The poet still worries that all is not as it seems. His love is a beautiful flower, one who has inherited nature's wealth, a lord and owner of all he surveys, but underneath that fine exterior he may be corrupt. This has been the leitmotif of the previous three sonnets, the next two, and indeed of some earlier ones (e.g. 69-70). It is therefore no surprise to find that the image of a flower brings in its train the image of disease and decay.

12. The basest weed outbraves his dignity:

The basest weed = the most lowly plant.
outbraves = puts on a more splendid display, outvies, outshines.
his dignity = the flower's dignified appearance and splendour. Note however that 'weeds' also meant garments, so there is a secondary meaning of 'the basest garments would outdo him in splendour (if he were corrupt)'.

13. For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;

This is apparently proverbial, based on the Latin optima corrupta pessima which translates as 'the best things, when corrupted, become the worst'. Plus another proverb which runs 'What is sweet in the mouth is oft sour in the maw'. The latter is obviously closer to the sweet/sour contrast which Shakespeare enjoys. There are other uses of it in the plays, as, for example: Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour. R2 I.3. which sounds almost proverbial. But it is the bitter-sweet of love which especially makes it appropriate to the Sonnets, and there are two other occasions where Shakespeare points the contrast between the supposed sweetness of the beloved and the sourness of reality:

That I an accessary needs must be
To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me. 35

Were it not thy sour leisure gave sweet leave
To entertain the time with thoughts of love, 39

By their deeds - It is noticeable however that no deeds have been imputed to the persons depicted here. Such deeds as are mentioned are only those of potential, or of inaction, although one suspects that emotional betrayal is really what is hinted at, as in 33-5, 40-2 etc.

14. Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds.

This could mean either that lilies when they fester smell far worse than weeds when they fester, or that lilies festering smell far worse than weeds, festering or not. Shakespeare seems to think that weeds had a bad smell in any case, as in Sonnet 69:
To thy fair flower add the rank smell of weeds.
There are some weeds which have a notoriously powerful smell, Black Horehound or Stinking Roger, for example. The literal truth of the foul smell of rotting lilies seems to be universally accepted. SB assures us that anyone who has been around a church after Easter will know it for a fact. But it is more for its dramatic and metaphoric content that it is here used, since the fairest flowers are expected to be fair in every sense, and never to smell foul.
fester = rot, decay,putrefy. Lilies are not especially noted for their perfume, but we should also remember that Elizabethan lilies might have differed considerably from modern varieties. The mention of lilies so soon after the reference to the summer flower that to itself only lives and dies brings to mind the biblical echo from the Sermon on the Mount:
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Matt.6.28-9.
The biblical 'lily of the field' was without doubt a wild flower, perhaps like our Loddon lily. The flowers I show here are exotic varieties.

The line is also known from 'The Reign of King Edward the Third', a play published anonymously as a Quarto edition in 1596. Shakespeare and Marlowe have been put forward as candidate authors for various parts of it. There is no doubt that some of it is thematically related to the Sonnets. JK gives the fullest readily available account of the points of contact and similarity. (Sonnets & A Lover's Complaint, Penguin, 1995, pp.293-5.) It is impossible to say which way the flow of influence ran, but it is clear that Shakespeare either wrote parts of it, or knew the play well.

1. How sweet and lovely dost thou make the shame

the shame - precisely what the shame is is not specified, but references to wantoness in the next sonnet and deception in 92 and 93 imply that sexual appetite and a disposition to roam are the heart of the problem.

2. Which, like a canker in the fragrant rose,

canker = worm or maggot which destroys the bud; a disease which causes premature rotting. The canker which attacks roses is particularly damaging in that it does not reveal itself until the bud opens, when the flower is found to be already rotted within. In 35 and 70 the poet also uses the canker image in connection with sexual profligacy, prodigality or aberration, and its consequences.

No more be grieved at that which thou hast done:
Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;
Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,
And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud. 35

So thou be good, slander doth but approve
Thy worth the greater, being woo'd of time;
For canker vice the sweetest buds doth love,
And thou present'st a pure unstained prime. 70

The fragrant rose is the epitome of all things beautiful, as in the earlier procreation sonnets, 1-20, and it stands here for the youth and his beauty. The Q text capitalises the initial letter, but does not italicise it, as in Sonn.1.

 

3. Doth spot the beauty of thy budding name!

Doth spot - this continues the idea of a stain, blot, blemish or disease, introduced in the couplet of 92, then continued with Eve's apple, the festering lilies and here expanded as an image of canker in rosebuds. The 'blot' imagery is reinforced in line 11.

thy budding name = you, who are still in the prime of youth; you, whose reputation (name) is still in its infancy (budding), and therefore in danger of being corrupted.

4. O! in what sweets dost thou thy sins enclose.

sweets = sweet things (appearance, grace, beauty, lively character etc.)
enclose = shut in, hide; disguise.

5. That tongue that tells the story of thy days,

That tongue that tells = whoever might choose to tell;
the story of thy days = the record of your life. Compare for example:

..........For Brutus' tongue
Hath almost ended his life's history. JC.V.5.39-40.

6. Making lascivious comments on thy sport,

This line recalls
Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows, 40.
The lascivious comments presumably are those made by his friends commenting on the youth's sexual prowess. Compare also:
While comments of your praise, richly compiled,
Reserve their character with golden quill 85.
comments were expository treatises, or commentaries; or remarks and criticisms (OED 1 & 2a.). In this case the latter meaning is evident.

sport = wantonness, sexual delights and escapades.

7. Cannot dispraise, but in a kind of praise;

The subject of this line is that tongue of line 5. The dispraise presumably would involve mention of the youth's vices, but merely mentioning him is itself a form of praise, and wipes out the evil reputation which would otherwise follow from his vicious conduct.

8. Naming thy name blesses an ill report.

an ill report = a damning account of your activities. Modern punctuation tends to isolate this line, making it into a sort of summary of the previous three lines. The Q punctuation tends more towards the meaning 'Any tongue that speaks of you cannot dispraise you, but merely by citing your name it praises you and thus gives grace and elegance to what would otherwise be a damaging account of you'.

9. O! what a mansion have those vices got

those vices - the shame of line 1, and the sport of line 6.

10. Which for their habitation chose out thee,

chose - although Q has chose, I suspect that choose is equally probable, on the analogy of loose and lose, (see line 14) which are indeterminate in spelling. choose would preserve the immediacy and urgency of the present tenses of doth cover, turns, can see, as well as have got, which equates to 'do possess'. On the other hand the past tense suggests an ingrained vice, a disposition to be wanton, which perhaps the poet also wishes to imply, so that both chose and choose are equally valid.

11. Where beauty's veil doth cover every blot

blot echoes the use of the word in 92:
But what's so blessed-fair that fears no blot?
and also recalls the canker that spots the youth's beauty in line 3. blots are caused by the shames and vices of the youth's sexual escapades, in the same way that sin is envisaged as staining the immortal soul. Perhaps also a reference to the physical decay caused by syphilis.

12. And all things turns to fair that eyes can see!

turns - the subject appears to be beauty's veil, which converts everything, including the stain of vice, to a fair appearance. However all things could also be the subject, as third person plurals ending in 's' were not uncommon. turns would then be an intransitive verb, the meaning being that 'all things connected with you become fair and beautiful, whatever the circumstances'.
that eyes can see - while this ostensibly refers to all things, it is more like a sting in the tail, and undermines the glory of the outward appearance with the suggestion of a gnawing canker which is destroying all inwardly, a canker which is all the more destructive for being unseen.

13. Take heed, dear heart, of this large privilege;

Take heed = beware, be careful, take warning.
large privilege = extensive freedom, unrestricted permit to be licentious (because criticism has no force, and becomes mere praise). large has the meaning of 'at large, unrestricted'. Compare:
To tie up envy evermore enlarged 70.
dear heart - the personal note softens the edge of the otherwise harsh criticism, and implies by its intimacy that the speaker has the right to offer advice.

14. The hardest knife ill-used doth lose his edge.

Possibly proverbial. Frequent use of anything makes it less efficacious.
ill used = badly used, maltreated.
his edge = its sharpness. Contains also some bawdy innuendo, similar to that in Hamlet:
OPH. You are keen, my Lord.
HAM. It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge. Ham.III.2.244-5.

Note also the simile used in line 4 of the opening Quatrain of 52, and see the note thereon.
So am I as the rich, whose blessed key
Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure,
The which he will not every hour survey,
For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure. (Sonnet 52)

1. Some say thy fault is youth, some wantonness;

The fault discussed here is no doubt the same as that of the previous sonnet, where shame and vices are mentioned. The question seems to be whether or not sexual profligacy (wantonness) is merely a graceful quality and forgivable pastime of the young man, or, on the contrary, a serious blemish on his character. The sonnet works through a series of contrasts and opposites, fault and grace, youth and libertinism, lamb and wolf , errors and truth. Strictly speaking it is not clear how 'youth' itself can be a fault, other than in the sense that, through lack of experience, young people are prone to error. One should therefore perhaps read it as meaning 'Some say your faults are due to your youth, others say that they are due to your natural wanton and lascivious disposition'.

wantonness = sensuality, libertinism, sexual profligacy, lascivious behaviour. This is the only use of the word in the Sonnets, although somehow one builds up the impression that it is used more frequently. This is probably due to the concern with hidden faults hinted at in 91-6 and elsewhere, which has convinced us that there is a festering evil lurking hidden inside the soul of the young man. wanton and wantonly are used in 97 and 54

The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye
As the perfumed tincture of the roses,
Hang on such thorns and play as wantonly 54

The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,
Bearing the wanton burden of the prime, 97

In the plays wantonness is used seven times, of which the example below is typical.

Pardon me, wife. Henceforth do what thou wilt;
I rather will suspect the sun with cold
Than thee with wantonness MW.IV.4.6-8.

2. Some say thy grace is youth and gentle sport;

Lines 1 and 2 run partly in parallel, since some say thy fault is youth is echoed directly by some say thy grace is youth. Although both lines, on first reading, seem to convey a simple meaning, on examination it is less easy to be specific as to what that meaning is. Thus broadly one might paraphrase the lines as 'Some people say that your youthful amours are faults, others say that all that you do is graceful and a sign of youthful exuberance'.
gentle sport = youthful dalliance and sexual licence, such as becomes a gentleman. Possibly a reference to aristocratic sports, such as hawking.

3. Both grace and faults are lov'd of more and less:

Both grace and faults - i.e. whether your youthfulness may be described as gracefulness or wantonness, it is loved etc. grace refers both to gracefulness (of person, behaviour etc.) and virtue.

more and less = the noble and not so noble; all and sundry. As in

Now when the lords and barons of the realm
Perceived Northumberland did lean to him,
The more and less came in with cap and knee; 1H4.IV.3.66-8.

For where there is advantage to be given,
Both more and less have given him the revolt, Mac.V.4.21-2.

4. Thou mak'st faults graces that to thee resort.

Any faults that you have you seem to convert to graces. The ostensible meaning is 'You turn all faults into graces (virtues) that throng around you'. But there is also a subsidiary meaning of 'You convert all graces that happen to resort to you into faults', a rather disturbing criticism of the youth, suggesting complete depravity.

5. As on the finger of a throned queen

throned - pronounced thronéd. throned queen - probably a general reference to royalty, but Elizabeth I is known to have been passionately fond of jewellery. She may have been alive when this was written (she died in 1603). She was also renowned for her long, delicate fingers.

6. The basest jewel will be well esteem'd,

basest = most humble, most indifferent.
well esteemed = highly valued.

7. So are those errors that in thee are seen

errors = faults, sins, wanderings away from virtue. (From the Latin word errare, to wander).

8. To truths translated, and for true things deem'd.

translated = changed, metamorphosed.
and for true things deemed = and taken to be truths and virtues.

9. How many lambs might the stern wolf betray,

The reference is general, both to the wolf as the destroyer of the flock, as found in many stories, allegories and fables, and to the biblical wolf in sheep's clothing, the false prophet who leads the faithful astray.
stern = fierce, cruel.
betray = trick, deceive.

10. If like a lamb he could his looks translate!

If he could transform his looks into the likeness of a lamb.

11. How many gazers mightst thou lead away,

gazers = those who gaze in wonder on your beauty.
lead away - i.e. as lambs to the slaughter. Or perhaps the similarity to lead astray causes the suggestion to be made of being led into temptation and sin.

12. If thou wouldst use the strength of all thy state!

If thou wouldst use = if you decided to use. Hinting perhaps at the restraint or coldness described in 94. Whereas the wolf cannot transform himself, the youth may if he wishes make use of his powers to entrap and deceive (and seduce) the unwary.
of all thy state = of your full attractiveness and worth. The word state however suggests aristocratic power and honour, as in 'royal state'.

13. But do not so, I love thee in such sort,

The closing couplet is identical to that used in 36. It is not possible to ascertain if the choice was deliberate, or a printer's error. The situations which evolve in the two poems are different. In 36 a separation is acknowledged as inevitable, and the two must refrain from honouring each other in open friendship. Here the couplet is used to urge the youth not to blemish his reputation by indulging in immoral behaviour. The fact that the next sonnet, 97, deals also with separation, but in a past sense, and seems to be looking back on it after a reunion, may make the couplet apposite as an echo of 36, where the separation was still in the future. See the notes to Sonnet 36.

in such sort = in such a way, with such intensity.

14. As thou being mine, mine is thy good report.

As thou being mine = since you and I are one. This was traditional for lovers, especially in sonnets, and has already been established earlier on in the sequence.
mine is thy good report = your good reputation is also mine, and vice versa.

 

1. How like a winter hath my absence been

a winter - to a large extent the seasonal descriptions here are metaphoric, illustrative of the soul's dark winter, but using the imagery of an actual winter to enhance the effect.
absence = separation, time of being away.

2. From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!

From thee - One expects this to be the fresh start of a new line, especially as all the other lines of the poem are end stopped. But the fact that it is so clearly a continuation of an unfinished first line, and forces itself upon ones consciousness as if it were an afterthought more important than the forethought, seems to emphasise the absence of the beloved, and emphasises the thee of the sonnet, the beloved to whom it is addressed, as if his presence after the freezing winter suddenly makes itself felt as a new spring and summer.

the pleasure of the fleeting year = you who make the swiftly passing year pleasurable; you who are all that is a source of pleasure in the passing year. fleeting year - perhaps the overall swiftness of the year is contrasted with the apparent endlessness of the cold and barren winter.

3. What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!

Because of his separation from his beloved, he has felt the days to be freezing and dark, like winter days. His soul is frostbitten and plunged in the darkness of winter.

4. What old December's bareness everywhere!

old December - probably suggested by the fact that the year was considered old by the time the last months came round. We still see out the old year, and let in the new. Compare also:

Sir, the year growing ancient, not yet on summer's death, Nor on the birth of trembling winter. WT.IV.4.79-80.

5. And yet this time removed was summer's time;

this time removed = the time which has only recently passed, (in which you and I were separated). A time separated from the present time (See OED.2.b.).

6. The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,

the teeming autumn = fruitful autumn. to teem is to give birth (often prolifically), to spawn, to be potentially very fruitful. Cf.:
This blessed plot, this earth, this Realm, this England,
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal Kings. R2.II.1.51-2.
The following images all suggest a vast burgeoning of nature's resources. big = pregnant, swollen as a result of being pregnant. To be big with (or big of) child was a common expression,

 

.................and his gentle lady,
Big of this gentleman our theme, deceased
As he was born. Cym.I.1.38-40.

rich increase = abundant progeny. There are many uses of 'increase' (as a noun) recorded in connection with multiplication of plants or animals by breeding. (See OED 2.c, 6.) See also the song in the Tempest:

Earthes increase, Foison plenty,
 Barns and Garners never empty. Tem.IV.1.110-1.

Since summer of the previous line seems to be described here, it is clear that summer in this poem covers the entire period of warm weather from late spring to harvest time.

 

7. Bearing the wanton burden of the prime,

Bearing = carrying, as when pregnant. Giving birth. The two meanings overlap.
the wanton burden = the burden of pregnancy caused by former wantonness and profligacy.
the prime = the springtime.

8. Like widow'd wombs after their lords' decease:

widowed wombs = wombs of women who have been widowed after they have conceived.
after their lord's decease = after their husband's have died. In Shakespeare's time lord often was equivalent to husband, and it is still current in the phrase 'my lord and master'. (OED.4.) Cf.:
Tell these head-strong women
What duty they doe owe their lords and husbands. TS.V.2.131-2.
Shakespeare also uses 'lord and master' in Lear:
...........Witness the world, that I create thee here
My lord and master. KL.V.3.78-9.

Nevertheless the use of the term here is suggestive of aristocratic widowhood, for which the mourning would be more sumptuous and extravagant than for an ordinary loss. The only other two occasions on which 'lord' is used in the sonnets are in contexts of aristocratic deference.

Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage 26

They are the lords and owners of their faces,
Others but stewards of their excellence. 94

9. Yet this abundant issue seemed to me

abundant issue = plenteous and overflowing fruit, birth, production etc. The typical symbol of the autumn was the cornucopia, a horn overflowing with fruit and flowers and all the wealth of the harvest.

10. But hope of orphans, and unfathered fruit;

orphans - a child who had lost only one parent was also called an orphan.
unfathered = having lost a father.
fruit = offspring. The double image of autumn's increase and the birth of children is blended into one.

11. For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,

summer and his pleasures - summer is personified here, perhaps as a reveller, perhaps as a god of plenty, with courtiers (pleasures) and other maskers and revellers. The typical classical image was that of Bacchus and his attendant revellers. his = its.

wait on thee = are your servants, wait for your commands, attend on you. With a suggestion also of 'wait for you to return', otherwise they cannot be merry and enjoy the bounteous summer.

12. And, thou away, the very birds are mute:

thou away = you being away, you being absent.
the very birds are mute = even the birds are silent. The reality is that birds do not sing much in the autumn, a fact mentioned in Sonnet 102
As Philomel in summer's front doth sing
And stops her pipe in growth of riper days,
but the poetic fiction here demands that the birds stop singing, or seem to stop singing, because the beloved youth is absent.

13. Or, if they sing, 'tis with so dull a cheer,

'tis with so dull a cheer = they sing in such dull, drab and gloomy tones. Originally cheer meant face, then expression of the face. Hence disposition, frame of mind. (OED.1,2a.).

14. That leaves look pale, dreading the winter's near.

leaves look pale - the leaves turn pale with fear, knowing that they must soon fall off and die. The suggestion is of a premature winter, which will strip the trees bare, and return to the bareness and barrenness of 'old December'.
the winter's near = that the winter is near. Possibly 'the nearness of winter'.

1. From you have I been absent in the spring,

The description of the pain of absence continues, but here the season described is spring rather than the summer of the previous sonnet. However spring turns into summer in line 7, and the joyousness of the season of growth and burgeoning flowers is what is intended.

2. When proud pied April, dressed in all his trim,

proud pied = resplendently variegated. Pride and the adjective proud are often used in descriptions of rich clothing. As in
Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now, 2.
and elsewhere in the Sonnets (52, 64, 91, 104). Many editions give proud-pied but the hyphen is not in Q and does not appear to be necessary. The word pied, meaning dappled, variegated, is rarely used nowadays, except in compound names (see below). There are three other occurrences of it in Shakespeare, the following being the most famous and apposite:

When daisies pied and violets blue
And lady-smocks all silver-white
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight, LLL.V.2.904-7.

Some glossaries give the meaning as 'motley-coated, wearing the motley coat of a jester' but it is uncertain what the coat of a jester in Shakespeare's day looked like. Pied is still found in many bird and animal names, as pied wagtail, pied fly-catcher, pied-wolf, where it means streaked or iridescent or variegated. The magpie was in former times known simply as the 'pie'.

3. Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing,

a spirit of youth = the essence of youth, youthful vigour. Compare:

O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soe'er,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute TN.I.1.9-14.
There is possibly a bawdy innuendo in spirit. See Sonnet 129 line 1.

4. That heavy Saturn laughed and leapt with him.

heavy Saturn = the gloomy God of dearth and winter. In astrology the planet Saturn was the tutelary deity of the melancholy humour, and governed those of a gloomy, sour and heavy temperament. He was also associated with old age.

5. Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell

the lays of birds = bird song. a lay is 'a short lyric or narrative poem intended to be sung'. (OED.n.4.1.). It has been applied poetically to bird song since at least the 14th cent.

6. Of different flowers in odour and in hue,

different - the word seems to apply to 'sweet smell', 'flowers' and 'in odour and in hue'. hue = colour, appearance. See Sonn 20.

7. Could make me any summer's story tell,

summer's story = happy account or tale. A winter's tale by a fireside was proverbial, but the summer's story seems to have been Shakespeare's invention. Summer and winter, April and December, warmth and freezings, happiness and sorrow are continually thrown into contrast in these two sonnets. Inevitably this finds echoes in other of Shakespeares works, such as The Passionate Pilgrim:

Crabbed age and youth cannot live together:
Youth is full of pleasaunce, age is full of care,
Youth like summer morn, age like winter weather;
Youth like summer brave, age like winter bare PP.12.

Rosalind in As You Like It wittily contrasts the state of mind of the sexes before and after marriage. She also chooses April and December as being the two months most typical of sweetness and harshness:

No, no, Orlando; men are April when they woo, December when they wed: maids are May when they are maids, but the sky changes when they are wives. AYL.IV.1.

8. Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew:

their proud lap - the lap of the earth, in which the flowers grow. i.e. 'I was not sufficiently moved by the songs of birds or the beauty of the flowers of spring to feel inspired to pick a bunch of them'.

9. Nor did I wonder at the lily's white,

white - this could be adjectival, as in 'white lilies'; or it could be a substantive, as in 'the whiteness of the lily or lilies'.

10. Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose;

deep vermillion = a deep, rich crimson colour.

11. They were but sweet, but figures of delight,

They - the white of the lily and the vermilion of the rose, or possibly the flowers themselves.
but = only, merely.
sweet = sweet, pleasant objects; the epitome of sweetness.
figures of delight = delightful patterns or preliminary sketches, or full scale drawings. Shakespeare's use of figure and its compounds in the Sonnets is probably relevant here.

If ten of thine ten times refigured thee: 6

Ah! yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand,
Steal from his figure and no pace perceived; 104

So all their praises are but prophecies
Of this our time, all you prefiguring; 106

What's in the brain that ink may character
Which hath not figured to thee my true spirit? 108

Sonnet 104 is the only other one to use figure as a noun, where it means either 'number on the clock face', or, because of the context, 'your (the beloved's) appearance'. Here, however, the subsequent line seems to confirm that a drawing, or outline, or sketch, or full picture is intended. It is also apparent that the Neo-Platonic concepts of the ideal form and its copy are being referred to. The individual roses and lilies are only copies of an ideal original, they are figures drawn from an original pattern which is perfect in every respect. In this case the beloved is the pattern from which the figures (copies) are drawn.

figures of delight seems to echo the line in the song from Love's Labours Lost already quoted in the note to line 2 above:
Do paint the meadows with delight,
The entire sonnet is imbued with the contrast between winter and spring or summer.

12. Drawn after you, you pattern of all those.

drawn after you = copied, taking you as the model. For the thought see the note above. Sonnet 53 outlines the philosophical concepts, derived from Plato, that are used again here:

What is your substance, whereof are you made,
That millions of strange shadows on you tend?
Since every one hath, every one, one shade,
And you, but one, can every shadow lend. 53

substance above corresponds to pattern in this sonnet and shadow to figure.

13. Yet seemed it winter still, and you away,

Yet seemed it winter still = Yet it appeared that it was still the winter season. still however could be adjectival, the meaning being 'silent, unmoving, barren winter'.
you away = you being absent.

14. As with your shadow I with these did play.

shadow - see note to lines 11-12.
to play with has sexual overtones, as also do the words proud, spirit, leapt, pluck. But the crowding in of other images more or less makes such hints inactive.

1. The forward violet thus did I chide:

forward = early; presumptuous, over-bold. Violets are a flower of early spring, found in copses and on roadsides. Anne Pratt (Wild Flowers, London 1852) records that it was cultivated in great quantities at Stratford-upon-Avon for medicinal purposes. (See illustration above).

2. Sweet thief, whence didst thou steal thy sweet that smells,

Sweet thief - The same phrase was used for the youth himself in Sonnet 35. (See introductory note above).
thy sweet = your sweetness, your perfume.The violet was noted for its perfume.

3. If not from my love's breath? The purple pride

the purple pride - the word purple covered a range of colours from scarlet to crimson and magenta. The colour was associated with imperial garments in the court of Rome and elsewhere. Hence purple pride means something like 'glorious purple, imperial glory'.

4. Which on thy soft cheek for complexion dwells

thy soft cheek - i.e. the petals of the violet, here described as if they were cheeks of its face.
for complexion dwells = makes up its colour; covers it as a cosmetic

5. In my love's veins thou hast too grossly dy'd.

The violet is accused of acquiring its colour by dipping itself in the youth's veins, and dying its petals with his blood.

6. The lily I condemned for thy hand,

I passed sentence on the lily for assimilating your hand.
condemned indicates some judicial action of assigning punishment, and because of the thefts mentioned in lines 2, 5, 7, 10 and 15 we tend to interpret this line in that light. A theft has occurred (the whiteness and beauty of the youth's hand) and the lily deserves condemnation.
The final ed of condemned is pronounced.

7. And buds of marjoram had stol'n thy hair;

buds of marjoram - it is unclear how these resemble locks of hair, but perhaps the buds and curling leaves of the marjoram suggest curly straying hair and its fragrance the fragrance of the youth's hair. It is uncertain which species of marjoram is referred to. Gerard's Herbal of 1597 describes Sweet Marjoram as being of a whitish colour, with white scaly flowers, and of a wonderful fragrance. The fragrance may be appropriate, but the white flowers and leaves as patterns of the youth's beauty are surely not. I have not been able to find a suitable illustration of a marjoram plant which would resolve this conundrum.

8. The roses fearfully on thorns did stand,

on thorns did stand - to stand on thorns is a phrase meaning 'to be consumed with anxiety'. Here it also has the more conventional meaning of being attached to a stem with thorns on it. The roses, aware of their guilt, are trembling in anticipation of being condemned.

9. One blushing shame, another white despair;

blushing shame - i.e. showing red, as if it were blushing. The other one which blushes white despair obviously just shows that colour. It has been objected that whiteness is not the colour of blushing, but evidently one does not look for mathematical exactitude in a poem and readers do not seem to have much difficulty in interpreting the line. The rose has turned pale with despair. The shame and despair are the result of guilt from the theft.

10. A third, nor red nor white, had stol'n of both,

nor red nor white = neither white nor red. I.e. pink, or perhaps a variegated rose.
both = both colours.

11. And to his robbery had annexed thy breath;

to his robbery = in addition to the robbery, in addition to the booty obtained by the robbery.
annexed = seized as its own property. OED.3. gives for annex 'to add as an additional part to existing possessions' and gives the following example from 1534: tr. Polyd. Verg., Eng. Hist. (1846) I. 57 Julius Cæsar annexed Brittaine to the Romaine emperie.

breath - evidently for its perfume.

12. But, for his theft, in pride of all his growth

in pride of all his growth = while it was in the full vigour of its growth, when it was fully in flower.

13. A vengeful canker eat him up to death.

vengeful - the canker is possibly envisaged as avenging the crime commited by the rose, and the idea draws on the tradition of divine vengeance. 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay', saith the Lord'. The rose therefore suffers the vengeance of natural justice by having a canker worm devour it.
eat him up = ate him. The past tense of 'eat' was also 'eat'.
up to death = completely, destructively, causing death.

14. More flowers I noted, yet I none could see,

The closing couplet is rather weak, although perhaps not noticeably more so than that of many other sonnets. It ties in with lines 9-10 of Constable's sonnet shown above.

1. Where art thou Muse that thou forget'st so long,

Muse = the goddess of lyric poetry. According to ancient Greek tradition, there were nine Muses, all female, who inspired poets, each one devoted to a particular branch of poetry. References to them in Elizabethan literature are commonplace and conventional. (See for example Sidney's Astrophel and Stella No 3.) No serious belief in them is implied. Here the term is used in a general sense as a personification of poetic inspiration, the divine afflatus or breath which supposedly wafted itself into the poet's inflamed mind.

2. To speak of that which gives thee all thy might?

that which gives thee all thy might - i.e. the youth, and the poet's love for him, which is the entire substance of his poetry, as in Sonnet 76:

O, know, sweet love, I always write of you,
And you and love are still my argument; 76.

And see line 8 below.

3. Spend'st thou thy fury on some worthless song,

Spend'st thou = Are you determined to expend, waste and squander? fury = poetic inspiration. See the note to line 11 of Sonnet17:

So should my papers yellow'd with their age
Be scorn'd like old men of less truth than tongue,
And your true rights be term'd a poet's rage
And stretched metre of an antique song.

The fury or rage is the furor poeticus of poetic inspiration, which was considered to be similar to the divine inspiration experienced by seers and vates. The 'worthless songs' could of course be Shakespeare's plays, or whatever else he had been writing during the period of silence referred to. According to the love conventions of sonneteering, anything unconnected with the beloved was worthless.

4. Darkening thy power to lend base subjects light?

darkening = clouding over, lessening, obfuscating, clogging up.

thy power = your poetic gift, your inspired creations.

base subjects = vulgar themes, unworthy topics. But since the word base was often used to mean 'base born, of humble social status', there is inevitably a suggestion that the beloved is of high birth, and worthy of a poet's dedication, instead of which the speaker has debased himself and given his attentions to creatures not worthy to be noticed.

to lend base subjects light = to throw the spotlight on inferior persons, things.

5. Return forgetful Muse, and straight redeem,

straight = immediately, at once; as is just and right.
redeem = i.e make atonement for (OED.9). Also perhaps with the sense of make payment for, as one redeems a pledge from a pawnbroker. The poet has pawned his love of the youth for more trivial pursuits.

6. In gentle numbers time so idly spent;

gentle numbers = soothing, graceful verse. The musical and rhythmical quality of poetry conferred on it sometimes the apellations of 'song' or 'numbers', or 'lays', as in the next line.

7. Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem

thy lays = your poems. 'Lay' is an old world for a poem recited by a minstrel. See the note on the lays of birds in Sonnet 98.
esteem = value, admire, treat according to their worth.

8. And gives thy pen both skill and argument.

thy pen = your writing, your verse.
skill = technical ability in verse and writing.
argument = subject matter. This corresponds to subjects in line 4.

9. Rise, resty Muse, my love's sweet face survey,

resty = sluggish, unmoving, desirous of rest. A rare word in Shakespeare, used by him only here and in Cymbeline:

.......................................weariness
Can snore upon the flint, when resty sloth
Finds the down pillow hard. Cym.III.6.

The poet accuses his Muse of laziness and sloth in not promoting the praise of the beloved youth, and suggests that it is time that she stirred herself and looked once again in the youth's face, from which all inspiration derives.

10. If Time have any wrinkle graven there;

Time - Time is here personified and accused of various acts of disfigurement and destruction.
graven = engraved, carved. Old age brings wrinkles to the face, especially to the forehead, a frequent theme in the Sonnets, e.g. 63

Against my love shall be, as I am now,
With Time's injurious hand crush'd and o'er-worn;
When hours have drain'd his blood and fill'd his brow
With lines and wrinkles...

11. If any, be a satire to decay,

If any = if there are any wrinkles there;
be a satire to decay = make fun of, ridicule the processes of decay and ageing.
a satire - a poem in which prevailing vices or follies are held up to ridicule. (OED.I.1.a.). The chief examples current in Elizabethan England were from classical literature, the two Latin poets, Horace and Juvenal, both of whom were well known and formed part of the school curriculum of the day.

12. And make Time's spoils despised every where.

spoils = 1. booty, spoils of war, in the sense that Time takes possession of the things he destroys as if they were seized by him in open warfare; 2. despoliation, destruction, destructive activity.
despised - pronounced despisèd. Strictly speaking, since everything decays, Time's spoils are in effect the whole world, the entire universe, which clearly the poet would not wish us to despise. Rather it is Time's actions, seizing on all these things, which we are invited to loathe and despise.

13. Give my love fame faster than Time wastes life,

Give my love fame - the Muse is still being addressed. 'Inspire my poetry so that it gives fame to my love'.
faster than Time wastes life - i.e. let my verse renew him more rapidly than time causes him to waste and decay. A similar thought of the power of verse to halt the debilitating and corrosive work of Time is found previously in Sonnet 15:

And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.

14. So thou prevent'st his scythe and crooked knife.

So thou prevent'st = in order that you might prevent; in hope that you might at the very least prevent; provided that you at least prevent.

prevent'st - Some editors prefer prevene'st, from the verb prevene, to prevent or forestall. See GBE p.209 for the main arguments against it.

scythe - see the illustration below. Time and Death were both often depicted carrying scythes with which to reap the harvest of mortal lives. crooked knife = a knife with a curving blade, or, a knife used for malignant purposes. Both scythes and sickles had curved blades.

 

Scythe and reaping hook (or sickle), from a manuscript of circa 1350. They would have looked much the same in Shakespeare's day, for designs of these tools remained unchanged for centuries. They have been gradually superceded, over the last 120 years, by the spread of mechanisation.

1. O truant Muse what shall be thy amends

truant Muse - the original meaning of 'truant' is rogue, knave, vagabond, a sturdy beggar, an idle rascal (OED.1 & 2.a). Here it could be either a noun or an adjective, and its meaning is probably defined by neglect in the following line. The Muse has neglected her duty (of praising the youth) as a truant neglects his duty to society, or by missing school. There is also a secondary meaning of 'being unfaithful', as in:
'Tis double wrong, to truant with your bed' CE.III.2.17.
where 'truant' is used as a verb, in the sense of 'to play truant with', 'to abscond from'.
what shall be thy amends = what recompense will you offer, what penance will you do?

2. For thy neglect of truth in beauty dyed?

truth in beauty dyed = truth which is steeped in your beauty. The suggestion here is that the youth is 'truth itself', the essential essence of the universe, which alone is worthy of the Muse's song. Truth resides in the youth, and hence becomes 'dyed' by the omni-presence of his beauty. Truth and beauty have already been coupled as inseparables in Sonnets 14 and 54:

But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive,
And, constant stars, in them I read such art
As truth and beauty shall together thrive,
If from thyself to store thou wouldst convert;

O, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem
By that sweet ornament which truth doth give!

No doubt Keat's famous closing lines in 'Ode to a Grecian Urn' owe something to Shakespeare's Sonnets:

Beauty is truth, truth beauty. That is all
Ye know on earth and all ye need to know.

 

3. Both truth and beauty on my love depends;

depends is a plural verb. Both truth and beauty derive their being from the youth who is the archetype and ideal form of them both. The idea is neo-Platonic in origin, although here slightly distorted in that the Platonists claimed that truth and beauty were the ideal forms from which all exemplars derived. Here the exemplar (the youth) itself is given the status of the ideal, and truth and beauty are deemed to derive from it.

my love = the beloved youth; my love for him.

4. So dost thou too, and therein dignified.

So dost thou too - the Muse is being addressed. She also depends for her existence on the youth, who is the source of all inspiration.
and therein dignified = and you achieve dignity through this dependence, you are dignified as a result.

5. Make answer Muse: wilt thou not haply say,

haply = perhaps. Also with a suggestion of 'happily, aptly'. The poet provides the answer which he believes the Muse might give.

6. 'Truth needs no colour, with his colour fixed;

colour = painting, description, colouring. The idea behind these two lines, 6-7, seems to spring as much from the use of cosmetics (and Shakespeare's dislike of it) as from the art of painting. A fair face needs no cosmetics, it already has its own fixed colour and appearance. In the same way truth needs no additional colouring, since it has its own.
his colour = its own colour; or, the beloved's colour and appearance.
fixed = made permanent, as one fixes a colour in painting by varnishing it (putting fixer on it).

7. Beauty no pencil, beauty's truth to lay;

pencil = small paint brush, (the modern lead pencil had not been invented);
to lay = to paint, to depict by laying paint on a surface, or one colour upon another; to define. I.e. beauty needs no brushes to paint itself or its own truth and being, since it is itself its own best exemplar, and the youth, being beauty personified, himself shows what truth and beauty are.

8. But best is best, if never intermixed'?

best is best - this is obviously tautological but is close in sense to many proverbs and semi-proverbs. SB lists 'Truth is truth', 'Better is better' and 'The best may amend'.
The idea is that what is perfect would become imperfect if tainted or blended with baser, unnecessary substances. It needs no more than itself to justify itself, and it needs no advertisement, as good wine needs no bush (AYL.V.Epi.4.). 

But perhaps more signifiantly there is probably a covert reference to holy communion and the communion bread, as in Sonnet 125.

And take thou my oblation, poor but free,
Which is not mixed with seconds, knows no art,  125 10-11. 

Communion wafers had to be made out of the best flour, without any admixture or intermixing with inferior grades.  The youth is likened to the living god as manifested in the communion service, or the Mass, in which the host is consecrated. 

See the Introductory Notes for further discussion of the religious themes of the Sonnets. 

9. Because he needs no praise, wilt thou be dumb?

The poet now queries the Muse's argument (having supplied it himself in the first place). The whole thing might be seen as an elaborate ploy for proving that the Muse is superfluous. At the end of the poem she has to be taught how to sing the youth's praises.

10. Excuse not silence so, for't lies in thee

Excuse not silence so = do not provide such lame excuses for your silence. He is still addressing the Muse.
for't lies in thee = for it is within your power (as the inspirer of poetry).

11. To make him much outlive a gilded tomb

much outlive a gilded tomb = survive for a time much longer than a gilded tomb survives. Gilt decoration was frequently used on tombstones in churches and on effigies of the wealthy dead. The poet suggests (as in other sonnets) that a more fitting monument would be 'his gentle verse' which will immortalise the youth. Opposite is an illustration of the tomb of Sir Francis Vere in Westminster Abbey taken from a Victorian chromolithograph. See below for a more detailed view. Compare:

And thou in this shalt find thy monument,
When tyrants' crests and tombs of brass are spent. 107.

Perhaps Sonnet 81 comes nearest in sentiment to these two lines , 11-12:

Your monument shall be my gentle verse,
Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read,
And tongues to be your being shall rehearse
When all the breathers of this world are dead;

12. And to be praised of ages yet to be.

ages yet to be = future generations. Sonnet 17 refers to 'The age to come' , Sonnet 104 to 'thou age unbred' , and Sonnet 81 to 'tongues to be' (see above), but there are surprisingly few references to future ages in the sonnets, despite the overwhelming impression created that the youth, through the force of poetry, will be immortalised and admired for ever by future generations.

13. Then do thy office, Muse; I teach thee how

Do thy office, Muse = perform the task which is allotted to you, Muse. A somewhat peremptory command to give to a being who was supposed to be a goddess.
I teach thee how - a further indignity is heaped on the Muse. Having played truant in line 1 she now has to be taught the lessons she has missed.

14. To make him seem, long hence, as he shows now.

long hence = in a time far distant from this.
as he shows now - as he appears at present. Superficially this is a straightforward statement that poetry immortalises its subject, but it has the disconcerting effect of casting doubt on the reality of the image. The use of the words seem and shows introduces the possibility that the youth's truth and beauty are no more than a magic shadow show, that they will disappear as soon as the artificial light is removed, as in Plato's cave, or perhaps as in the shows put on in the theatres of the South Bank, which lasted no longer than a brief afternoon. 

1. My love is strengthened, though more weak in seeming;

My love = my affection for you. However, it could mean 'you, the beloved, you, whom I love', and could include a suggestion of deterioration in the appearance of the youth. The words seeming, and show are echoes of the concluding line of the previous sonnet. They usally carry overtones of hypocrisy and false covering for something which is not all well within. Here however the opposite is the case, or so the poet declares, in that his love shows itself as weak, and seems to be less than before, but in reality it has become stronger. Whether one believes this declaration or not is perhaps not relevant. Within the conventions of sonneteering the lover's words are gospel and the beloved is faultless. But the mere fact that the protestations occur as justifications for a period of silence, and that they are set in a group of sonnets which follow on from some in which abandonment, (87-9), hatred (90), deception (94-6) and separation (97-8) are the themes, leads one to suspect that the protestations themselves are mere show, a failing or tired love which is covered over with elegant and skillful wordplay.

2. I love not less, though less the show appear;

See the note above. The poet claims that the ostentatious show of his love, which in former times was evidenced by frequent sonnets (and other declarations?), he now considers to be superfluous, and he does not wish to cheapen his love by making it too public and shallow.

3. That love is merchandized, whose rich esteeming,

That love = any love (which is advertised, publicised, put up for sale by the owner);
is merchandized = is made into a commodity, is reduced to the level of an object of trade (or prostitution).
whose rich esteeming = the precious worth of which.
3-4: 'Any love, when its preciousness is broadcast to the world as if it were a piece of merchandise, has its value reduced to that of a mere commodity on the market place'.

4. The owner's tongue doth publish every where.

publish = make public, broadcast, make known to the world. There is a strong suggestion in these two lines (3-4) of pimping and prostitution. Compare for example the prostitution scene in Pericles, where Marina's qualities are trumpeted to the world:

Bawd Boult, take you the marks of her, the colour of her
hair, complexion, height, age, with warrant of her
virginity; and cry 'He that will give most shall
have her first.' Such a maidenhead were no cheap
thing, if men were as they have been. Get this done
as I command you.
Boult Performance shall follow.
[Exit]
.............................

Marina The gods defend me!
Bawd If it please the gods to defend you by men, then men
must comfort you, men must feed you, men must stir
you up. Boult's returned.
[Re-enter Boult]
Now, sir, hast thou cried her through the market?
Boult I have cried her almost to the number of her hairs;
I have drawn her picture with my voice.
Bawd And I prithee tell me, how dost thou find the
inclination of the people, especially of the younger sort?
Boult 'Faith, they listened to me as they would have
hearkened to their father's testament. There was a
Spaniard's mouth so watered, that he went to bed to
her very description.
Bawd We shall have him here to-morrow with his best ruff on.
Boult To-night, to-night. Per.IV.2.56-105

 

5. Our love was new, and then but in the spring,

Springtime and love were proverbial companions. Cf. the song in As You Like It:

It was a lover and his lass,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
That o'er the green corn-field did pass
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding:
Sweet lovers love the spring. AYL.V.3.14-19.

It is not implied that the poet first became acquainted with the youth in the springtime.

6. When I was wont to greet it with my lays;

I was wont = I was in the habit of, I was accustomed to.
greet it = welcome it, celebrate it, salute it.
lays = songs, poems. See the notes on the following:

Yet nor the lays of birds 98.5

Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem 100.7

7. As Philomel in summer's front doth sing,

Philomel - the classical name for the nightingale, which apparently sings in early summer. Shakespeare uses it here, as also in MND.II.2.13-14, Philomel with melody, Sing in our sweet lullaby, without any obvious reference to the rather brutal story from the classics, given in Ovid's Metamorphoses VI.424-674. Philomela was turned into a nightingale after taking revenge on her brother in law, Tereus, for being raped by him. Procne, her sister, became a swallow, and Tereus a hoopoe.

summer's front = the beginning of the summer, early summer.
front also meant forehead. Compare this from Coriolanus:

one that converses more with the buttock of the night than with the forehead of the morning: COR.II.1.

The nightingale sings most in early summer, when seeking a mate.
The tunes of the nightingale are stale in the middle of summer, because we hear them at the coming in of the spring.
The Great Frost of Jan 1608. Reprinted in E. Arber, An English Garner, 1877, Vol 1, p.88.

8. And stops his pipe in growth of riper days:

stops his pipe = ceases to sing. The pipe was the traditional shepherd's instrument, so any music of the countryside could be referred to in such terms, since the natural music of the fields was regarded as the source of all melodies. We tend to underestimate how close the Elizabethan age was to all the sounds of nature. Even in London, which was then a large city, fields and gardens were always close by. Roads were not tarmacked and concrete was almost unknown. (OED.3.a. gives the earliest use of the word concrete in this sense as 1834, although concrete of some sort was in fact used by the Romans). One would not have to leave the city to hear a nightingale sing. For us such sounds are obscured, masked and obliterated by city living. See for example Bottom's speech in Midsummer Nights Dream:

BOT. I will walk up and down here, and I will sing, that they shall hear I am not afraid.
[Sings]
The ousel cock so black of hue,
With orange-tawny bill,
The throstle with his note so true,
The wren with little quill,-- etc. MND.III.1.113-7

Bottom automatically finds his security in the rural memory of birds and bird song.

his - editors often emend this to her, in conformity with lines 10 & 13. Arguments in favour of retaining his are given by GBE p.211, and JK p.306. (among others).
riper days = days of ripeness and plenty, as the summer advances into autumn.

9. Not that the summer is less pleasant now

Not that = it is not because etc. I.e. I have not ceased writing sonnets to you because the summer of our love is less pleasurable than the springtime was, when the nightingale etc..

10. Than when her mournful hymns did hush the night,

her - through the influence of the legend the singing nightingale was thought of as female. It may not have been known at the time that it was the male which was the chief songster.
mournful hymns - sad tunes, (because of Philomela's tragic story). Bird song at night however would be considered mournful, in harmony with the darkness of night.
hush the night - the night appeared to become hushed as if listening to the song of the nightingale. This is a frequent experience, even today, of those who actually do listen to a nightingale singing.

11. But that wild music burthens every bough,

But that = but because.
wild = savage, uncultured. In contrast to the measured chants of the nightingale the undisciplined songs of other birds were wild and savage. Note however that wild and vile (vild) were interchangeable words of unfixed spelling (See OED wild, a.4-6). Hence wild could here be tinged with the meanings of vile - 'base, vulgar, commonplace, despicable'. burthens every bough = makes every bough heavy. The imagery tends to make one think of birds sitting on boughs and singing. Every bough is crammed full with tedious birds in full song, birds more common than the nightingale. burthen, which is an old spelling of burden, also had the meaning of 'chorus, refrain'. (OED.10.) This adds an additional richness to the line. Cf. Ariel's song in The Tempest:

Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands:
Courtsied when you have and kiss'd
The wild waves whist,
Foot it featly here and there;
And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear.
Hark, hark!
[Burthen, dispersedly, within] Bow-wow
The watch-dogs bark!
[Burthen] Bow-wow... Tem.I.2.375-383.

There may also be a reference to the rival poets, who 'burthen every bough' with their commonplace praises of the youth.

12. And sweets grown common lose their dear delight.

sweets grown common = sweet things that have become common place, vulgar, widespread.
dear delight = precious and valuable ability to give pleasure. The thought is almost proverbial, although recorded proverbs do not match these words. The rarity of a thing often makes it precious

13. Therefore like her, I sometime hold my tongue:

like her = like the nightingale;
sometime = at times, for some periods of time.
hold my tongue = refrain from writing verse in praise of you, or praising you in speech.

14. Because I would not dull you with my song.

I would not = I prefer not to, I choose not to;
dull you = bore you, make you endure the tedium of my song. Also, make you lose your shine by using repetitious praise. The poet wishes to avoid the fault of over-praising the youth, which would have the effect of making all praise vulgar, dull, and as common as birdsong.

 

1. Alack! what poverty my Muse brings forth,

brings forth = gives birth to. Compare Macbeth, speaking to Lady Macbeth:
.............Bring forth men children only,
For thy undaunted mettle should compose
Nothing but males. Mac.I.7.72-4.

2. That having such a scope to show her pride,

such a scope = such spacious and rich opportunities and themes (i.e. the beloved youth in all his glory).
to show her pride = to show off her excellence, to be ostentatiously showy.

3. The argument all bare is of more worth

The argument = the subject matter;
all bare = when it is naked and unadorned. Some editors put commas after 'argument' and 'bare', emphasising that this line is to be taken in conjunction with the following one. As it stands one temporarily takes it to mean that the argument itself is bare of extra worth and line 4 has to be adapted to fit that meaning. Since Q gives Then,which is frequently emended to than, (the spellings were interchangeable, see lines 12 & 13 ), we could take it that in this case the emendation is wrong, and that it is correctly 'then', the demonstrative adverb of time. The whole would then mean 'The subject matter which my Muse brings forth (i.e.descriptions of you) is naked and stripped of extra worth even at those very times when it is adorned with my poetic fancies'. This sense would be helped by placing a comma after then, as below:
The argument all bare is of more worth,
Then, when it hath my added praise beside!
Note that the poet and his Muse eventually become one and the same. Retaining the current pointing and wording, the two lines may be glossed as 'The subject matter (you) is more worthy, standing on its own, than when it is adorned with my poetic flourishes'.

4. Than when it hath my added praise beside!

See the note above. added praise beside - beside is tautological, but it adds to the sense of a heaping up of encomiums, and provides the necessary rhyme.

5. O! blame me not, if I no more can write!

My Muse of line 1 has now become the poet himself, the 'I' who can no longer write, whose inspiration has all dried up. Throughout this group of four sonnets, the idea of a tired Muse has been only a thin disguise for a tired love and a sluggard desire to be inspired.

6. Look in your glass, and there appears a face

your glass = your mirror. 'Glass' occures ten times in the Sonnets. Apart from Sonnet 5, where it means the substance 'glass', 'mirror' is its usual meaning. In 126 it probably also means 'hour-glass'.

7. That over-goes my blunt invention quite,

over-goes = surpasses, excels, out-does.
my blunt invention = my dull powers of fancy and poetic creation, my poor poetic talent.

8. Dulling my lines, and doing me disgrace.

dulling my lines = making my lines appear to be boring by comparison.
doing me disgrace = making me appear graceless, disgracing me by making me appear inadequate; affronting me and my efforts by your reflected glory.

9. Were it not sinful then, striving to mend,

Were it not sinful = would it not be sinful if I were to etc.
striving to mend = as a result of striving to improve (your image, the description of you).

10. To mar the subject that before was well?

To mar the subject = to do damage to you, the subject of my verse.
that before was well = you who, before I started to praise you, were already excellent in your own person.

11. For to no other pass my verses tend

no other pass = no other aim or issue.
tend = strive, aim for.

12. Than of your graces and your gifts to tell;

your graces and your gifts = your elegant and graceful person and your talents. Elsewhere in the Sonnets the word gifts is used in the sense of talents, qualities which nature has bestowed (11, 60), and in 87 it refers to the gift of love and friendship which the youth has bestowed on the poet.

 

The cause of this fair gift in me is wanting, 87

There is a slight possibility that here it also refers to pecuniary and perhaps other material gifts. There is a story, first recorded by Rowe in 1709, but unverifiable, that Southampton gave Shakespeare a gift of £1000 to buy a property. (S. Schoenbaum, Shakespeare's Lives, Oxford 1993, p.90). In today's terms (400 years later) this would be an enormous sum of money, equivalent perhaps to £200,000, and it would certainly have merited praise and gratitude. The story is not entirely improbable in that Southampton is known to have been profligate. He is reputed to have lost 1800 crowns at a Parisian tennis match when celebrating the birth of his first child. (P. Quennel, Shakespeare, London 1963, p.118, footnote 2.)

13. And more, much more, than in my verse can sit,

more, much more - see the introductory comment above. The more that he sees may not be to his liking.
in my verse can sit = than can be placed in my verse, than my verse can contain. to sit is simply to be present at, or in.

14. Your own glass shows you when you look in it.

glass = mirror, see above, line 6. The thought is that the youth's reflection in the mirror, the reality that he sees there, is far richer than anything that the poet can say of him in verse. The philosophical problem is that an image in the mirror is no more 'the thing itself' than is the image depicted, described, delineated and painted in verse. The narcissistic fulfilment of himself, achieved by gazing in the mirror, may therefore be as fatuous and unfulfilling as listening to the songs of poets who sing his praises.

1. To me, fair friend, you never can be old,

Perhaps this line responds to the suggestions in the previous sonnets that the mirror is beginning to show lines and wrinkles in the beloved's face. Or perhaps it is intended as a reassuring declaration by the poet, that for him nothing will change, despite the transience of the world all around him. It may have sprung from private conversations, and from comments made by the young man. In substance it foreshadows the famous declaration of faith of Sonnet 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments;

2. For as you were when first your eye I ey'd,

when first your eye I eyed = when I first set eyes on you, when I first looked into your face. The repetition of sound (ay ay ayed) is considered by some commentators to be puerile. (See however the comment of HV, p.442). In any case it is the sort of linguistic device which rather amused and challenged Elizabethan writers. Compare No.5 in Drayton's Sonnet Sequence 'Idea':, published first in 1599.
Nothing but 'No'! and 'I'! and 'I'! and 'No'!.
The complete sonnet is given below at the bottom of the page.

3. Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold,

seems = appears, is. The use of seems seems innocent enough, until one remembers the use of the glass (mirror) in the previous sonnet, and the suspicions that Shakespeare attaches to 'seeming' in contrast to 'being'. Perhaps the beauty which seems so beauteous is not really so, but is already corrupted by lines and wrinkles, and perhaps by moral decay. The sudden introduction of three winters cold at the end of the line is like an icy shock which brings one back to reality, and challenges the already shaky assurance of such seems your beauty still.
cold - this is usually taken to be an adjective, viz. 'three cold winters', but it could also be read as a noun, the meaning being 'the successive cold of three winters'.

4. Have from the forests shook three summers' pride,

summer's pride = the glorious growth of summer. pride is often associated in the sonnets with a rich appearance. (See 25, 52, 80, 99). These two lines echo those from Horace
hic tertius December (ex quo destiti
Inachia furere), silvis honorem decutit.
See the introduction above.

5. Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turned,

Autumn is characterised by the colour of yellow. Compare:
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, 73
Nowadays we tend to think of the colours more as tan and russet, especially the autumn leaves. Shakespeare may have been thinking more of the gold of the cornfields.

6. In process of the seasons have I seen,

This line can be read either as a continuation of the previous one, or as introductory to that which follows.
In process of = in the progress of (OED 1.a.) The word is close to the modern usage of 'procession'.

7. Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burned,

See the comments on three in the introductory notes. The perfumes of the spring are burned dry by the heat of the summer.

8. Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green.

Since first I saw you fresh - perhaps similar in meaning to since first your eye I eyed, although here the emphasis is on the youth's freshness and vigour, which still remains unaltered.
which yet are = who still remains, who is still;
green - at times this can have a slightly pejorative meaning, or carries a hint of foolish innocence. Compare Cleopatra commenting on her youthful days:
.................My salad days
When I was green in judgement, cold in blood,
To say as I said then. AC.I.5.73-5.
Here however the emphasis seems to be on freshness and vigour, as in the lush growth of springtime.

9. Ah! yet doth beauty like a dial-hand,

a dial hand = the hand on a clock dial. Many clocks of the Elizabethan age only had an hour hand, which would appear to move even more imperceptibly than the minute hand.

10. Steal from his figure, and no pace perceived;

Steal from his figure = move stealthily away from the number which it appears to be pointing to.
his = its.
no pace perceived = no movement is noticeable or perceptible.
9-10 The reference may have been to a sundial. the meanings given here are for a clock face.

11. So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand,

hue = colour, facial appearance, as in Sonn. 20
A man in hue, all hues in his controlling

which methinks = which I think, which I am inclined to think;
still doth stand = remains motionless; or, is still as it was (when I first saw you).

12. Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceived:

Hath motion = is actually moving;
mine eye = my eye, my perceptions.

13. For fear of which, hear this thou age unbred:

For fear of which - i.e. fearing this, (that you are in fact ageing rapidly but imperceptibly).
thou age unbred - the age yet unborn. Perhaps with a hint of 'you uncouth ages yet to be!', since unbred could imply lack of breeding, coming from poor stock.

14. Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead.

Ere you were born = before you, the forthcoming age, were yet born.
beauty's summer = beauty in its prime, in its full glory, i.e., the beloved youth, (was already dead). I.e. you will never have any chance of seeing what true beauty is like.

 

Michael Drayton's 'Idea. In Sixty Three Sonnets' was published first in 1594, and in various curtailed or augmented editions until the final edition of 1619. This sonnet appeared in the 1599 edition. It is reprinted here from Sidney Lee, Elizabethan Sonnets, An English Garner, Westminster, 1904, Vol II, p.183.

Because they are so much in the forefront of our awareness, we tend to assume that Shakespeare's Sonnets set the norm for the time. This is definitely not so and for the first use of many of the quirks and curiosities of the genre one must look beyond the Shakespearian canon to see how the Sonneteers contemporary with him were developing and expanding the form.

 

Nothing but 'No'! and 'I'! and 'I'! and 'No'!.
   'How falls it out so strangely?', you reply.
I tell ye Fair! I'll not be answered so!            
   With this affirming 'No'!, denying 'I'!
I say 'I love'! You slightly answer 'I'!
   I say 'You love'! You pule me out a 'No'!.
I say 'I die'! You echo me with 'I'!
   'Save me'! I cry; you sigh me out a 'No'!.
      Must Woe and I have naught but 'No' ! and 'I'! ?
No 'I'! am I if I no more can have.
Answer no more. With silence make reply,
And let me take myself what I do crave.
   Let 'No'! and 'I'! with I and you be so,
   Then answer 'No'! and 'I'! and 'I'! and 'No'!

1. Let not my love be called idolatry,

my love = my affection for you, my worship of you.
idolatry = worship of idols. The original biblical offence of idol worship relates probably to the worship of the golden calf and the prohibition of the second commandment 'Thou shalt not have strange gods before me'. However in protestant England at the time, with its strong admixture of Puritanism, any devotion to statues, saints, the Virgin Mary, holy relics and symbols, could all be considered as belonging to some part of the spectrum of idolatry. Here, since the poet's worship is for a mere mortal, it obviously is idolatrous.

 

There are five other uses of idolatry in Shakespeare. They are all listed below in addition to the seven uses of the word idol.

2. Nor my beloved as an idol show,

as an idol show = seem to be an idol, appear like an image that is worshipped.

3. Since all alike my songs and praises be

since - this can either be an explanation of why the poet's behaviour might be construed as idolatrous, or as the start of a justification and defence against the charge of idolatry.
all alike = all similar; on all occasions.
my songs = my sonnets.

4. To one, of one, still such, and ever so.

 

This is surely an echo of

Per ipsum, et cum ipso, et in ipso, est tibi Deo Patri omnipotenti, in unitate Spiritus Sancti, omnis honor et gloria, per omnia saecula saeculorum.

Through Him, and with Him, and in Him, is to You, God the Father Almighty, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honour and glory, forever and ever.

These are the words used at the Elevation of the host in the Tridentine Mass.  I grant that the word match is not exact, but the rhythm and sense is very similar, and it seems to compel one to look at it as a sort of Trinitarian declaration.  The usually quoted link to the Gloria Patri, which occurs in the Mass, is also relevant, especially as it names the three persons of the Trinity. 

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritu Sancto.  Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

However this does not seem to have quite the same verbal resonance as the words used at the Elevation, ‘per ipsum, et cum ipso, et in ipso’.  There are also probable links to the Athanasian Creed, which was used as an alternative to the Nicene Creed on certain Sundays, including Trinity Sunday. 

The mystery of the Trinity is that the God of theology is three persons in one God, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Though three, they nevertheless are one everlastingly. Hence the emphasis in this line on the words to one, of one. In this case the one is the beloved youth. The songs and praises mentioned in the line above could be an echo of the 'Gloria' of the Gloria Patri, or of other Christian songs of praise, such as 'Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will'. As SB points out, (p.337), idolatry was forbidden in various of the Homilies read out in the churches, and there is an echo of the Gloria Patri in the 'Homily Against Idolatry': ". . . images in temples and churches be indeed none other but idols, as unto the which idolatry hath been, is, and ever will be committed".

still such = always unchanged, always such as you are now.

5. Kind is my love to-day, to-morrow kind,

It is not clear why the poet emphasises kindness, which is only the second perfection of the triune listed below. Perhaps because fairness (beauty) he had already established as a sine qua non in many of the preceding sonnets. The constancy of the kindness is emphasised by having the word at the beginning and the end of the line. kind could also mean 'of its kind' indicating that the youth was always like his true self.

6. Still constant in a wondrous excellence;

still constant = always true, faithful etc.
in a wondrous excellence = in a way which is both excellent and wonderful.

7. Therefore my verse to constancy confined,

to constancy confined = restricted to the theme of constancy, or, compelled to be constant and unvarying. to confine - OED 4.b gives 'to enclose or restrain within limits', with the following example from Sh.:
Now let not Nature's hand keep the wild flood confined. 2H4.I.1.154.

8. One thing expressing, leaves out difference.

One thing expressing - i.e. the youth's constancy. Or the one thing is perhaps the youth himself, now newly converted into a deity. His oneness is a manifestation of his constancy and his godliness.
leaves out difference = does not take account of any differences, does not recognise differences or anomalies. This is probably also a slightly parodied version of the doctrine of the Trinity, in which differences are not allowed in the three forms of the godhead. Much ink and mental gymnastics were expended by theologians in defining the true nature of the Trinity.  In the Canon of the Tridentine Mass, the priest reads a preface, which for Trinity Sunday includes the following: 

Quod enim de tua gloria, revelante te, credimus, hoc de filio tuo, hoc de Spiritu Sancto, sine differentia discretionis sentimus. 

For what we believe from your revelation concerning Your glory, that also we believe of Your Son and of the Holy Spirit without difference or distinction;

 

9. Fair, kind, and true, is all my argument,

Fair kind and true - these correspond to the triad of the neo-Platonic ideals, or forms, the Beautiful, the Good and the True. But given the religious theme of the sonnet, the reference is more likely to be to the three in one of the Trinity, God the Father, the judge, who is fair, God the Son, the Redeemer, who is kind and forgiving, and God the Holy Ghost, who stands for knowledge and truth.

 

is all my argument = is the only theme I have. Compare:
O, know, sweet love, I always write of you,
And you and love are still my argument;

10. Fair, kind, and true, varying to other words;

Fair kind and true - The repetition stresses the constancy and unvariability of his theme. However it does vary to the extent of being expressible in different words (though not here).

 

11. And in this change is my invention spent,

in this change = in this variation of words; change is also a term used in campanology. The bell ringers 'change' the sequence in which the bells are rung. It was also used of a round in dancing, or of a variation or modulation in music.
my invention = my poetic creativity.
spent = exhausted, disbursed.

12. Three themes in one, which wondrous scope affords.

Three themes in one = the three themes of 'fair, kind and true'; the three gods of the trinity, who are one god.
wondrous scope - an echo of the wondrous excellence of line 6. wondrous scope affords = presents a wonderful opportunity and space (for my poetic imagination to occupy).

13. Fair, kind, and true, have often lived alone,

have often lived alone - i.e. each one has been found singly in different characters, but never combined, or in company with the other two.

14. Which three till now, never kept seat in one.

till now - until this time, until they were all together in you.
kept seat had their abode, lived in. The expression 'the seat of (the honourable such and such)' meaning their country house, was until recently fairly common. Many 19th. century topographical books had illustrations with such captions. Changing times have rendered the expression almost obsolete. OED gives it as short for 'country seat' but here it is used more as a composite verb, 'kept seat', 'to keep one's abode at' etc. 

The reference however is more probably to do with some doctrinal issue as to the nature of the Holy Trinity. 

See the Introductory Notes for further discussion of the relevance of this sonnet to Shakespeare's religious stance. 

1. When in the chronicle of wasted time

chronicle - chronicles were written historical records of past times, compiled by a 'chronicler', who was often a monk. Examples are the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, and Bede's 'History of the Church of England'. Shakespeare relied heavily on Holinshed's Chronicle History of England (first published 1577) for many of his history plays. There were other chronicles of English history which Shakespeare would probably also have in mind in this reference, most notably John Stow's "Annales, or a General Chronicle of England from Brute unto this present year of Christ, 1580", published in 1580, with other editions in 1592, 1601 and 1605.
wasted time = time which is past, hence destroyed, wasted. A reversal of the normal expression, Time the destroyer. waste derives from the Latin word, vastare, to lay waste in warfare, to destroy. Time in its progress figuratively creates deserts of forgotten people and nations.

2. I see descriptions of the fairest wights,

wights = men and women. (OED.2). An archaic word even in Shakespeare's time, though favoured by Spenser. Shakespeare uses it in Gower's speech in Pericles, Gower being the type of archaic poet (c.1330-1408):
That whoso asked her for his wife,
His riddle told not lost his life.
So for her many a wight did die, Per.Prologue.37-9.
the fairest wights = the most beautiful men and women. We can assume that even in Shakespeare's day the age of chivalry seemed far distant and was peopled imaginatively with men and women of extraordinary beauty and fabulous costumes.

3. And beauty making beautiful old rhyme,

The descriptions of the beauty of old times beautifies the verse of the old chronicles. The earliest chronicles were written in verse, and were probably recited at gatherings accompanied by music.

4. In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights,

dead - refers both to the ladies and lovely knights. Emphasises that they all lived long ago.

5. Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty's best,

blazon = emblazoning, A description, painting, or record of any kind; esp. a record of virtues or excellencies. (OED.4). The term is heraldic, and to emblazon was to adorn something with heraldic devices, or with descriptions.
sweet beauty's best = the best of all beautiful things (persons), both in the sense of the best parts of them, and the most choice examples from among them.

6. Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow,

A further description of the blazon of sweet beauty - hands, feet, lips, eyes, brows could all be singled out for special mention. These are also of course the parts the attributes of which are most praised by sonneteers. See for example 130:
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun etc.

7. I see their antique pen would have expressed

Venice AD 1338. From a manuscript in the Bodleian Library. Bod Misc 264.

their antique pen = the style and subject matter of the writers of the ancient chronicles.
would have expressed = would potentially, if they were to be writing now, portray you etc.; would have described you, if you were alive then.
antique in addition to the meaning of 'ancient and old-fashioned' also had overtones of 'fantastic, ludicrous and grotesque'. (Onions 1986, pp. 8-9).
The implication of lines 1-8 seems to be: 'The poets of old who wrote the chronicles were much better at portraying beauty than present day writers, and would have made a far better job of describing you than any modern writer. That is apparent from a reading of the blazons of beauty that they have left us. Had our lovely youth been alive in those times, with the beauty he now has, they would have risen wonderfully to the challenge of describing him'.

expressed = described, portrayed. See the previous sonnet:
Therefore my verse to constancy confined,
One thing expressing, leaves out difference.

8. Even such a beauty as you master now.

master = possess, have in one's control.

9. So all their praises are but prophecies

their praises = the chroniclers' praise of beautiful people. Insofar as they praised beautiful people then living, they were mistaken, for their praise really related to you, although you were not then alive. Consequently all their praises were prophetic of your beauty, which now exists, but was not available at the time to them, even though they praised the semblance of it.

10. Of this our time, all you prefiguring;

See the line above. Their descriptions of beauty were prefigurations of your beauty.

11. And for they looked but with divining eyes,

for they looked but with = because they only looked with
divining eyes = eyes which look into the future
9-11 SB sees in these lines a possible identification of the beautiful youth with Christ

12. They had not skill enough your worth to sing:

skill - this is an emendation of Q's still. It is widely accepted, although still has been defended. If it is retained one probably has to understand some additional word such as 'knowledge' or 'understanding' to complete the meaning. 'They still lacked the necessary understanding to sing of your true worth'. Endorsement of skill is found in two early manuscript copies of this sonnet. (See JK. p.443).

13. For we, which now behold these present days,

For we - this has the meaning of 'but we', since it contrasts the awareness of the present age with the myopia of the past.
which = who

14. Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.

Although we wonder at your beauty, we lack the poetic talent to sing of it adequately. The poet modestly belittles his own efforts, but the poem itself seems to contradict what he here declares.

 

1. Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul

Not ....... nor = neither .......nor. The verb occurs in line 3, i.e. can control. 'Neither my own fears, nor the world's soul, can control the duration of my love'.
the prophetic soul of the wide world = the conscious soul of the world, as expressed by human thought, understanding and intuition at large. From the times of the earliest Ionian philosophers, the question was debated as to whether or not the universe had a soul. Later, Plato considered the question in the Timaeus. The phraseology here seems to be biblical, reminiscent of darkness being upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters. (Gen.1.2.)

2. Of the wide world dreaming on things to come,

dreaming on things to come - this can apply both to mine own fears and to the prophetic soul of the wide world. Both of them have the potential to foretell the future.
dreaming = musing on, prognosticating. Shakespeare uses 'dreamer' in the sense of 'soothsayer' in Julius Caesar:
A soothsayer bids you beware the Ides of march.
...............
He is a dreamer; Let us leave him. Pass. JC.I.2.19, 24.

3. Can yet the lease of my true love control,

yet - the meaning of this is uncertain. It could have a temporal significance, meaning 'at this stage in our existence', or it could mean 'up till now', implying that the future power of such fears and predictions is still in doubt. Compare for example
Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:
Thou art not conquered; beauty's ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, RJ.V.3.92-5
the lease = the tenure, the possession of. Essentially it is a legal term, defining the conditions by which the lessee holds a property. A lover possesses the beloved according to the conditions that time allows, since both parties are mortal, and their love cannot last forever, at least in the purely material context which Time defines. For the spiritual elements of love, which here are perhaps being set against its temporal and predictable aspects, see sonnet 116 and others:
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments... etc.

control = restrict, restrain, manage. Possibly also refute, rebuke, as in The Tempest:
The Duke of Milan
And his more braver daughter could control thee Tem.I.2.440-1.
However the most common use of the word in Shakespeare is with its usual modern meaning of 'to hold sway over, exercise power or authority over; to dominate, command' (OED.4). It is found in 12 instances in the plays (4 times as a noun), and twice in The Rape of Lucrece. Most famous perhaps is Othello's despairing cry:
But oh vain boast! Who can control his Fate? Oth.V.2.265,
where its meaning seems to be self-evident. Here we should perhaps paraphrase the line as 'are yet (not) able to restrict my hold on my true love, or restrict his hold on life itself'.

4. Supposed as forfeit to a confined doom.

Supposed - the antecedent could be mine own fears, the prophetic soul of the wide world, the lease of my true love, or simply my true love. The most likely, and the most satisfactory both in sense and grammatically, is the lease of my true love, since it is spatially the closest. forfeit to a confined doom. This latter phrase, though superficially transparent, and perhaps paraphraseable as 'liable to surrender due to the harsh conditions of destiny', is elusive. A forfeit is a penal fine, or penalty for failure in a contractual obligation. Doom probably here means 'fate, destiny', and confined implies imprisonment, or restriction of freedom in some way. a confined doom could be a destiny which threatens restrictions, a harsh and punitive destiny.

5. The mortal moon hath her eclipse endured,

mortal moon - If taken literally as referring to the moon, the implication is that it is mortal because it dies each month. The moon that returns is a new moon. If taken as referring to Elizabeth, then the mortality refererred to is her's.
her eclipse - i.e. the eclipse of the mortal moon. Most recent editors, most notably KDJ and JK, see this as a reference to Queen Elizabeth's death in 1603. It is worth noting however that there was a partial lunar eclipse on Oct 17 1605. Eclipses of heavenly bodies attracted far more attention from the fortune tellers and sad prophets than many other earthly events. This was partly because they were highly visible and spectacular, compared with political and social crises, which often were obscured by hearsay evidence, mis-reported, and, worst of all for the soothsayers, entirely unpredictable. Paradoxically it was the predictability of eclipses which made them such a fruitful stimulus of prophetic pronouncements. A superstitious population was readily led to believe in the imminence of all manner of calamities and catastrophes, all the more so when one considers that a single year's bad harvest could lead to famine, at the worst, and serious price rises in staple foodstuffs at the least. Such eventualities could usually be pointed to somewhere in the world nearby, and the fortune tellers, quacks and soothsayers no doubt claimed credit for having foreseen them.

The line therefore could be a direct reference to the lunar eclipse of 1605, and the poem would be slightly later than the 1604 date espoused by JK and KDJ. The meaning of endured in this case would not have to be stretched to mean 'died', as it has to be if we take it as referential to the death of Elizabeth. The more natural meaning seems to be 'the mortal moon has endured and survived her own eclipse, and the foolish prophets etc.'

Setting the date of composition forward to 1605 does of course extend the overall period in which the sonnets were probably written. No doubt further revision could have continued right up until the date of publication in 1609. (See the introductory note). The references to other events in the lines below would still be the same if the poem were composed in 1605. Since the peace with Spain was only concluded in August 1604, it would be relatively fresh in the memory, especially as England had technically been at war with Spain for twenty years prior to that.

6. And the sad augurs mock their own presage;

the sad augurs = the sad prophets and astrologers. An augur was an ancient Roman official, or priest, who had the duty of deciding if the omens for a battle, expedition etc. were favourable or unfavourable. sad = grave, serious, portentous. It is also possible that they were mournful at the failure of their own predictions.
mock their own presage = laugh at their own prophecies, which have not been fulfilled. Or, perhaps, their mere continued existence mocks them, since many were predicted to be destroyed in the general catastrophe.

7. Incertainties now crown themselves assured,

'The uncertain outcome of various (critical) situations is now known, and they have turned out favourably'.

Strictly speaking, incertainties cannot themselves become certain, but there is an implication here that the events which hung on a knife edge are now duly resolved, and that all is well. The use of the word 'crown' is suggestive of coronations, and it is now thought that the incertainty of the succession after Elizabeth was a matter of such serious concern that it was at the forefront of the minds of many. (See the historical notes above). This would date the sonnet to late 1603 or post 1603.

8. And peace proclaims olives of endless age.

olives = olive branches, olive trees. The imagery is essentially that of a proclamation, perhaps by a herald, of a declaration of peace, or a settlement of peace terms. Here the object declared is not peace itself, but the symbol of peace, the olive. The association of the olive with peace is an ancient tradition. (See Genesis 7.11, where the dove returns to Noah with an olive twig, as a sign that the deluge was past). In the ancient world olives were an essential commodity, but olive trees required at least nine years to establish themselves. This could only be done in times of peace. Marauding armies would frequently hack down olive trees in order to cause maximum damage to the places they had invaded. Hence production of olives was a sign of peace and stability.

9. Now with the drops of this most balmy time,

the drops of this most balmy time - in a general sense this refers to a time of growth and regeneration, caused by the invigorating warm rains of spring. But balm was also used in the anointing of a monarch, so the indirect reference is probably to the balmy time after the accession of James I to the throne, more specifically to the time after his triumphal entry into London in 1604. (See the historical notes above). Shakespeare uses the adjectival balmy on only two other occasions, in the sense of fragrant, delightful, intoxicating, in Othello. (See above).

10. My love looks fresh, and Death to me subscribes,

(See the historical notes above). Aside from the historical associations which have pre-occupied commentators, there is the ordinary sense in which this phrase may be understood, that is, 'my love for the youth rejuvenates itself, even after a time of lassitude and decay. Both he, and my love for him, (one and the same thing), are eternally fresh'.

Death to me subscribes = death consents to allow my prerogative of loving on my terms. The meaning has to be inferred from the context. The root meaning is to append one's name to the bottom of a document, as a testimony and witness to the contents. By extension in Shakespeare it comes to mean to submit, or admit, or yield to (some fact or authority), to acquiesce (OED. 7-9, with examples mostly from Shakespeare). For example:

For Hector in his blaze of wrath subscribes
To tender objects, but he in heat of action
Is more vindicative than jealous love TC.IV.5.105-7.

where Hector is compared to Troilus (the he of line 2.). The meaning seems to be 'yields to, is subject to'. There are 15 uses of subscribe in the plays, of varying shades of meaning, and two of subscibes.

Onions gives these meanings: 1.) Sign (one's name) LLL.I.1.19; put one down for R2.I.4.50. 2.) Admit, acknowledge, assent to MM.II.4.89; etc.; (intr.) admit one's inferiority or error 1H6.II.4.44. 3. Surrender, yield KL.I.2.24; (intr.) yield, give in (to feelings of pity) KL.III.7.65. Also 'subscribe for' and 'subscribe to' with similar meanings.

11. Since, spite of him, I'll live in this poor rhyme,

spite of = in spite of.
this poor rhyme - this is conventional modesty, in which the poet denigrates his own worth. rhyme = verse, poetry (not necessarily rhymed).

Note that the poet here speaks of his own immortality. Perhaps because his verse is 'poor rhyme' he does not wish it to be immediately associated with the young man.

12. While he insults o'er dull and speechless tribes:

insults = tramples over, or on; triumphs over. The Latin word, insultare, to which I believe the poet here makes reference, was often used in the context of dancing upon and trampling over the graves of fallen enemies, as the ultimate gesture of contempt. Speechless tribes would have no language available to them with which to write immortal verse. It is probable that travellers brought back tales from the New World, or from China and the Far East, of tribes who were illiterate and possibly appearing to communicate only by animal sounds.

13. And thou in this shalt find thy monument,

in this = in this my verse.
thy monument - as in 60, 63, 65 etc. The thought goes back at least as far as Horace:
Exegi monumentum aere perennius

I have built a monument more lasting than bronze. See additional notes to Sonnet 64.

14. When tyrants' crests and tombs of brass are spent.

tyrants' crests - the plumes on the helmet of tyrants, hence, figuratively, a tyrant's glory. Also, the coats of arms of tyrants, which were symbols of power while they lived, and adorned their tombs after they had died.

tombs of brass - the brass monuments on tombs were a common feature of church furniture of the time.

are spent = are wasted away, consumed, destroyed by time.

1. What's in the brain that ink may character

character = write, set out in writing. character as a verb is used in Hamlet in the same sense as here:
.....these few precepts in thy memory
Look thou character Ham.I.3.58
It is more commonly found as a noun, meaning 'handwriting'. As in:
Look you, sir, here is the hand and seal of the duke: you know the character, I doubt not; and the signet is not strange to you. MM.IV.2.180-3.

2. Which hath not figured to thee my true spirit?

figured = depicted, portrayed, illustrated.
my true spirit = my feelings and my inner self, as they really are. true conveys the sense of 'honest, accurate, reliable, constant, unbending'.

3. What's new to speak, what now to register,

what now - many editors emend now to new, which is probably unnecessary, since the line then becomes pointlessly repetitive.
what now to register indicates that the poet is considering what he may now set on record to add to the declarations of love he has already made. register = to enter or record in a precise manner (OED.1.a).

4. That may express my love, or thy dear merit?

express = put into words, give utterance to, portray. (OED.8.a.) It is interesting to note that of the six uses of this word in the Sonnets, three are found in this group, 105, 106 and here (108). Thus:

One thing expressing, leaves out difference. 105

I see their antique pen would have express'd 106

If it has any significance, it is that the poet here explores with some intensity the import of the things he might say about his beloved. To what extent does love depend on the expressions used to portray it and convey it to the loved one? In 105 he discovers that the sameness is an image of the sameness and permanence of the Trinity. In 106 it is the antique pens which have expressed the ideal of beauty, foreshadowing the beauty of the beloved. Here he desires that the words show something real and lasting, something which transcends the boundaries of ordinary existence. Yet the paradox is that the utterances are always the same, they express the same love in the same way, and the sameness threatens to transform them to empty formulae. However it is not so, as the poet declares in the following quatrain. Just as divine prayers are significant and sincere as an expression of love, so too are the declarations of love which he makes to the young man, even though they might appear to be mere repetitious mouthings. They are as rich as 'prayers divine' and the love they show is on that level and as quintessential as divine love.

thy dear merit = your precious qualities and deserts.

5. Nothing, sweet boy; but yet, like prayers divine,

Nothing - i.e. there is nothing new to speak or to record.
sweet boy - some commentators have found this too sickly sweet, and beyond the boundaries of what should be expressed in verse. It is however in tune with the opening of the valedictory sonnet 126:
Oh thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power,
Dost hold Time's fickle glass, his sickle hour.
It also chimes with many of the other expressions of total devotion which are scattered throughout the sequence, such as, for I love you so; thou, all they, hast all the all of me; you are my all the world; and so on. Both expressions, sweet boy and my lovely boy, seem to be entirely consonant with the way a lover might address his beloved, and the sense of injured taste, if there is any, we should perhaps put aside, and welcome directness and truth instead. If that is the way lover's talk to one another (as indeed they do), then why should we object to it in poetry?

 

prayers divine = prayers addressed to God; any prayers said regularly, at appointed times of the day, i.e. the divine office. In Elizabeth's reign, prayers were enjoined on the populace twice a day, morning and evening.  But also probably a reference to the offices which (Catholic) priests had to recite daily.  (See the Introductory Notes).  The next line emphasises the repetitive nature of these prayers. 

6. I must each day say o'er the very same;

say o'er = repeat, recite. As in the similar phrase in Sonn. 30:
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
There is probably also an association here called into play of 'telling' the beads of a rosary as one recites the 'Hail Marys', an especially repetitive prayer formula. (A complete rosary consisted of one Our Father, followed by ten Hail Marys and one Glory Be, the whole sequence repeated five times). The association is heightened by the use of the word 'counting' in the next line, and the reference to the 'Our Father' in the following line.

7. Counting no old thing old, thou mine, I thine,

counting = considering, thinking.
no old thing old - i.e. no old and oft repeated prayer as being old. Counting no old thing old = I do not consider any old and oft repeated prayer or formula of words as old or tedious per se. They are new each time I say them.
thou mine, I thine - perhaps an echo of a prayer. E.g. Thou, Lord, art my deliverer. I am thy servant, etc. There is also an echo from the Song of Songs 2.16.: 'My love is mine, and I am his, which feedeth among the lilies until the day break'. Some editors put thou mine, I thine in inverted commas, indicating that it is being cited by the poet as an example of an oft repeated phrase, as one repeats the lines of prayers; or as an example of a declaration of love, which though oft repeated, is always new. The theme of the interchangeability of hearts has been a frequent one throughout the sonnets.

8. Even as when first I hallowed thy fair name.

Even as when = in just the same way as when; I hallowed thy fair name - an obvious echo of the Lord's Prayer, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Since this is the most famous prayer in Christendom, it is unlikely that the echo would be missed by any Renaissance reader of the poem. There are only two other uses of the word in Shakespeare, shown below.

 

I'll have the cudgel hallowed and hung o'er the altar; it hath done meritorious service. MW.IV.2.181-2.

...... they throng who should buy first, as if my trinkets had been
hallowed and brought a benediction to the buyer WT.IV.4.594-6

Commentators remark on the implicit blasphemy, or sacrilege, of coupling the respect and love for the Deity with love of a fellow mortal. SB comments on lines 5-8: 'As in 105, the wit of this quatrain derives from the speaker's self-betrayal in presenting evidence of sacrilege and in his apparent obliviousness to the implications of his words; here the self mocking wit gets an extra twist because the sacrilegious echo appears in a context that reminds us that the Lord's Prayer, the most repeated of all Christian prayers, is prefaced by "when ye pray, use no vaine repetitions as the heathen: for they think to be heard for their muche babbling"'. (Matt.6:7). HV concludes her analysis of this sonnet as follows: 'Once again, as in 105 and 106, sonnet 108, in its "hallowing the name" of the young man instead of the name of the Deity, finds its wit in blasphemy'. JK gives no special attention to the question of whether or not this and similar nuances in 105 and 106 are sacrilegious. GBE and KDJ pay scant attention to the possibility of blasphemy in this sonnet, although the latter mentions that similar applications of repetitive religious devotion to secular love were not uncommon.

The difficulties of interpretation arise chiefly because, if the blasphemy is so patently obvious as SB and HV insist, one needs to offer some explanation of how it could be tolerated in the religiously intolerant society of the time. England was less extreme in this respect than France or Spain. The hostility to papism was brought on partly by the Papal Bull of 1570, which effectively encouraged Catholics to be traitors to the realm. But even under James I discontent was rife, as is shown by the gunpowder plot, and by the gradual swerving off of the Puritans from loyalty to the government. Therefore the governments under both Elizabeth and James throughout Shakespeare's life tended to be suspicious of deviation, and blasphemy would attract the attention of all religious parties. The articles of inquiry which followed the Elizabethan religious settlement, which were designed to ensure uniformity of observance of religion throughout the parishes, enjoins the searching out of 'contentious persons.......and any that bruiteth abroad rumours of the alteration of religion received within this realm', as well as 'blasphemers and adulterers.... witches, common drunkards and ribalds'. After forty years of Elizabeth's reign, it may be conjectured that tension was not running so high, and religious tolerance was the norm. Nevertheless plots against her still continued, and there was a perpetual concern about the succession, and what it might bring. When James did accede to the throne, the 'incertainties' were at least removed, but his brand of Christianity brought little comfort to Catholics or to Puritans, and despite the claims he makes to universal peace, perhaps celebrated in the previous sonnet, he was a more intransigent and intolerant monarch than his predecessor had ever been.

One other aspect of this outbreak of prayer book and doctrinal fervour which makes it the more striking is the general absence in the plays of anything which is deeply controversial in a religious sense. Shakespeare gives the impression of a man having heard the arguments on both sides, of being respectful of religious conviction, of subscribing generally to the tenets of Christian doctrine, but having such a large admixture of tolerance and humanity in his being that he did not feel the need to espouse any one cause. Besides, so many of the characters in his plays, Falstaff, Pistol, Autolycus, Sir Toby Belch, to name but a few, are almost completely outside the control of religion of any colour. As a dramatist he portrayed the world at large, the world that burgeoned around him in the seething London of the time, despite all the strictures of church and state.

Nevertheless we have to postulate a society, perhaps a very limited closed circle of friends, perhaps the 'private friends' who were the original readers of the 'sugared sonnets', who could see these sonnets, understand their references and be amusedly shocked by them. The circumstances in which the sonnets came to be published will probably always remain unknown. Perhaps by 1609 the characters involved were sufficiently remote as to be untouched by them, and perhaps the sacrilegious references were no longer deemed such, or the wider world had changed and was more tolerant of such matters. And there always remains the possibility, that despite the evident care which has been taken in the arrangement of the sonnets, a care which can hardly be anything other than authorial, the publication was nevertheless an act of piracy, not sanctioned by the author.

One final possibility, which I have not touched on at all, is that there is no blasphemy in these poems, and that we should read them if anything as the record and witness of a spiritual rapprochement between divine and earthly love, the one supporting and enriching the other. No final judgement is possible, and in the end each reader must make up her or his own mind, how to take these poems, and perhaps leave undecided the reach and significance of many parts of them. For a poem is not a mathematical theorem, fixed and determined for all time, but a linguistic miracle which lives and grows as its readers grow alongside it.

9. So that eternal love in love's fresh case,

in love's fresh case = in the new clothing/skin/covering in which love now finds itself (due to ageing and changeing circumstances). Or, in the old, eternally repeated phraseology of love, which is constantly refreshing itself, and appearing newly clothed. The difficulty of the line springs from the use of the word case, which in Shakespeare usually means 'situation, circumstances', or 'set of facts for consideration in a court of law'. Apart from that it is used in the phrase 'in any case'. Of the 110 uses in the plays and poems, in only about ten does it have the meaning of 'outer covering. container, skin', or is used as a verb meaning 'to encase', or 'to flay'. However this does not necessarily restrict its use here, and possibly all meanings are registered, though not all predominate

10. Weighs not the dust and injury of age,

Weighs not = does not attach importance to.
the dust and injury of age - dust is associated with death, as in 'Memento homo, quia pulvus es, et in pulverem reverteris' - 'Remember man that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return', (from the service for Ash Wednesday, in Lent); injury is associated with the decrepitude and diseases of old age. Love does not take account of such temporal failings.

11. Nor gives to necessary wrinkles place,

gives .... place to = yields to, gives precedence to, gives importance to. necessary wrinkles = the wrinkles of old age, which are unavoidable.

12. But makes antiquity for aye his page;

for aye = forever, eternally.

A line of uncertain meaning, depending on whether one takes page to mean 'servant' or 'page of a book'. Given that line 1 refers to writing, and that the previous sonnet has called on chronicles of ancient times for evidence, it seems that the printed page is the predominant meaning here. Consequently the meaning of the line would be 'he (the lover) takes the records of antiquity as his exemplars, seeing in them praises of what is always beautiful, and seeing in them the eternity of loving'. Alternatively it could mean 'he (love) makes age and decrepitude his servants and is in no way subservient to them'. Antiquity in the sense of age is used in Sonnet 62:
But when my glass shows me myself indeed,
Beated and chopp'd with tann'd antiquity,
In fact these are the only two uses of the word in the sonnets, so it is perhaps stretching the point to insist that here it means 'the writings or traditions of ancient times'. In the plays it is used five times, mostly with this same meaning, as in these examples.

Hadst thou not the privilege of antiquity upon thee, AWW.II.3.206

Under an oak, whose boughs were moss'd with age
And high top bald with dry antiquity, AYL.IV.3.103-4.

Only in Hamlet does it appear to have the more general meaning of 'ancient times' (OED. 4.), but even here it could merely denote 'the seniority of age or old age, and the respect due to it' (OED.2):

The rabble call him lord;
And, as the world were now but to begin,
Antiquity forgot, custom not known,
The ratifiers and props of every word,
They cry 'Choose we: Laertes shall be king:' Ham.IV.5.99-103.

13. Finding the first conceit of love there bred,

'Finding love again as it was when first conceived and bred (in those times long ago when we first met). Finding love as it was originally conceived in ancient times, when first it was discovered'. Despite the difficulty of the expression, it probably has the simple meaning 'discovering our love again to be as fresh as it was in those early days when it first came into being'.

14. Where time and outward form would show it dead.

time and outward form = the outward appearance of things, which time has now brought to a state of dustiness.
it = our love.

I.e. custom and experience of the world would suggest that our love by now must be extinct.

1. O! never say that I was false of heart,

The poet responds to a real or imaginary accusation of betrayal.

2. Though absence seemed my flame to qualify,

absence = the separation (absence) of me from you, or you from me. Because of the comparison with 'him that travels' in line 6 below, we tend to think of the separation as being caused by the poet's peregrinations and occupations elsewhere.
my flame = my passion, my love.
to qualify = to reduce, to diminish; to dilute. As in Hamlet
Love is begun by Time:
And Time qualifies the spark and fire of it. Ham.IV.7.114

3. As easy might I from my self depart

As easy might I = it would be as easy for me to etc. ........ as it would be to etc.

4. As from my soul which in thy breast doth lie:

my soul which in thy breast doth lie - The mutual interchangeability of hearts and minds has been used often in the sonnets, and was already a common theme of love poetry.

Lines 3-4: = 'It would be as easy for me to separate myself from myself as it would be for me to separate myself from you (my true self), i.e., it would be impossible'.

5. That is my home of love: if I have ranged,

my home of love - the beloved place to which I always return; my base; my essential being; the core of love, which is my starting and ending point.
ranged = wandered, (a euphemism for promiscuity).

6. Like him that travels, I return again;

like him that travels - the phrase may be taken (promiscuously) with what proceeds and what follows.

7. Just to the time, not with the time exchanged,

Just to the time = exactly on time, in accordance with expectation;
not with the time exchanged = not altered by the changed circumstances.

8. So that myself bring water for my stain.

my stain - Christian doctrine regards sin as staining the immortal soul, a stain which may be washed away with repentance, or the tears thereof. Holy water was also efficacious.

9. Never believe though in my nature reigned,

Even if it were the case that in my nature such and such follies reigned supreme, you must never bring yourself to believe that etc., etc. There is a possibility of sexual innuendo in nature, reigned, all, frailties, nothing, preposterous, stained. Nothing for example was frequently used as a euphemism for female genitalia. (See SB pp.352-3).

10. All frailties that besiege all kinds of blood,

frailties = dispositions to sin, weaknesses of the flesh.
all kinds of blood = all types of character, all temperaments. With a suggestion also of family, kinship, line of descent. Base blood would be considered to have baser desires than blood of a noble line. The implications in the following sonnets, 111 & 112, of the poet's baser social connections might well be relevant here. blood could also mean 'animal passions, carnality, or a tendency to such.' (See Onions 2,3).

11. That it could so preposterously be stained,

it = my nature (line 9).
preposterously = unnaturally, irrationally; perversely; absurdly. OED 2. From the Latin root, praeposterus, reverse, back to front, perverted, arse-backwards. A similar use in Othello:
For nature so preposterously to err,
Being not deficient, blind, or lame of sense,
Sans witchcraft could not. Oth.I.3.61-3.

be stained - see the note to stain in line 8.

12. To leave for nothing all thy sum of good;

for nothing - i.e. for the unworthy rivals for your love, who are nothing in comparison to you. all thy sum of good = the totality of you, which is all goodness; all the many aspects of your goodness.

13. For nothing this wide universe I call,

The implication is that the entire universe is as nothing compared to the beloved, even though, paradoxically, he is a part of that universe. In this case, the part is greater than the sum of all the parts.
universe - used only once elsewhere in Shakespeare:
Now entertain conjecture of a time
When creeping murmur and the poring dark
Fills the wide vessel of the universe. H5.IV.Prol.1-3.

He uses universal more frequently, 14 times in all, viz. AC (2), AYL, H5 (3), JC, LLL, Mac, MV, RJ, TC (2), WT. For what it is worth, eight of the 14 uses occur in the plays written between 1596 and 1602.

14. Save thou, my rose, in it thou art my all.

my rose - From as early as Sonnet 1 the rose, as the exemplar of all that is beautiful, has been presented as the most fitting symbol and simile of the youth. I give below an extract from Gerard's Herbal, which gives some idea of the special place that the rose occupied in Elizabethan thought.

 

The totality of devotion which the concluding couplet implies seems to sweep aside all the apparent sophistry of the preceding arguments. It is as if the poet has grown weary of them, he turns away from them, and says effectively 'What does it matter? Since you are my universe nothing that I have done can take me from you, or can have the slightest effect on our relationship'.

 

 

1. Alas! 'tis true, I have gone here and there,

Alas, 'tis true - This seems to be a continuation of the confession of the previous sonnet, in which the poet admits to various liaisons.
I have gone here and there - not so much an admission of travelling, as one of being unfaithful. He has been indiscriminate in his choice of lovers. In the context of the contents of the rest of the sonnet, to have 'gone here and there' sounds more like a description of random promiscuity, than of sightseeing.

2. And made my self a motley to the view,

made myself a motley to the view = made a fool of myself in front of all and sundry; took all sorts of parts, played many roles. Because of Shakeseare's known connections with the theatre, commentators have attached much importance to this line, thinking that perhaps it is a direct reference to his acting career, and an expression of regret at being thus served by Fortune. However it is not known if Shakespeare a.) ever took the stage part of 'the Fool', a part which is found in several of the plays e.g. Twelfth Night, Lear; or b.) if this line has any special reference to such a possibility. It is more likely that the line is simply a self-mocking imagistic reference to his activities over the last few months or years.

motley = fool (a noun).(OED.3.b). It can also refer to the parti-coloured costume which fools traditionally are thought to have worn (although the exact nature of their clothing is not known for certain - the diamond shaped patchwork of Harlequin in the Italian comedies is probably a slightly later development). Originally it was used to describe a type of cheap cloth woven from remainders, hence of no fixed colour. Shakespeare seems to use it synonymously with 'Fool', the character in many wealthy households whose task was to provide an endless stream of witticisms.

3. Gored mine own thoughts, sold cheap what is most dear,

gored = injured, done violence to; besmirched, sullied (from the noun gore which, as well as meaning dried blood, was also a general term for all manner of filth.( OED.(1).1.) . When referring to injury, it is usually the injury caused by a horn, or a horned animal. Shakespeare as often as not uses it figuratively. As in:
I see my reputation is at stake
My fame is shrewdly gored. TC.III.3.227-8.
Commentators also give various meanings drawn from heraldry and heraldic art.

sold cheap what is most dear = cheapened what is essentially most precious to me. The actual selling of anything is presumably not meant, for it is not clear exactly what would be sold. If what is most dear refers to the poet's love for the youth, or to the youth himself, selling either of them is not an option. However there is perhaps the suggestion of prostituting oneself, or another, engendered by the use of the word sold, although its chief function is to sustain the antithesis between cheap and dear, which is matched by the other antitheses throughout the poem, 'here, there', 'old, new', 'worse, best', 'newer, older'.
dear = precious, highly valued, revered; expensive.

4. Made old offences of affections new;

old = habitual; frequent (?), as in Macbeth:
Here's a knocking indeed! If a man were a porter of hell gate, he should have old turning the key. Mac.II.3.1-3.
offences = injuries, damage, causes of pain and distress. Probably also the biblical meaning of 'a cause of spiritual or moral stumbling' (OED.2.) is also included.
affections new = new love affairs. The difficulty with the line, if there is indeed any difficulty, is due to the reversal of subject and object. 'Made new affections into the habitual, old and oft repeated injuries of the past'.

5. Most true it is, that I have looked on truth

truth = reality, truth in love, honesty, sincerity, constancy.  There might also be a suggetion of religious truth, the poet implying that he has strayed from the true faith.  See the Introductory Notes for further discussion of this. 
looked on = looked at, beheld, been an onlooker at (displays of truthfulness etc.). ( OED for 'onlooker' gives One who looks on; a looker on; a spectator.) The more modern meaning of 'given consideration to' is not intended.

6. Askance and strangely; but, by all above,

Askance = askew, with a touch of contempt, distortedly. (Suggestive perhaps of a desire to bend or ignore the truth).
strangely = as if it were a stranger to me, or I a stranger to it.
by all above - a mild oath, equivalent to 'by heaven', 'by all that's holy'.

7. These blenches gave my heart another youth,

blenches = swervings aside, turnings aside, turnings away from. The noun is not used elsewhere in Shakespeare, but there are five uses of the verb 'to blench' in the plays. Two examples follow:

....................how may I avoid,
Although my will distaste what it elected,
The wife I chose? there can be no evasion
To blench from this and to stand firm by honour:
We turn not back the silks upon the merchant,
When we have soiled them, TC.II.2.65-70

The matter being afoot, keep your instruction,
And hold you ever to our special drift;
Though sometimes you do blench from this to that,
As cause doth minister. MM.IV.5.3-6.

Possibly also the additional meanings of 'blemishes, soilings', or 'sidelong glances'.

gave my heart another youth = gave me a new lease of life, rejuvenated me. But could also be interpreted as 'gave me a new and younger lover', 'gave me a new boyfriend'.

8. And worse essays proved thee my best of love.

worse essays = less satisfactory love affairs; morally more degrading attempts at love (seduction ?).  Sinful dalliance with other harlot religions.
proved thee = showed you to be; gave proof that you were.
my best of love = the best of all my loves; the superlative of all that is found in love. For the use of 'best' as a noun, compare:
The best in this kind are but shadows, and the worst are no worse if imagination amend them. MND.V.1.210-1.
and
The best of rest is sleep. MM.III.1.17.

9. Now all is done, have what shall have no end:

all is done = all is come to an end, all those escapades are finished. have what shall have no end = come what come may; let whatever the world holds of eternity be encompassed in our love.
Some editors emend to save what shall have no end. However the glorious indeterminacy of have what shall have no end, suggesting, as it does, infinities of ever receding existences, is best retained. It echoes a familiar prayer, the 'Glory be', which ends: 'as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.', and it is replete with subconscious images of things which are only in the realms of eternity.

A more pedestrian interpretation is 'receive what shall never come to an end, (i.e. my love for you)', taking the first 'have' as an imperative meaning 'take, receive'.

10. Mine appetite I never more will grind

Mine appetite = my passions, my sexual urges.
grind = sharpen. The image is that of sharpening a blade on a grindstone. Sonn.118 also refers to making one's appetite keener (sharper):
Like as, to make our appetite more keen,
With eager compounds we our palate urge;
It is interesting to see that the five other uses of the word 'grind' in Shakespeare are all descriptive of unpleasant experiences, the grinding of bones and joints. Probably there is also the suggestion here, given that the poem is partly an apology for infidelity and promiscuity, of grinding away and toiling in a loveless copulation. (See SB, note on lines 9-12, pp.356-7.).

11. On newer proof, to try an older friend,

newer proof .. older friend - the worse essays and best of love of line 8 become the newer proof and older friend of this line.
proof = experiment, testing.
to try = to put to the test; to torment, as in trial by torture.
The contrast between newer and older begins to suggest that the youth is no longer as young, or as beautiful, as he once was, and that others are perhaps waiting in the wings to take his place.

11-12. I will not attempt to stimulate my appetite by new ventures in love and new affairs, as if I were trying to put to the test my old (and older) lover.

12. A god in love, to whom I am confined.

This line is usually taken as referring to and qualifying 'an older friend' of the previous line, or as applying in general to the ever present beloved to whom the poem is addressed. 'He is a god, in all aspects of loving, the one to whom my idolatry is confined'. (See sonnets 105 and 108.) However the word 'confined' does contain an element of restriction, as if the confinement is not all voluntary, but enforced. Perhaps the poet would break free from it if he knew how to.  But the imagery is predominantly religious, suggestive of the confinement of religious duties and devotion.  Compare for example John Donne's Holy Sonnet 14, addressed to God:  

Take me to you, imprison me, for I 
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free, 
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.  14.  12-14.

13. Then give me welcome, next my heaven the best,

Then give me welcome - a suggestion here of the return of the prodigal son, and perhaps, in the request for a welcome, encompassing the thought also of the previous sonnet:
.....if I have ranged,
Like him that travels, I return again;
No doubt both physical and spiritual embracing is suggested by these two lines.
next my heaven the best = after my hope of heaven the best thing in the world, i.e., the young man. (The phrase is a vocative, after the request for a welcome).

14. Even to thy pure and most most loving breast.

Even to = even as far as (the inner sanctum etc). The word is suggestive of both hesitancy and hope that such a large and abundant privilege might be granted.
most most - A double superlative to crown the superlatives 'best' and 'most true' and the finality of 'have what shall have no end'. But it may also be interpreted more cynically as 'you who have had the most lovers of anyone'.

1. O! for my sake do you with Fortune chide,

with - this is the generally accepted emendation of Q's wish. Some editors have recently challenged the change, and justified retaining wish. The difficulty that prompted the emendation originally is that of providing a coherent meaning for what follows, if wish is retained. The guilty goddess then becomes a sort of adjunct of Fortune, or a totally independent deity who allots circumstances to the individual. Alternatively, if she is taken to be in apposition to Fortune and descriptive of her, then chide has no object but hangs vacuously in the air. There is no one and nothing to chide, unless one understands 'me. the poet' as the object, without it being stated.

 

The emendation to with provides a more intelligible reading, because chide with is an idiom used elsewhere in Shakespeare:

...................................'tis but his humour:
The business of the state does him offence,
And he does chide with you. Oth.IV.2.167-8.

although it must be admitted it is not a common idiom. But the line makes more sense taking with as the reading, and it ties in more easily with what follows. The poet enjoins his beloved to rail against fortune as the goddess who, by alloting to him a lowly status among mankind, forces him to commit acts of shame (the harmful deeds of line 2 and the shames of 112.6), acts of which it is doubtful if we can ever know much. To blame fortune for actions of betrayal and bad faith, actions which were presumably voluntary, seems to be a piece of casuistry which does not show the speaker in the best of lights. Yet here that is what he seems to be partially doing by shifting the blame from himself to the circumstances of his birth and the subsequent public (prostituted?) life that he was forced to lead. We have to make allowances for the fact that this sonnet is placed amidst those in which the poet finds himself forced to discover excuses for his somewhat tacky behaviour, and to prove that his love has been renewed, and is as fresh as ever. That he comes up with some curious arguments is not a matter to be scrutinized too deeply, for who would not do the same in similar circumstances? Anything must be advanced as justification, all material may be employed, as long as he does not at any time admit that his unfaithfulness was unfaithfulness. Oh no! His love is an ever fixed mark, and it is to that to which he must return, whatever the momentary aberrations which Fortune or his own blindness or wilfulness occasionally thrust upon him. That is the message which this sonnet is aiming for, a message which leads up, through this short group (109-118) to the crowning glory of the declaration in Sonnet 116, a declaration which is both impatient and triumphant:
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments...

2. The guilty goddess of my harmful deeds,

guilty goddess - if with is accepted as a viable emendation then the 'guilty goddess' becomes synonymous with Fortuna. She is the goddess who has thrown upon the poet an evil fate as a result of which he has committed evil deeds.
my harmful deeds - in the context of the preceding sonnets these harmful deeds are 'going here and there', 'being absent', 'ranging', 'selling cheap what is most dear', 'grinding one's appetite', and in the context of what follows a similar list arises, 'scanted all', 'been frequent with unknown minds',' hoisted sail to all the winds', 'been unkind'. The suspicion is that all the harmful deeds are versions of philandering by which the youth has been betrayed, slighted and neglected.

3. That did not better for my life provide

That = who, sc. Fortune. Fortune did not give me a good start in life, did not provide me with a comfortable income, and did not give me a noble lineage.

4. Than public means which public manners breeds.

public means - a phrase of uncertain meaning. Usually it is taken as referring to a life in the theatre, ever since that interpretation was first suggested by Malone. Players put their lives, as it were, upon the public stage and derived their 'means' of livelihood from it. Being associated with the theatre was considered by many to be immoral, and the increasing power of Puritan sects posed a continuous threat to the theatre and to all forms of entertainmnet. (See introductory note above and Additional Notes below). However the use of the word public on two other occasions in the sonnets is not indicative of a demeaning context, but, if anything, the opposite:

Let those who are in favour with their stars
Of public honour and proud titles boast, 25

I may not evermore acknowledge thee,
Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame,
Nor thou with public kindness honour me, 36

There are 37 uses of the word in the plays, mostly in phrases such as public weal, public street, public show. The only occasion in which it definitely has a pejorative implication is when Othello castigates Desdemona, accusing her of being a whore.

What committed?
Committed! O thou public commoner! Oth.IV.2.73-4.

In this sonnet however the subsequent line is decisive in showing that the 'public means' contribute to shame and disgrace of some sort, probably by a lowering of social status. Whether or not the brand or stigma (see next line) was the result of his involvement in the theatre or simply something which he perceived as the result of lowly birth, or for some other reason, it is impossible to say. Certainly, being descended from a corn dealer (or glover, or retail butcher) would not have counted for much in the circles in which an aristocrat moved, if indeed the beloved youth was an aristocrat. And Shakespeare seems to have been very conscious of this fact and to have made efforts to move up in the world, acquiring a coat of arms and buying the most expensive property in Stratford. The 'public means' may simply imply that he had to make a living somehow, regrettable though it was, for, by accident of birth, he had neither property nor a title, and his necessary involvement in the mercantile and menial world was a source of rankling resentment.

It is thought that there are references to Shakespeare's position in the theatre, and a defence of his social status, possibly referring to this sonnet, in a poem by John Davies of Hereford, published in 1603 in Microcosmos. (See below).

 

 

5. Thence comes it that my name receives a brand,

Thence = as a result of the 'public means' and 'public manners'. Or, as a result of my 'harmful deeds'. brand = literally, the mark caused by a branding iron. Figuratively, a stain or disgrace, a blot on one's reputation and fair name. Criminals were often branded with a red hot iron in a prominent place, usually on the forehead, with the intention of showing to the world that they were malefactors. The scars were almost impossible to remove. This has been a common practice throughout history, and has only been superceded in the 20th century by more humane methods of punishment.

6. And almost thence my nature is subdued

And almost thence my nature = as a result of which my nature is almost. The almost gives a hint of reservation, as if the poet doubts his own explanation of events, or as if he wishes to reserve some part of himself from the imminent corruption.
subdued = overcome by, crushed, vitiated; subjugated to. Compare:

My father's loss, the weakness which I feel,
The wreck of all my friends, nor this man's threats,
To whom I am subdued, Tem.I.2.487-9.

7. To what it works in, like the dyer's hand:

like the dyer's hand = as the dyer's hand, which becomes stained by the dyeing solutions into which the fabrics are dipped.

8. Pity me, then, and wish I were renewed;

wish - defenders of wish in line 1 have noted the repetition of the word in this line. wish I were renewed = wish that I could be renewed (and be faithful once more).

9. Whilst, like a willing patient, I will drink

a willing patient = a submissive patient, one who is desirous of a cure.

10. Potions of eisel 'gainst my strong infection;

Potions of eisel = medicinal draughts of vinegar. eisel, also spelt eysell, is an obsolete word for vinegar. It was used partly as a remedy against the plague. It could also be used for simpler ailments such as indigestion. It is probable that it was a rather more unpleasant and foul tasting substance than the modern refined and quality controlled stuff obtained in supermarkets. Commentators note that it was the drink, mixed with gall, given to Christ on the cross.
infection = staining, corruption, disease. The word infect, from the Latin inficere, originally meant 'to dye', and this sense is obviously relevant here, owing to the imagery of the dyer's hand in line 7. It was also used as a term for the bubonic plague, or black death, as may be seen from the example below, where the words infectious and infection are both used.

................the searchers of the town,
Suspecting that we both were in a house
Where the infectious pestilence did reign,
Sealed up the doors, and would not let us forth;
So that my speed to Mantua there was stayed.
FRIAR L. Who bare my letter, then, to Romeo?
FRIAR J. I could not send it,--here it is again,--
Nor get a messenger to bring it thee,
So fearful were they of infection. RJ.V.2.8-16.

Figuratively the poet is implying that he was infected with the plague of infidelity. Infection is also used in connection with the youth's earlier backslidings:

Ah! wherefore with infection should he live, 67

But if that flower with base infection meet, 94

where it seems to be a catch-all word to cover various sexual peccadilloes by the youth.

Note also that the words potion and infection were often used in connection with being in love. Love potions, drinks that could be given to one you loved in order to make him/her love you in return, were widely believed in. Shakespeare uses infected to describe Miranda's infatuated love for Ferdinand in The Tempest.

Poor worm, thou art infected!
This visitation shows it. Tem.III.1.32-3.

11. No bitterness that I will bitter think,

'Whatever bitter remedies are prescribed, I will not think they are bitter, but like a patient patient will take them meekly'. The remedies presumably were not to be physical potions, but moral restraints and chastisements.

12. Nor double penance, to correct correction.

The connection with the previous line implies that double penances and double corrections (chastisements) will not be thought too much, or too bitter.
to correct correction = to put right a former attempt at correction, which failed, by using a further correction.

correction - is here used in the sense of a moral coercion, often backed up by the use of physical force or punishment. (See OED.4 which gives the following example from 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 38 Their ordinary correction is to beate them with cudgels.) The term 'House of Correction', a penitentiary, was in frequent use until the early 20th. century, but is now obsolete.

Note however that the main point of the line is almost independent of the exact meaning and is conveyed by the splendid iteration of 'correct correction' which emphasises and reiterates the 'double penance' mentioned in the first half of the line.

13. Pity me then, dear friend, and I assure ye,

Pity me then = therefore pity me (rather than castigating me).

14. Even that your pity is enough to cure me.

Even that your pity = (I assure you) that even that pity of yours, on its own, without the help of any further chiding, is enough etc.
to cure me - i.e. from the strong infection of line 10, or the public means and public manners of line 4. 

 

 

1. Your love and pity doth the impression fill,

This line clearly proceeds from the closing couplet of the previous sonnet
Pity me then, dear friend, and I assure ye,
Even that your pity is enough to cure me.

impression = indentation, scar, hollowness, depression. The image is that of a brand or mark seared by a branding iron. See the previous sonnet, line 5:
Thence comes it that my name receives a brand.
The idea is further developed in the next line. The impress of the branding iron is effectively removed (filled up, cured) by the pity and love of the youth, as one would fill up deep wrinkles with cosmetics. Felons who were branded often tried to disguise the mark by various means.

2. Which vulgar scandal stamped upon my brow;

See the note above. vulgar scandal = widespread gossip; malicious and base defamation. vulgar is connected with the Latin word vulgus, meaning the crowd of plebs, the rabble, the mob. The particular scandals or defamations referred to are not known. The language seems to be too strong to be describing only the inconvenience and social disadvantages caused by being a playwright and actor upon the stage.
stamped upon my brow - refers probably to the disfiguring mark inflicted on a criminal's forehead (brow) by a branding iron, a practice dating back to Roman times and beyond. Figuratively the slanderers have branded the poet as a felon for his misdemeanours. KDJ thinks that the phrase may refer also to printing, and the pirated edition of the Passionate Pilgrim, with two sonnets stolen from Shakespeare, 138 and 144, sonnets which, taken out of context, could be seen as in some way being a source of scandal to the author.

3. For what care I who calls me well or ill,

'It is a matter of complete indifference to me whether anyone reports good of me, or if they report evil, as long as etc.'
who calls me well or ill = who praises or dispraises me. The phrase to call someone meaning 'to describe or comment on them' is not a usual idiom, but the context seems to fix the meaning here. There is also a pun in who calls me well, which is equivalent to who calls me by my name, Will. The pronunciation of the two words might have been the same, and the rhyme with ill assists with the punning association.

4. So you o'er-green my bad, my good allow?

So = as long as, provided.
o'er-green = cover over with green, make something look verdant and fresh (as opposed to old, evil, and decaying).
my good allow = admit that I have good points.

5. You are my all-the-world, and I must strive

You are my all the world - an echo of the couplet of 109:
For nothing this wide universe I call,
Save thou, my rose, in it thou art my all.

and other such all embracing claims, as

And thou, all they, hast all the all of me. 31

There is something so absolute, so totally self-effacing and blindly devoted in this declaration that one almost feels guilty to be present, as if one were a furtive eavesdropper hearing vows destined only for private ears. Other sonnets of the period, although they talk of the agony, the hopelessness, the infinity of love, always contrive to do so in poetic language. Here and in several other sonnets, (13.13, 22.9-10, 31.14, 48.7, 71.6, 72.3, 88.13, 108.4-6, 109.5 & 14, 112.4, 125.12, 126.1), the language is direct and unadorned, as if it deliberately eschews any ornament and will announce itself truthfully without any distraction of rich and extravagant phrase or garment. Of course there are a variety of ways of interpreting this. One could take it for example as the words of a sophisticate in love trapping his victim, i.e. the words are but empty formulae. Or it could be a caricature of the language of lovers, a tongue in cheek echo of the real world with all the nonsense and farrago of love which it contains. Or perhaps the poet wishes to parody the world of sonneteering by driving it to new extremes. (For what man in the real world calls another man his rose?) Or it could be deadly serious, the absolute truth, for the presence of such a direct and simple phrase in the midst of so much complexity invites one to read it as such.

6. To know my shames and praises from your tongue;

To know ... from your tongue = to take you as the arbiter of what is good and bad in me; to understand, when you tell me, the things which dishonour me, or are worthy of praise. As the pole star of his universe, his 'all the world', the poet must rely on the beloved for guidance in all things, to know if they are right or wrong.

7. None else to me, nor I to none alive,

7-8 - Two crucial lines which do not have a transparent meaning. Commentators have wrestled with the problem of deciphering them for the last two hundred years. Part of the difficulty is that this line lacks a verb, and the following line, which depends on this one because of the connecting word 'that', does not make clear what is subject or object, and has an awkward 'or.....or' clause embedded in it which might work in a variety of ways. I give some of the possible interpretations below. Readers desirous of more extensive explanations should consult SB pp. 364-372.

1). No one else exists for me, and I exist for no one, apart from you.
2). I listen to no other words (tongues), other than yours, and I live only for you.
3). No one else speaks to me, and I speak to no one else who is alive.

8. That my steeled sense or changes right or wrong.

That = with the result that
my steeled sense = my hardened resolution; my obdurate perceptions;
or changes right or wrong = changes either what is right or what is wrong (into what you dictate as right and wrong).
This meaning depends on taking steeled sense as the subject of the verb changes, and taking the or...or clause as if it were or right or wrong, i.e. either right or wrong.
KDJ adopts the emendation
my steeled sense o'erchanges right or wrong
which suggests that the steeled sense of the poet transmutes right and wrong (into their opposites??).
None of these meanings is entirely satisfactory. George Steevens, one of the earliest Shakespeare editors, glossed these two lines as:
'You are the only person who has the power to change my stubborn resolution either to what is right, or to what is wrong'.
It indeed appears that they are saying something like this, but whether the phraseology was intended to suggest other meanings, whether it should be emended, whether it is deliberately obscure, it is impossible for anyone now to determine.

9. In so profound abysm I throw all care

In so profound abysm = in such a deep chasm, into some remote abyss; into hell (the bottomless pit). See the introductory note above.
all care = all concern for the outside world, all consideration of others (apart from you).

10. Of others' voices, that my adder's sense

voices = words, comments, strictures. The pronuncitation apparently was the same as for vices.
my adder's sense = my hearing, which is like that of the adder, who apparently stops up his ears to external sound rather than listen to unpleasantness. It was believed that the adder, for some obscure reason, (perhaps to avoid being told that he was an evil serpent), blocked up his ears by placing one firmly on the ground and stopping the other with the tip of his/her tail. Probably the myth arose through sightings of adders lying intertwined on the hot ground. Also, the biblical passage in the Psalms is probably here alluded to: 'The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear: which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely'. Ps.58.3-5.

See also the introductory note above.

11. To critic and to flatterer stopped are.

critic = one who makes critical comments on my conduct. (The word did not at that time mean a critic or commentator of the theatre).
stopped = blocked up, to prevent hearing anything either from critics or flatterers. Only the voice of the youth is listened to.

12. Mark how with my neglect I do dispense:

my neglect = neglect of myself; neglect of others.
dispense = explain, excuse; get by. The mark how at the beginning (= observe how) suggests that the explanation of how he behaves is to follow in the couplet.

13. You are so strongly in my purpose bred,

'You are so deeply ingrained in my mind and person'. 'My purposes and motives are so deeply reliant on you'. 'You are my all the world' (line 5).

14. That all the world besides methinks y'are dead.

Several readings and interpretations of this line are possible. 1). All the world in comparison with you is as if dead. 2). All the world, apart from me, thinks you are dead (because you occupy me entirely and they cannot see you). 3). Setting aside all the rest of the world, I think it must be dead [taking y' as equivalent to th' ]. 4.) I ruminate on the fact that all the rest of the world, apart from you, is dead.

1. Since I left you, mine eye is in my mind;

Since I left you - the period of absence and its reason is not known. It may relate to the absences mentioned in 50-1 and 97-8, or to some other period of separation. Or it may be purely a distance caused by the poet 'ranging' to other loves, as described in 109 and 110.
mine eye is in my mind = my eye no longer is a seeing organ, but has become an adjunct to my mind and sees only what the mind wishes to see (as the following lines explain).

2. And that which governs me to go about

'That which directs me where to go, i.e., my eye'.
govern = steer, manage, direct.
to go about = to walk, to go on my way, to go about my business. In short, to participate in all the activities which rely on the use of the eye.

3. Doth part his function and is partly blind,

Doth part his function = departs from its usual activity and mode of operation.
his = its, and refers to mine eye or that which governs me to go about. This and all the remaining lines expand on how the eye parts his function and how it appears not to be seeing that which it does see.
is partly blind - presumably not totally blind, because it does see other objects, but the mind blots them out.

4. Seems seeing, but effectually is out;

Seems seeing = seems to be a seeing organ.
effectually = effectively, in effect, in practice.
is out = i.e. out of its socket, not there, removed, displaced, put out. But also with the sense of being extinguished and giving no light.

5. For it no form delivers to the heart

it = the eye.
no form = no image, no shape. Perhaps with a slight suggestion of the Platonic forms or ideals, although they are not specially relevant here. The youth was the form or ideal of all things beautiful in the world.
delivers to the heart = presents to the mind. Heart and mind in this context are interchangeable, although 'heart' tends to be used more when emotions are involved. The eye was envisaged as conveying the images of things it saw to the mind. See sonnets 46 and 47.

6. Of bird, of flower, or shape which it doth latch:

or shape which it doth latch - the science of optics hardly existed at the time, and theories of sight were based on ancient ideas, according to which the eye sent out particles or a flux which effectively latched on to the object at which the eye was looking.
latch - an emendation of Q's lack accepted by most editors.

7. Of his quick objects hath the mind no part,

his = its = the eye's.
quick objects = shapes which the eye has encountered and latched on to; living images. Onions (object n. 2.) gives 'Presentation (of something) to the eye or the perception'.
hath the mind no part = the mind does not share (the quick objects, the images, which the eye sees).

8. Nor his own vision holds what it doth catch;

his - as above, the eye's. SB however notes that the antecedent of his here and in line 7 could also be 'my mind'. The similarity of function of mind and eye is stressed in Sonnets 24 and 47. Compare also
CASS. Tell me good Brutus, can you see your face?
BRU. No Cassius, for the eye sees not itself
But by reflection by some other things.
CASS. 'Tis just;
And it is very much lamented Brutus,
That you have no such mirrors as will turn
Your hidden worthiness into your eye,
That you might see your shadow. JC.I.2.51-8.
Although the thought in JC differs from that expressed in this sonnet, it is evident that Shakespeare was engrossed by the uncertainty of reflections and the strangeness of mirror images, which he has depicted here in part in the partial echoes and reversions of words. Thus seems seeing, part partly, true untrue are like odd reflections in mirrors, shadows which have been turned into the mind by the use of an inner mirror.
holds what it doth catch = retains the images of the things onto which it latches.

9. For if it see the rud'st or gentlest sight,

it = the eye. But see previous note.
rud'st = crudest, most uncultured, most vile.

10. The most sweet favour or deformed'st creature,

sweet favour = delightful face, pleasing feature and appearance. deformed'st = most deformed.
Note that some editors emend this to The most sweet-favour'd or deformed'st creature so as to preserve the parallellism between this line and rud'st or gentlest, day or night etc.

11. The mountain or the sea, the day or night,

12. The crow, or dove, it shapes them to your feature.

it shapes them to your feature = it (the eye) transforms the images it has latched on to into images which look like you (have your features). In these five lines (8-12) the eye seems to act independently of the mind, and decides to convert all its sightings into visions of the beloved. However it has been driven to do this by the mind's insistence, so it remains unclear whether the eye or the mind is the instigator of these deceptions and transmutations.

13. Incapable of more, replete with you,

Incapable of more = being unable to do anything other than think of you. The subject is my mind in the next line.
replete with you = being filled entirely with thoughts of you.

14. My most true mind thus maketh mine eye untrue.

My most true mind - i.e. true because it sees only you, and therefore only sees what is worthy of being seen. However it makes the eye untrue because the eye does recognise other objects in the world around, but is forced by the mind to convert them to the shape of the youth. It is therefore giving a false record of what it has actually seen. true - also = constant, reliable, faithful.
mine eye - an emendation of Q's mine. Other emendations suggested are m'eyne, or changing My to Thy at the start of the line.

1. Or whether doth my mind, being crowned with you,

Or whether ..... Or whether (l.3) = Is it the case that .... or is it rather that. The alternatives are that the mind, being flattered by the visions and descriptions that the eye sends it, deceives itself into thinking that all objects are like the youth; or that the eye itself has learned how to transmute all things into the appearance of the beloved, having been taught to do so by love of the youth. The distinction is an artificial one, because even in the psychology of the time, eye and mind were more or less inseparable, each being dependent on the other. However the thought is a continuation of that worked over in the previous sonnet, and is treated as a pleasing poetic illusion in the shape of a metaphysical conceit.

2. Drink up the monarch's plague, this flattery?

this flattery - the flattering visions that the eye sends it, all resembling the youth according to the eye's account.
the monarch's plague - flattery was like a disease which infected monarchs in that it prevented them from seeing the truth. The flattery in this instance is presumably that of the mind thinking itself to be loved by the youth, a possible illusion fed by the eye's willingness to serve up continually visions of the beloved which are in fact other objects which have been transmuted into him by the eye's dexterity.

3. Or whether shall I say, mine eye saith true,

Or whether - see above, line 1.

4. And that your love taught it this alchemy,

alchemy = the science which studied how to turn base metals into gold. The eye is turning base objects into visions of the youth, as described in the next four lines. There was a tendency to regard alchemists as charlatans, and alchemy as trickery. (See for example Ben Jonson's play, The Alchemist). Here the secondary suggestion might be that your love is illusory, and teaches one how to be dishonest with oneself. Flattery and alchemy are combined also in Sonnet 33,
Full many a glorious morning have I seen
Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye,
Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy;
a combination which leads to eventual disappointment.

5. To make of monsters and things indigest

indigest = unformed, monstrous, undigested. Shakespeare only uses the word twice, here and in King John, where it is used as a noun meaning 'formless and shapeless confusion'.

Be of good comfort, prince; for you are born
To set a form upon that indigest
Which he hath left so shapeless and so rude. KJ.V.7.25-7.

6. Such cherubins as your sweet self resemble,

cherubins = angels, cherubs.
as = that.
5-6 To change monsters and other crude, ugly objects into cherubs that resemble you.

7. Creating every bad a perfect best,

Making every bad thing into a thing that is perfect and best

8. As fast as objects to his beams assemble?

to his beams assemble = come into the orbit of its (the eye's) sight. The eye was supposed to send out particles, or a flux, which enveloped the objects towards which it was aimed. All such objects the eye is deemed to convert into images of the beloved by means of the alchemy mentioned in line 4.

9. O! 'tis the first, 'tis flattery in my seeing,

It is the first option that he decides is responsible for his behaviour (see note to line 1). The mind has been flattered by the eye which has fed it the drink of perpetual images of the perfect youth.

10. And my great mind most kingly drinks it up:

my great mind most kingly - great, because it is kingly. The imagery of the monarch is being developed after its introduction initially in line 1. The idea of flattery as a drink, even a poisoned drink, is not uncommon, as indeed the reference to it as the monarch's plague makes clear, for it is the inevitable companion of princes throughout history. The metaphor of the poisoned drink is however only used once elsewhere by Shakespeare, in Henry V. (See below, note to line 13).

11. Mine eye well knows what with his gust is 'greeing,

his gust = its (the mind's) taste and desires. gust is from the Latin gustus, a tasting.
'greeing = agreeing, agreeable.

12. And to his palate doth prepare the cup:

And to his palate = and according to the tastes of his palate (i.e. the mind's; but it could be the eye's, if his refers to the eye). doth prepare the cup - the cup of flattery, introduced with the idea of drink in line 2. The eye fills the cup of flattery for the mind, giving to it those flavours which it knows the mind will not refuse.

13. If it be poisoned, 'tis the lesser sin

If it be poisoned - i.e. if the cup of flattery has poison in it, such that it misleads, dupes and drugs the mind into thinking the situation is other than it is, as a flatterer dupes a king to make him do things to the flatterer's advantage, and not to his own. The idea of flattery as a poisoned drink is found also in Henry V:

What drink'st thou oft, instead of homage sweet,
But poison'd flattery? H5.IV.1.246-7.

'tis the lesser sin - this refers to line 14. The sin is a lesser one because the mind is not wholly responsible, but has been misled by the eye.

14. That mine eye loves it and doth first begin.

That = because;
mine eye loves it - the it could refer to the flattery, which the eye also drinks up and enjoys. If the imagery is that of a taster tasting the cup for the king, then the eye tastes it first, doth first begin, finds its taste agreeable, and passes it on to the king, who is also flattered by it. Mind and eye are therefore further confused in the couplet, and despite the master/servant relationship pre-supposed, it remains unclear who or what is responsible for what sin.

However several interpretations of these two lines are possible. KDJ and GBE both seem to take it as meaning that the eye, in comparison with the mind, sins less, because it suffers the greater temptation of liking what it sees. The sin referred to seems to be simply that of loving, perhaps idolatrously, the youth.

Sonnet 142 refers to love as sin, in a different context however, and the object of love in that case is the dark lady:
Love is my sin, and thy dear virtue hate,

1. Those lines that I before have writ do lie,

Those lines = the other sonnets, written before this one.
before have writ = have written previously.
do lie - the reason why they have not told the truth is shortly to be stated.

2. Even those that said I could not love you dearer:

Even those = those especially, those particularly.
I could not love you dearer = I could not love you with a deeper love than that with which I now love you.
dearer = more intensely, more deeply, with more sacred devotion. dearer is usually found in Shakespeare as an adjective of comparison, meaning 'more costly, more expensive, more precious, more grievous'. The only comparable adverbial use is in Julius Caesar:

That I did love thee, Caesar, O, 'tis true:
If then thy spirit look upon us now,
Shall it not grieve thee dearer than thy death,
To see thy Anthony making his peace,
Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes, JC.III.1.195-9.

In fact there are no sonnets which say precisely 'I cannot love you more than I do now'. This has led some commentators to question whether or not there were other sonnets which made this claim, and now are completely lost, to which others commentators have replied that this is a footling and irrelevant question. It is true of course that we do not look for exactitude in poetry, and that the phrase has a general import, which links to statements such as 'You are my all the world', and 'Thou, all they, hast all the all of me'. Nevertheless Shakespeare might well have considered, when writing this, in what way and to what extent it applied to the poems already written. The totality of his love seems not to be in question, and its continuing faith and constancy, which is affirmed in the following sonnet. Yet it also seems to be inherently improbable that these are the only sonnets written by Shakespeare. Given his apparent unconcern with securing his own immortality through the publication of his plays we should not rush to the conclusion that these sonnets are the sum total of his creations in that genre. We would not be justified in such an inference even if we knew for certain that the 1609 Quarto was entirely authorised and seen through the press by the author. We may agree, on balance, that it is not important to relate the words directly to other specific sonnets in the sequence. There is enough in the general tone of the sonnets to satisfy the purport of the words, and there may indeed also have been other sonnets or love poems which said the same thing in different words.

3. Yet then my judgment knew no reason why

then - when I wrote those other poems.
my judgement = my ability to make a sensible judgement, my power of discernment.

4. My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer.

My most full flame - fire and flames were associated with love. Compare this from Hamlet:

Not that I think you did not love your father;
But that I know love is begun by time;
And that I see, in passages of proof,
Time qualifies the spark and fire of it.
There lives within the very flame of love
A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it; Ham.IV.7.110-15.

5. But reckoning Time, whose million'd accidents

reckoning Time = time, which keeps account of all human activities. Compare, for example:
But thoughts, the slave of life, and life, Time's fool;
And Time, that takes survey of all the world,
Must have a stop. 1H4.V.4.81-3.

and
Time hath my Lord, a wallet at his back
In which he puts alms for oblivion TC.III.3.145-6.

But reckoning Time - the opening phrase of this quatrain seems to demand a final statement, instead of a whole list of qualifying phrases. The final effect never seems to arrive, and one is left wondering what it is that reckoning Time is accountable for in relation to this particular instance of the poet's love having grown rather than decreased. The unfinished construction is variously interpreted. For example the word reckoning could be taken as applying to the speaker. He is the one doing the reckoning. Thus: 'giving consideration to Time, whose various activites etc., why then should I not etc.?' (line 9). Or divert in line 8 could be emended to diverts, and this line would then be the predicate phrase of the subject Time in line 5. Thus 'reckoning time, with its many attributes, diverts strong minds etc.' (However this interpretation does not indicate satisfactorily why the fact of diverting strong minds to the course of altering things is significantly or generically different from the other activities of time listed, viz creeping in between vows, changing decrees etc., for they all seem to be as weighty in their import as diverting strong minds). Or one could be contented to allow the pendent construction to remain, as indicative of the disturbed state of mind of the speaker as he realises, while listing time's deleterious effects, that all this would have impinged on his mind in those former times and forced him to make the declarations which he then made of the immensity and completeness of his love, declarations which now he realises were not entirely true.
million'd accidents - millions of chance occurrences. OED suggests that milliond might be no more than a dialect form of million, or formed from the analogy with thousand.

6. Creep in 'twixt vows, and change decrees of kings,

creep in twixt vows = surreptitiously enter to disrupt sacred vows and promises, either to prevent them being made, or to ensure that they are broken after they are made. Lovers' vows are presumably at the forefront of the poet's mind, especially as there were so many classic instances in which they were broken. Vows of love are frequently referred to in the plays. Compare for example:

I charm you, by my once-commended beauty,
By all your vows of love and that great vow
Which did incorporate and make us one, JC.II.1.171-4.

OPH. My Lord, he hath impportuned me with love
In honourable fashion.
POL. Ay, fashion you may call it; go to, go to.
OPH. And hath given countenance to his speech, my Lord,
With almost all the holy vows of heaven.
POL. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know,
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Lends the tongue vows: Ham.I.3.109-17.

change decrees of kings - either by making them ineffectual and irrelevant, or by causing them to be annulled.

7. Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp'st intents,

Tan sacred beauty -The subject is the million accidents of Time. Tanning in Shakespeare's language was definitely not a process of beautifying, as it is often so considered nowadays. In Sonnet 62 he views his own face
Beated and chopped with tanned antiquity
and finds the sight unflattering. Tanning was a process used to cure and prepare the leather of hides. It required the use of strong solutions containing urine, acids, dyes etc.

the sharp'st intents = the most determined purposes and intentions. blunt is often used as a metaphor for the dulling of human appetites and desires. Compare:
Sweet love, renew thy force; be it not said
Thy edge should blunter be than appetite, 56.

8. Divert strong minds to the course of altering things;

Cause strong minds and strong purposes to be diverted to flow in altered directions, in accordance with changing circumstances.

9. Alas! why, fearing of Time's tyranny,

Alas why - to be taken with the next line. 'Alas, why should I not, at that time, have said, etc.? (especially as I was fearful of Time's tyranny).'

10. Might I not then say, 'Now I love you best,'

then - i.e. at that time, (when I made the declaration).
'Now I love you best' - perhaps reminiscent of :

Thou, best of dearest and mine only care, 48

All these I better in one general best. 91

And worse essays proved thee my best of love. 110

But the general meaning is 'Now my love for you is as great as it ever can be.'

11. When I was certain o'er incertainty,

certain o'er incertainty = sure of my love, which was stronger than the uncertainties of time, and able to conquer them. Compare Sonnet 107: Incertainties now crown themselves assured.

12. Crowning the present, doubting of the rest?

Crowning the present - The subject is probably 'my love for you', similar to its use in the previous sonnet:
Or whether doth my mind, being crowned with you
But the antecedent could also be 'I' of the previous line, or 'my certainty' (of the supremacy of my love), or possibly even 'incertainty', which afflicts all moments of all time.
doubting of the rest = uncertain of the future, the rest of time not taken up by this moment.

13. Love is a babe, then might I not say so,

Love is a babe - the reference is to Cupid, always depicted as a child alongside Venus. The sequence of thought from the previous quatrain to this is not absolutely clear. It may be that, in chronicling the change in his love for the youth, and noticing its continuous growth, he decides that it must be because 'love is a babe' and as such is bound to grow. The mystery is that it always remains a babe, yet always grows, as he indicates in the following line. It is eternally youthful.
might I not say so = surely I was entitled to say what I said then. Or, as GBE and JK assert, surely I ought not to have said what I said then, where the 'then' has more of the meaning of 'therefore'. Otherwise the argument of the sonnet is meaningless.

I think it is impossible to adjudicate between these opposite meanings of the couplet. It is probably deliberately ambiguous, as the poet himself did not know the answer to the question of how love could both be perfect, and full grown, and yet continue to grow.

14. To give full growth to that which still doth grow?

 

See note above. Because love is always growing (still doth grow) yet is always at perfection, it is always at full growth. But, if the second interpretation of the line above is taken, then this one means 'I was wrong at that time to give full growth to Love, (Cupid), since Cupid being a babe is continually growing'.

 

 

SB concludes his discussion of this couplet with the following comment:

The ramifications of the couplet and their contradictions of one another might be continued indefinitely. The logical conclusion the sonnet reaches is not expressed in the particular assertion embodied in its last sentence; the point the couplet makes is not in what its words express in relation to one another but in what is demonstrated about all human assertions by its syntactic completeness, its sound of finality, its position at the end of the poem, and its ultimate incapacity to make a final, a definitive, an ultimate, statement. It is impossible to make an absolute statement at any moment in - or about anything that exists in - time. SB.p.384.

1. Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Let me not = Whatever else I agree to, I will not concede that etc.; I will not be forced to admit that.

The negative wish, if that is how it might be best described, almost reads like the poet's injunction against himself to prevent him from admitting something which he was on the point of conceding. Perhaps he was being told frequently by others, and the beloved himself, that love could not last for ever, that there were impediments, that there was change and alteration, loss and physical decay, all of which militate against true love. And finally, as an act of defiance, he insists that it is not as others see it, that love can surmount all these obstacles, that although nothing can last forever, yet true love can last and hold out until the final reckoning.

the marriage of true minds - this suggests a union that is non-physical, Platonic and idealistic. See the introduction above.

true = constant, faithful, unchanging, truthful. Compare Polonius in Hamlet:

--to thine own self be true,
And it must follow as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man. Ham.I.3.78-80.

2. Admit impediments. Love is not love

Admit = accept, agree that there are; allow to enter or to intrude. By all commentators this is taken to be a clear reference to the marriage ceremony, when the officiating clergyman proclaims: 'I require and charge you, as you will answer at the dreadful day of judgement, when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, that if either of you do know any impediment why ye may not be lawfully joined together in matrimony, that ye confess it.' However the only word which links this extract from the Marriage Service in The Book of Common Prayer to the sonnet is impediment, which has become the plural impediments here. But the use of marriage in line 1 and impediments immediately following makes the connection almost inevitable. In Much Ado the word is used three times in connection with preventing a marriage:

It is so; the Count Claudio shall marry the daughter of Leonato.
BOR. Yea, my lord; but I can cross it.
DON J. Any bar, any cross, any impediment will be medicinable to me MA.II.2.1-4.

Means your lordship to be married to-morrow?
DON P. You know he does.
DON J. I know not that, when he knows what I know.
CL. If there be any impediment, I pray you discover it. MA.III.2.78-83.

FRIAR If either of you know any inward impediment why you
should not be conjoined, I charge you, on your souls, to utter it. MA.IV.1.11-13.

Love is not love = that sort of love is not true love which etc.

3. Which alters when it alteration finds,

Which changes (ceases, becomes unfaithful, becomes less) when it finds a change in the beloved, or a change in circumstances.

4. Or bends with the remover to remove:

bends = yields, changes direction, is untrue and inconstant towards a loved one.
the remover = one who moves, one who shifts his ground, one who changes himself.
to remove = to make oneself different in accordance with the changes in the other person. In this context, the word remove has a rather indefinite meaning, suggestive of moving something or someone out of the way, possibly even suggestive of subterfuge. Compare however:
Then happy I, that love and am beloved
Where I may not remove nor be removed. 25
Not being moved or removed implies eternal constancy and fidelity.

5. O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,

an ever-fixed mark = a sea mark, a prominent navigational feature, a beacon, for guidance of shipping. In the days before lighthouses, mariners used well known and prominent features on the land as a guide to fix their position at sea. The spires of coastal churches, towers, outcrops of rock of a particular shape or colour were obvious sea marks. Beacons were no doubt also lit at the entrances to major ports, but there was no widespread network of lighthouses as in modern times. Mostly sailors were highly dependent on local knowledge. The point of the metaphor here is that the ever-fixed mark is permanent and unshakeable, always there as a guide to the storm tossed mariner.

 

fixed - pronounced fixèd.

6. That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

That looks on tempests - because of their height, the sea-marks would appear to be looking down on the world below, and almost riding above the tempests. Because of their solidity storms had no effect on them.

7. It is the star to every wandering bark,

It - i.e. love, as in line 5. Love is both the ever fixed mark and the Pole star to guide the lover through the stormy waters of life.
the star - the most obvious reference is to the Pole or North star. In the Northern hemisphere it always appears to be unmoving in the Northern sky, while all the other stars circle around it. Julius Caesar boasts of being immovable, like the northern star:
But I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament. JC.III.1.60-2.

wandering bark = ship or boat that is wandering and possibly lost. It can identify its position by reference to the Pole star.

8. Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Whose worth's unknown = the true nature and value of which is unknown. It was not known at the time what the stars were made of, or how they shone, although various theories existed. Modern astronomy cannot be said to begin before the eighteenth century, even though Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo had more or less overturned, by Elizabethan times, the Ptolemaic system of an earth-centred universe.

although his height be taken = although its angle of elevation above the horizon could be measured. The height of the Pole star above the horizon at its zenith was a guide to the ship's latitude. The measurement would probably have been done with a quadrant. The sextant was introduced slightly later. (See OED quadrant 5, sextant 3.) The illustration of a quadrant opposite is of one which would be used on land. For sea travelling no doubt much more compact versions were available.

his height = the height (angle) of the star. Q gives higth, which is probably intended to be highth, a variant form of height.

To take the height of (something) = to measure its position relative to the horizon. The phrase could also be used in a figurative sense meaning 'to assess the importance, quality, type etc. of something'. As in this example from Ben Jonson's The Alchemist:

The doctor, I asssure you, shall inform you,
To the least shadow of a hair, and show you
An instrument he has of his own making,
Wherewith no sooner shall you make report
Of any quarrel, but he will take the height on't
Most instantly, and tell in what degree
Of safety it lies in, or mortality.
And how it may be borne, whether in a right line,
Or a half circle; or else may be cast
Into an angle blunt, if not acute. Alc.III.2.352-61.

In this, the alchemist and his assistant are attempting to trick a young jacakanapes to give them money, and they try to impress him with scientific mumbo-jumbo, pretending that they can, using an instrument, tell when it is safe to quarrel with someone. The Alchemist was written circa1609-10.

9. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Time's fool - In Shakespeare's day readers would probably understand this in terms of the fool employed in large establishments by the nobility, a favoured character whose wit enlivened many a dull day. But their position was probably precarious, and they were liable to physical punishment, or dismissal. See King Lear:

Prithee, nuncle, keep a schoolmaster that can teach
thy fool to lie: I would fain learn to lie.
Lear. An you lie, sirrah, we'll have you whipped.
Fool. I marvel what kin thou and thy daughters are:
they'll have me whipped for speaking true, thou'lt
have me whipped for lying; and sometimes I am
whipped for holding my peace. I had rather be any
kind o' thing than a fool: KL.I.4.177-183.

There is also the more general meaning of being the dupe or plaything of someone, being led by the nose. The following is also from King Lear:

None of these rogues and cowards
But Ajax is their fool. KL.II.2.118-9.

where Kent is implying that Cornwall is being easily duped by lying servants.

rosy lips and cheeks - symbolic of all mortal beauty, but especially between lovers. They are cut down by Time's sickle.

10. Within his bending sickle's compass come;

bending sickle - the sickle had a curved blade, and several meanings of 'bending' are appropriate, as 1.) curved; 2.) causing the grass that it cuts to bend and bow; 3.) cutting a curved swathe in the grass.

compass = scope, the arc of the circle created by the sweep of the sickle. But with a reference back to the nautical metaphors of the previous lines. Time, with his scythe, or sickle, sweeps down the mortal lovers, the rosy lips and cheeks, as if they were blades of grass.

11. Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

his = Time's. All life is fleeting, and human life is measured by the brief hours and weeks of experience. In comparison with the eternity of love, any unit of time is short. But see SB pp.390-1.

12. But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

bears it out = endures, continues faithful.
the edge of doom = the last day, the day of judgement, the day of death. doom in Shakespeare can mean a person's death, as it still does in the phrase, to meet one's doom. Or it can be applied to the day of the Last Judgement, or the judgement itself. Macbeth exclaims in horror against the long sequence of Banquo's descendants who are to reign in his place hereafter:

What, will the line stretch out till the crack of doom! Mac.IV.1.117.

13.   If this be error and upon me proved,

If this be error = if my claim that love lasts for ever is erroneous. error also suggests wandering (from the truth), as above in line 7. every wandering bark. From the Latin verb errare - to wander.

upon me proved - a legalistic term, meaning, approximately, 'proved against me'. The combination of this term with that of error possibly implies religious heresy and action taken against it, as for example in the frequent practice used by the Inquisition to compel victims under torture to confess to the error of their ways. See JK p.334. Compare also the following from Volpone by Ben Jonson, circa 1605:
Volt. Would you have him tortured?
Bon. I would have him proved.
Volt. Best try him with goads or burning irons;
Put him to the strappado; Volp.IV.2.

14.   I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

I never writ = I have never written anything.
nor no man ever loved = and no man has ever loved (even though he believed himself to be in love).

The fact that there is no logical connection between love's eternal status and whether or not the poet has written anything, or men think themselves to be in love, is largely irrelevant, because the poem has by now made its seemingly irrefutable claim. The weakness of the concluding couplet does contribute to a slight sense of disappointment, because the preceding lines are so vibrant with life and love. Perhaps this is intentional, in order to underscore the transitory nature of all that we experience, and to show that, despite our grandiose claims to immortality, we all must depart beneath the eternal vault, and love itself paradoxically, though eternal, is part of mortality:

For the sword wears out the sheath
And the soul wears out the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.

See the introductory comments for a discussion of the general mood of the poem.

1. Accuse me thus: that I have scanted all,

Accuse me thus = 'Set out the list of the charges against me in the following way'. The sonnet is composed in a legalistic framework, inviting the beloved to set out the charges which might be laid against the poet in a court of law, a list of his various misdemeanours.
have scanted all = have been neglectful of all opportunities, have been mean, careless and sparing in all matters relating to etc. As GBE mentions, all could be used adverbially, giving the meaning 'I have been totally neglectful of etc.'.

2. Wherein I should your great deserts repay,

Wherein I should = by which I might
your great deserts - the deserts of the youth have been hymned by the poet many times already in many sonnets, even though the word itself describing the youth's qualities is only used here and in 17. Of the three other uses of the word in the sonnets, two relate to the poet's own lack of desert, and one to the general concept of desert in humanity at large (66). However the persistent tone of praise and adoration awakens immediately the consciousness of the youth's superabundant qualities whenever a word like 'deserts' occurs, even though we are by now aware how flawed those qualities might be. SB mentions that this word, in its two senses of 'deserving qualities' and 'abandonment' encapsulates the theme of this sonnet. What are the true deserts of each, and who, in the course of their mutual love, has deserted whom?
repay - in the sense that love is a mutual giving and receiving the deserts of the beloved must be recompensed by a comparable repayment by the lover, in this case by giving his time, his attention, his devotion, his wholehearted commitment, as a repayment for the great gift of himself that the beloved gives. But it appears that the poet admits he has neglected to give the due recompense.

3. Forgot upon your dearest love to call,

Forgot = have forgotten.
dearest = most precious, most costly, most intimate, most secret.
to call (upon) - the phrase is ambiguous, because it suggests not only the importunate demands that a lover might make (including those of sexual fulfilment) upon his beloved, but also the more prosaic act of calling in on him, as a daily visit, for example, to see that he is well.

4. Whereto all bonds do tie me day by day;

Whereto = to which.
all bonds = all the commitments to which lovers are bound by oaths and declarations of love. Suggestive also of the marriage bond, the vow and commitment which ties man and wife together in perpetuity. Compare also Sonnet 87:
My bonds in thee are all determinate
and see the introductory note above.
day by day = every day, without exception. Evocative also of the eternal unchangeability of love described in the previous sonnet. But perhaps also with a secondary suggestion of wearisome repetition and boredom, as in
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time Mac.V.5.19-21.

5. That I have frequent been with unknown minds,

This quatrain continues the list of accusations which the poet admits that the youth might be justified in making.
I have frequent been = I have been familiar with, have often visited, have regarded as my cronies.
unknown minds = strangers, those whose purposes are unknown, and therefore suspect; worthless people, the riff-raff; perhaps heretics or those of other faiths is also suggested here.  Unknown minds were particularly dangerous in matters of religion. 

6. And given to time your own dear-purchased right;

The implication of this line seems to be that time, which by rights should have been spent with the beloved, has been squandered fruitlessly on trivial pursuits.
given to time = devoted to worthless, time-wasting occupations.
your own dear purchased right = the right you have to dictate to me my actions, purchased at the cost of giving yourself to me (a gift which is beyond estimation).

7. That I have hoisted sail to all the winds

hoisted sail - a metaphor from shipping and the nautical world. Sail is hoisted (lifted up high on the mast) so as to catch the wind and drive the ship onward. Here the idea of hoisting sail to catch any and every wind which might blow suggests that the writer is profligate in bestowing his company on all who are around, regardless of their worth.

8. Which should transport me farthest from your sight.

The result of which is to remove me far away from you.

should = would.

This line modifies all the winds of the previous line. The poet's willingness to be a ship tossed by all the winds is now restricted to only those winds which carry him away from his beloved, perhaps an even more damaging admission than that of being free and easy with one's person in all company.

9. Book both my wilfulness and errors down,

Book .... down = record, note down, enter in the list of my itemized faults.
wilfulness = a disposition to be headstrong; stubborn and determined penchant for sin; lustfulness; cantankerousness. Wilfulness was often set down as a sin pertaining especially to women, as in the anonymous ballad A wilful wife, which is of the opinion that a wilful wife cannot be reformed and brings misery to man.

There is no man whose wisdom can
     Reform a wilful wife:
 But only GOD, who made the rod
     For our unthrifty life.

 Let us therefore, cry out and roar,
     And make to GOD request:
 That he redress this wilfulness
     And set our hearts at rest.

 Wherefore good wives! amend your lives
     And we will do the same;
 And keep not still that naughty will
     That hath so evil a name.

The use of the term here perhaps helps to confirm that the errors and faults listed are the source of a quasi-matrimonial discord, and reinforces the idea of a marriage of true minds which is being wrenched asunder.
errors = mistakes, crimes, heresies. Clearly an echo of the word from the previous sonnet where it has overtones of religious heresy. Deliberately to reject divine truth (in this case the truth that the youth alone in all creation is the only object worthy of love) was the sin against the Holy Ghost, for which no salvation or forgiveness was possible.

 

 

10. And on just proof surmise accumulate;

just proof = exact, incontrovertible proof of my sins; fair and legally just proof.

surmise - Q's comma suggests that this word could be intended as an imperative of the verb 'to surmise'. I.e. 'surmise and accumulate further evidences of my disloyalty'. The normally accepted punctuation however invites one to take it as the object of accumulate - 'Heap up further evidence of my treachery in addition to the proofs you already have'. The word surmise, whether a noun or verb, has primarily a legal meaning. OED 1 gives "to submit as a charge or information, allege formally", for the verb, and "A formal allegation or information; spec. in Eccl. Law, the allegation in the libel", for the noun (OED 1.) The more general sense of 'imagined or conjectured possibility' , or 'to imagine, conjecture, speculate' is also found in Shakespeare. See Onions.

11. Bring me within the level of your frown,

A metaphor from archery, or shooting with guns. To level is 'to take aim, to level the sight with the target'. Hence 'Show your disapproval by directing your frown upon me'. A frown was the traditional expression of disdain shown by the beloved as a sign of her disapproval of the importunate lover.

12. But shoot not at me in your wakened hate;

'Do not deliberately and coldly fire the arrows (or shot) of your hatred upon me'. The contrast is between the fearsomeness of the weapon of hatred, compared with the more gentle reproof of a frown, or between simply taking aim compared with the fatal and final act of actually releasing the projectile.

13. Since my appeal says I did strive to prove

Since my appeal - the legal metaphor continues. The poet will appeal against the charges on the grounds that etc. etc.
I did strive to prove = I made every effort to put to the test. See also the note on prove in the previous sonnet, 116.

14. The constancy and virtue of your love.

constancy - reminiscent of sonnet 105 :

Kind is my love to-day, to-morrow kind,
Still constant in a wondrous excellence;
Therefore my verse to constancy confined,
One thing expressing, leaves out difference.
'Fair, kind and true' is all my argument,

virtue = power, reality, essence, truth.

The end rhyming words of this couplet are the same as that of the previous sonnet. Although the more cynical tone and incipient sophistry of this sonnet separates it from sonnet 116, the many verbal echoes between the two are perhaps to be viewed as a summons to the youth to show beyond all doubt that his love is of the kind that will 'bear it out even to the edge of doom'. Since he has accused the poet of straying, he must himself demonstrate that his own love has that ideal quality that lifts it above the level of all ordinary human experience to the level of the divine, such that it justifies the sacrifice of everything on the part of the beloved, so that the two may be as one, and give nothing else to time but their own dear, perfect selves.

1. Like as, to make our appetites more keen,

Like as = in the same way as we etc. The first quatrain is an extended simile of the poet's behaviour towards the youth. 'Just as we sharpen our appetite with aperitifs etc., or just as we take medicines to prevent illnesses, in just such a way I strayed from you and tried other lovers'.

2. With eager compounds we our palate urge;

eager = vinegary, sharp, pungent. (OED 1).
we our palate urge = we stimulate our palates (often with acidic flavoured appetizers). compounds however suggests medicines, and perhaps the imagery is that of medicinal cures for loss of appetite. Medically, a simple was a medicine which was composed of only one herb or a single substance, (OED.n.6.), hence the term was extended (usually in the plural), to mean herbs in general. Compounds were drugs made up by mixing together a variety of herbs and other substances. (OED.2.a.) Although OED gives no example earlier than 1611, from Shakespeare's Cymbeline (see below), there is an earlier use in Romeo and Juliet, dating from c.1595.

But I beseech your grace, without offence,--
My conscience bids me ask--wherefore you have
Commanded of me those most poisonous compounds,
Which are the movers of a languishing death; Cym.I.5.6-9.

I will try the forces
Of these thy compounds on such creatures as
We count not worth the hanging, Cym.I.5.18-20.

There is thy gold, worse poison to men's souls,
Doing more murders in this loathsome world,
Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not sell. RJ.V.1.80-2.

3. As, to prevent our maladies unseen,

The reference is to taking a prophylactic medicine. The Elizabethans believed that certain illnesses might be prevented by taking medicines before the event of their occurrence. Purges and emetics were considered useful in this respect. However the natural effect of taking such doses was usually to make the person feel ill, hence we sicken to shun sickness by making use of such a regimen, we make ourselves ill, in order not to be ill in the future.
maladies unseen = illnesses which are as yet unseen because they still lie in the future.

4. We sicken to shun sickness when we purge;

when we purge = when we take a purge, or laxative. We make ourselves sick (ill) in order to avoid future illnesses. (See note above).

5. Even so, being full of your ne'er-cloying sweetness,

Even so = in just the same way. The opening simile is developed further. Lines 5-6 expand 1-2, and lines 7-8 develop 3-4.

your ne'er cloying sweetness - this is dangerously close to calling the youth sickly-sweet. He takes the trouble however, by insisting that the sweetness is 'never cloying', to lessen his obvious sense of tiredness. Since 'to cloy' means 'to overfill, or to satiate with too much of the same thing', there is a mild contradiction implied in stating that he is full with something that never can cause satiety.

6. To bitter sauces did I frame my feeding;

did I frame my feeding = I accustomed myself to eating (bitter sauces). The images relate to other lovers, who turned out to be bitter in aftertaste.

7. And, sick of welfare, found a kind of meetness

welfare - printed 'wel-fare' in Q, underlining its basic meaning of faring well, being successful, continuing to live free of disaster, continuing in health, enjoying the good fortune of your love.
sick of welfare = being tired of my good fortune.
meetness = fittingness, suitability.

8. To be diseased, ere that there was true needing.

To be diseased - i.e. by taking purgatives or other medicines which make one feel ill.

9. Thus policy in love, to anticipate

policy = cunning, calculation of what is advantageous.
policy in love = political and practical calculations to benefit the advancement of love. As in 124 when the poet describes his love as being above politics:
It fears not policy, that heretic,
Which works on leases of short-numbered hours,
But all alone stands hugely politic,
That it nor grows with heat nor drowns with showers.

10. The ills that were not, grew to faults assured,

The ills that were not - perhaps the greatest ill (evil) would, in the politic calculations of love, be that of no longer loving.
grew to = engrafted itself to, grew into. The subject is 'policy'.
faults assured = faults about which there can be no dispute, the faults of growing sick of you, and turning to other loves.
9-10 might be paraphrased as 'Thus love, making various calculations to protect itself, and fearing for the future, itself grew to be full of maladies by trying to prevent those which did not yet exist'.

11. And brought to medicine a healthful state

Brought to medicine = introduced to a course of medicine. The subject is still 'policy' from the previous line.
a healthful state = it is this, the healthful state, which is subjected to a course of medicine. Strictly speaking it is of course the person who enjoys that state who undergoes the treatment. Here, for poetic metaphor, it is the healthiness itself which suffers.

12. Which, rank of goodness, would by ill be cured;

Which - the healthful state.
rank of goodness = overgrown and sickly due to feeding on too much goodness. rank in this sense of coarsely luxuriant, or perhaps rancid and foul smelling, is used frequently in Shakespeare. Compare for example
................The seeded pride
That hath to this maturity blown up
In rank Achilles TC.I.3.318-20.

would by ill be cured = was potentially able to be cured by being made ill; desired to be cured by medicines.

13. But thence I learn and find the lesson true,

But thence = from this experience (of dosing myself, of being unfaithful).
and find the lesson true = the lesson that drugs poison the body, and that unfaithfulness poisons the soul. Perhaps a reference also to a lesson read in church from the gospels. Most parishioners would disregard them, except on rare occasions when a forceful event might make their relevance obvious.

14. Drugs poison him that so fell sick of you.

Drugs = medicines, purgatives, etc. It is probably worthy of note that many drugs used by doctors of the period were in fact poisons. Mercury was the only known cure for syphilis, and its use often resulted in facial disfigurement. Belladonna, from the Deadly Nightshade, and digitalis from Foxgloves were in regular use for various ailments, and they are both highly poisonous drugs. Here of course the term is used metaphorically, since the drugs used to purge love and restore it to health were apparently affairs with other lovers, behaviour against which the youth has not unreasonably protested.

him = me, the writer. Or perhaps anyone who is foolish enough to become tired of you.
fell sick of - note how the medical imagery continues right through to the end. Here it has the additional meaning of 'grew tired of you'.

1. What potions have I drunk of Siren tears,

potions = medicinal draughts, liquid medicinal mixtures. Often associated in Shakespeare with poisons.
Siren tears - The Sirens were mythical maidens or goddesses who lived on an unspecified island in the Mediterranean and lured sailors to their doom. Their story is first told in Homer's Odyssey (circa 750 BC), by Odysseus in his tale to the Phaeaceans of his wanderings over the ocean pathways since the defeat of Troy. He tells how Circe, the goddess, describes the Sirens to him:

 

First you will meet the Sirens, who cast a spell on every man who goes their way. Whoso draws near unwarned and hears the Sirens' voices, by him no wife or little child shall ever stand, glad at his coming home; for the Sirens cast a spell of penetrating song, sitting within a meadow. But by their side is a great heap of rotting human bones; fragments of skin are shrivelling on them. Therefore sail on, and stop your comrades ears with sweet wax kneaded soft, that none of the rest may hear. As for yourself, if you desire to listen, see that they bind you hand and foot on the swift ship, upright upon the mast block - round the mast let the rope's ends be wound - that so with pleasure you may hear the Sirens' song. XII.39-52.

Odysseus follows Circe's advice, binds himself to the mast and stops the sailors' ears with wax. He tells how he listens to the Sirens singing.

But when we were as far away as a voice will carry, and swiftly were driving onward, our speeding ship as it drew nigh did not escape the Sirens' notice, and thus they lifted up their penetrating song:
'Come hither, come, Odysseus, whom all praise, great glory of the Achaeans! Bring in your ship and listen to our voices. For none has ever passed us by in a black ship till from our lips he heard ecstatic song, then went his way rejoicing, and with larger knowledge. For we know all that the Argives and the Trojans suffered on the plain of Troy at the gods' behest; we know whatever may befall upon the bounteous earth'. So spoke they, sending forth their beauteous voices, and my heart longed to listen. XII.184-193. Trans. G.H.Palmer.

Odysseus' comrades refuse to untie him, and he escapes the deadly fate of landing on the island and becoming part of the heap of rotting bones.

It is not immediately apparent why Shakespeare uses the term Siren tears, unless it is in reference to the tears of disappointment which the Sirens perhaps shed when they fail to entrap a man who comes close enough to fall within their grasp. In all probability Shakespeare would have known the tale from Homer, since his play Troilus and Cressida published in 1609, reveals his close acquaintance with the Homeric myths. In addition, Chapman, whom he must have known, was busy translating Homer at the time, and specifically refers to the story of the Sirens in The Widow's Tears (1604-5) a play which Shakespeare probably knew:

But by your leave, Lycus, Penelope is not so wise as her husband Ulysses, for he, fearing the jaws of the Syren, stopped his ears with wax against her voice. They that fear the adder's sting will not come near her hissing. I.2.13-15.

Chapman gets the details wrong, which is of no great importance, but it shows that he expected his audience to be familiar with the tale. (I have extended the quotation above because of its echoes with Sonn.112:
In so profound abysm I throw all care
Of others' voices, that my adder's sense
To critic and to flatterer stopped are.
The use of the words stopped and adder's is fairly unusual, both words only occurring in Sonn 112. The combination of Syrens with the 'tears' of the title of Chapman's play add an extra curiously echoing marriage of words with the words of this sonnet. Chapman might have been one of the critics of Shakespeare's verse and conduct.)

In this context the use here of the phrase Siren's tears is suggestive of tears of regret and repentance for having entered into a liaison or liaisons which brought only disillusionment and sorrow. In general Sirens were regarded, then as now, as dangerous and treacherous, and clearly the myth hides, not too deeply, the traditional and deep rooted male fear of female power. The poet is intimating that he allowed himself to be bewitched by other lovers, and drove himself to a frenzy of infatuation by his pursuit of them.

2. Distilled from limbecks foul as hell within,

Distilled from limbecks - limbecks or alembics were the flasks used by alchemists to distil liquids in order to make them more pure. Successive distillation in theory would provide a more potent elixir. In this case the elixir (the Sirens' tears) is deeply tainted by the foulness of the distilling apparatus. Sexual references may well be active in these lines, since the shape of alembics was suggestive of genitalia, and sexual disgust is recorded in King Lear in similar language. (See the illustration above. The alembic is the vessel above the man's head).

 

Down from the waist they are Centaurs, though women all above. But to the girdle do the gods inherit, beneath is all the fiends: There's hell, there's darkness, there is the sulphurous pit, burning scalding, stench, consumption. KL.IV.6.124-9.

The possible implication is that he has contracted a sexual disease through consorting with a mistress. Sonnet 144, which has similarities of language and equates the woman's vagina with foulness and hell, is especially relevant here.
To win me soon to hell, my female evil
Tempteth my better angel from my side,
And would corrupt my saint to be a devil,
Wooing his purity with her foul pride.
………..
I guess one angel in another's hell.
(See notes to Sonnet 144). However the confusion of imagery in these two lines, which blend classical mythology with medicine, alchemy and Christian doctrines of perdition, is as much suggestive of mental instability as it is of the infatuated pursuit of fulfilment through sexual gratification.

Shakespeare uses the word limbeck only once elsewhere, in Macbeth. Alembic he does not use at all.

That memory, the warder of the brain,
Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason
A limbeck only Mac.I.7.65-7.

 

3. Applying fears to hopes, and hopes to fears,

Applying = laying on, as one applies poultices to the body in order to cure sores, boils, eruptions of the skin, and fevers. This was standard medical practice of the time. The fears and hopes are presumably those of losing or gaining a lover.

4. Still losing when I saw myself to win!

Always failing to achieve my desires even though I thought I was successful.
still = always.
when I saw myself to win = when I imagined that I was winning (a new lover); when I perceived myself (erroneously) to be on a winning streak. The imagery is from gambling and indicates the false delusions of the gambler, who always imagines that the next throw of the dice will repair his fortunes.

5. What wretched errors hath my heart committed,

wretched errors = misguided judgements, heresies, devotion to false idols

6. Whilst it hath thought itself so blessed never!

it = my heart.
so blessed never = more blessed and happy than it had ever been before.

7. How have mine eyes out of their spheres been fitted,

spheres = sockets. Also with a reference to Ptolemaic astronomy, a system still current in Shakespeare's day. The stars and planets were all assigned spheres in which they revolved around the earth, which was placed in the centre of the universe. Compare
.......Thou rememberest
Since once I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath
That the rude sea grew civil at her song,
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres
To hear the sea-maid's music. MND.II.1.148-54.
The idea of madness and things being shot out of their true orbit is repeated in this sonnet.
fitted = thrown into a fit or paroxysm.

8. In the distraction of this madding fever!

The medical imagery continues. The poet compares himself to one who is afflicted by the frenzied motions and ravings of a person afflicted by fever.
distraction = frenzy, madness, delusion.

9. O benefit of ill! now I find true

benefit of ill - in the fury of his madding fever all contradictions seem possible. Evil becomes good and good becomes evil, as in Macbeth's violent imaginings of good and evil:
My thought ............
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smothered in surmise, and nothing is
But what is not. MAC.I.3.138-41.

benefit - probably there is a glance here at the Latin root of the word, bene fit meaning 'it becomes well'.
The exclamation and the declaration of discovery, rather like the 'Eureka!' of Archimedes, possibly is an echo of the expected declarations of the alchemists - 'I have found the philosopher's stone!'

10. That better is by evil still made better;

better... better = that which is already better (than its counterpart) is made even better. The first use of the word is as a noun, the second adverbial. There is probably a pun intended on the word bitter.
still = always; even.

11. And ruined love, when it is built anew,

ruined love = love which has ceased and is no more, like a ruined building.

12. Grows fairer than at first, more strong, far greater.

fairer = more true, more beautiful, more intense.
more strong, far greater - the heaping up of comparatives and the construction of the line give the impression of climbing a great flight of stairs, from which one emerges at the top to discover a vista that is far fairer and more beautiful than it ever was before.

13. So I return rebuked to my content,

So I return - i.e. from my travels, from my philandering, as in Sonnet 109:
That is my home of love: if I have ranged,
Like him that travels I return again,
Just to the time, not with the time exchanged 109.

 

rebuked = chastened by my experiences, chastised (by you, and by what has happened to me).
my content = that which contents me; my home of love.

14. And gain by ills thrice more than I have spent.

by ills = by evil doing, by having suffered madness and fever, by misfortune.
thrice more = three times more. The suggestion of ill gotten gains trebling one's outlay is perhaps a reference to the ideal of the alchemist, who hopes to increase his wealth by turning base metals to gold, thereby justifying all the expenditure on his distilleries and chemical apparatus. In fairness to the alchemist, however, it is worth noting that he emphasised strictly that only the pure of heart could achieve the transformation of substances into gold, and that any base motives would automatically negate the process.
content, spent - as in other sonnets, notably 1, 129 and 151, these words are surcharged with sexual innuendo.

1. That you were once unkind befriends me now,

The fact of your previous unfaithfulness now counts as an asset to me in my relationship with you.
unkind = cruel, against the principles of natural kindness and kinship.

2. And for that sorrow, which I then did feel,

for that sorrow = on account of that sorrow which, at the time, you caused me.

3. Needs must I under my transgression bow,

Needs must I = it is imperative, necessary, inevitable that I etc.
under my transgression = as a result of my sin. OED 1a gives the following for transgression: 'a violation of law, duty, or command; disobedience, trespass, sin'. The precise nature of the poet's sin is not known, but since it appears to be related to similar offences by the beloved, such as those dealt with in 33-5, 40-42 and 57-8, it is an act or acts of unfaithfulness, presumably that of taking another lover or lovers. Since the word transgression is singular, one could insist that the poet's crime is only a single offence, but as he is talking in such generalities, using the words unkindness, trespass, crime, night of woe, to cover a possible multitude of unspecified acts, we need not insist on reading too much biographical information into the admission.
bow = bow my head down as an act of repentance, or under the weight of punishment.

4. Unless my nerves were brass or hammered steel.

The implication is that 'I cannot be such a monster, with nerves of brass and steel, that I do not repent and sorrow for my crime'.
hammered is possibly trisyllabic for its onomatopoeic effect. Hammered steel was a particularly hard form of steel, often used for making swords, as in Damascene steel.

5. For if you were by my unkindness shaken,

my unkindness - links with that you were once unkind of line 1.

6. As I by yours, you've passed a hell of time;

you've passed a hell of time = you have experienced agonies like to the torments of hell.

7. And I, a tyrant, have no leisure taken

a tyrant - tyrants were traditionally arbitrary and headstrong in their judgements and relentlessly cruel. The most famous case is that of Phalaris, the tyrant of Agrigentum in Sicily, who had caused to be made a hollow bronze bull, designed by Perillos, in which victims were roasted to death. Perillos himself was immolated inside it by the tyrant, who was curious to test the new machine.
no leisure taken = have not taken the trouble or time.

8. To weigh how once I suffered in your crime.

to weigh = to take account of, to consider.
once = on a former occasion.
suffered in = suffered as a result of, endured agonies.

9. O! that our night of woe might have remembered

our night of woe = the black depression of the sorrow we caused each other. Compare the Christian and mystical concept of 'the dark night of the soul' when the soul loses its way in its search for salvation and is deprived of contact with the divine light.
remembered - the verb is transitive and = 'caused (me, my conscience, my deepest sense) to remember'.

10. My deepest sense, how hard true sorrow hits,

my deepest sense = my innermost soul, my deepest thoughts and feelings.
hard = cruelly, pitilessly.
hits = strikes, causes pain.

11. And soon to you, as you to me, then tendered

soon = swiftly, without delay.
then tendered = offered, provided, given, at the time when you were suffering. The subject of the verb is technically 'our night of woe', but because of the parallelism of this line, indicating that I should offer to you (the salve), as you once offered it to me, it becomes by implication me, the speaker. Q's punctuation emphasises more the meaning 'had our night of woe caused me to remember the harshness of sorrow, I would have quickly offered you the healing grace of love, as you once quickly offered it to me'.

12. The humble salve, which wounded bosoms fits!

the humble salve = the healing ointment of humility and repentance. A salve was an ointment applied to wounds or sores. Figuratively here it refers to the renewed love of the person who has recently fallen off in his affection. humble could imply that the salve is a simple country or folk remedy.
wounded bosoms = hearts which have been injured by a loved one's betrayal.
fits = makes fit, makes well, heals; befits; is suitable for on this sort of occasion.

13. But that your trespass now becomes a fee;

But that your trespass = but that offence of yours against me on that former occasion; except that your trespass etc. trespass = sin, as in the Lord's Prayer: forgive us our trespasses.
a fee = a ransom, a charge debited against you, which may be used to balance my guilt towards you, so that the debts cancel each other out.

14. Mine ransoms yours, and yours must ransom me.

My trespass, my guilt, my fee, redeems your trespasses of the past, and those trespasses of yours must now redeem my more recent ones.

1. 'Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed,

vile = evil, worthless, base.
esteemed = considered, thought to be so. The compressed meaning of the line expands to 'It is better to be evil, than to be adjudged to be evil without actually being so'. Note that vile is an anagram of evil.
esteemed = accounted, considered to be, estimated as (a vile being).

2. When not to be receives reproach of being;

When the reproach and guilt of sinning is attached to one who has not even sinned.
not to be = not being vile

3. And the just pleasure lost, which is so deemed

3-4. These two lines may be interpreted in several ways. Predominantly the sense hinges upon the meaning of the just pleasure, which is presumably the pleasure obtained by being virtuous, by not being vile. If our actions are truly virtuous, we should reap the reward not only of the consciousness of our own desert, but also of the warm glow derived from the awareness of others' approval. This pleasure however may be lost not because of our own judgements, but because of the warped sense of outsiders, who twist all that they see to accord with their own warped natures.

4. Not by our feeling, but by others' seeing:

See the note to the previous line.

5. For why should others' false adulterate eyes

adulterate = adulterated, mixed with impurities. The word however also suggests adulterous, which in fact is its meaning in the following passage from Hamlet:

Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,--
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power
So to seduce!--won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. Ham.I.5.41-5.

6. Give salutation to my sportive blood?

Give salutation to = greet with familiarity, as if it was well known. Give approval to.
my sportive blood = my lustiness, my sexual adventures, (which they presume to know about, even though they have no evidence other than their own behaviour).

7. Or on my frailties why are frailer spies,

frailties = sins of the flesh, moral weaknesses, illicit sexual desire. Compare Emilia in Othello meditating on why married men stray:

 

...What is it that they do
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is: and doth affection breed it?
I think it doth: is't frailty that thus errs?
It is so too: and have not we affections,
Desires for sport, and frailty, as men have? Oth.IV.3.93-8

sport is often used in connection with sexual romps, as in the Ben Jonson poem above: let us prove .... the sports of love.

frailer spies = spies who are even more prone to sins of the flesh than I am.

The syntax of the line leads one to expect a word like 'set', or 'placed', to round it off, for one anticipates the meaning 'Why are spies, more libidinous than I am, set upon me to record my escapades?', but the main verb does not appear. The following line, instead of finishing the sentence, provides a phrase qualifying the frailer spies. One therefore has to supply the deficiency mentally by reading the line as if it were
on my frailties why are frailer spies set?

However a correspondent suggests to me that frailer could be an adjectival noun meaning 'frailer people', hence giving a meaning to the line of ''Why are frailer people (i.e. more sinful than I am) acting as spies on my frailties?'

8. Which in their wills count bad what I think good?

Which = who, sc. the spies.
in their wills = governed by their own lustful tendencies.
what I think good - the poet seems to be saying that his own errors and crimes seem good to him, though bad to others. Perhaps one should not insist too much on exactitude, and allow for the meaning to be that, in a hypothetical case, the absolute arbiters of good and evil should not be the lechers and busybodies of the world, but that each person should have the right to define the justification for their own actions unhampered by the world's opinion.

9. No, I am that I am, and they that level

I am that I am - Although superficially this means "I am an independent person, and my personality is not dictated by what these 'spies' see in me", it is an exact copy of the biblical phrase 'I am that I am', (Exodus 3.14, Geneva Bible) which God utters to Moses. The echo is therefore unlikely to be unintentional. According to SB it makes the speaker sound smug, presumptuous and stupid.(SB p.410). However it could be interpreted as ironic, or rueful (see JK p. 342). If ironic, it is a glance at the richness of the Renaissance tradition, in which man is the pinnacle of creation. As Hamlet declares:
What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Ham.II.2.303-9.
For, even without Hamlet's pessimism, the simple declaration of identity, or the simple definition of personality, boils down to 'I am that I am', just as, in the attempt to define the richness of the beloved's personality, all praise finally had to be abandoned in favour of the solitary statement 'you alone are you'.

 

Who is it that says most, which can say more,
Than this rich praise, that you alone, are you? 84

This biblical statement here, 'I am that I am', is therefore the counterpart of the earlier claim about the beloved youth, that he outdid all praise simply by being himself. Here the poet wishes to assert that he is not the person that other rapacious characters report him to be. He is instead, whatever they may say about him, that quintessence of dust imbued with the divine spark which is his essence and being.

There may also be a link to Wyatt's poem
I am as I am and so will I be,
which I give in full at the bottom of the page. In fact the echoes from Wyatt may be more telling than those from the Bible, and I urge readers to glance at it, for it is a joy in its own right.

Note that SB also suggests a pun on 'Will I am' = WILLIAM, combining the will of line 8 with the I am of this line, a probable conjunction because God's reply to Moses in the Exodus passage is a response to Moses' question "If they say unto me, 'What is his name?', what answer shall I give them?

level = aim at, criticise. The metaphor is from archery.

 

10. At my abuses reckon up their own:

abuses = sins, sexual crimes, seductions, betrayals, ravishments. The most frequent meaning in Shakespeare is 'deception'. Here the context seems to demand something stronger.
reckon up their own = accuse me of crimes which are not mine but are ones that they have committed.

11. I may be straight though they themselves be bevel;

straight = honest, uncorrupted, true, virtuous.
bevel = crooked, corrupt. In heraldry the bevel was a Z shaped line.

12. By their rank thoughts, my deeds must not be shown;

By = according to the standard of.
rank = lascivious, licentious, gross, luxuriant.
shown = described, published to the world.

13. Unless this general evil they maintain,

this general evil = the evil described in the following line. Or, the general evil of describing others' characters by their own rank thoughts.
they maintain = they (those who reckon up my abuses) insist on declaring.

14. All men are bad and in their badness reign.

in their badness reign = carry all before them as a result of their vices.

Poem by Sir Thomas Wyatt, circa 1530.

1.
I am as I am and so will I be
But how that I am none knoweth truly,
Be it evil be it well, be I bond be I free
I am as I am and so will I be

2.
I lead my life indifferently,
I mean nothing but honestly,
And though folks judge diversely,
I am as I am and so will I die.

3.
I do not rejoice nor yet complain,
Both mirth and sadness I do refrain,
And use the mean since folks will fain
Yet I am as I am be it pleasure or pain.

4.
Divers do judge as they do true,
Some of pleasure and some of woe,
Yet for all that no thing they know,
But I am as I am wheresoever I go.

5.
But since judgers do thus decay,
Let every man his judgement say:
I will it take in sport and play,
For I am as I am who so ever say nay.

6.
Who judgeth well, well God him send;
Who judgeth evil, God them amend;
To judge the best therefore intend,
For I am as I am and so will I end.

7.
Yet some that be that take delight
To judge folks thought for envy and spite,
But whether they judge me wrong or right,
I am as I am and so do I write.

8.
Praying you all that this do read,
To trust it as you do your creed,
And not to think I change my weed,
For I am as I am however I speed.

9.
But how that is I leave to you;
Judge as ye list, false or true;
Ye know no more than afore ye knew;
Yet I am as I am whatever ensue.

10.
And from this mind I will not flee,
But to you all that misjudge me,
I do protest as ye may see,
That I am as I am and so will I be.

Notes:

1. bond = slave, vassal.

2. indifferently = calmly.
diversely = differently.

3. use the mean = follow the golden mean, the middle way.
since folks will fain = since people desire it.

4. divers = many different sorts of people.
as they do true = (?) that they are acting rightfully
of pleasure... of woe = for pleasure ... for woe.

5. decay = die; make poor judgements.

6. therefore intend = therefore do your best.

7. for envy and spite = out of envy and malice.

8. weed = garments, clothes.
however I speed = whatever happens to me.

9. as ye list = as it pleases you.

10. From this mind I will not flee = I will not change my mind.
I do protest = I declare.

 

1. Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain

tables = a notebook in which occasional observations, aphorisms, remarks of friends, etc. were written. Hamlet jots down in his tables that 'one may smile, and smile, and be a villain'. Ham.I.5.108. It seems to have been a common practice among gentlemen of the period to keep such a book. There is no modern equivalent, except perhaps that of keeping a diary, but the habit of writing in tables seems to have been widespread in Elizabethan times, and more of a shared experience than that of confiding one's thoughts to a diary. OED 2.b. gives 'A small portable tablet for writing upon, esp. for notes or memoranda'. It seems more likely that one would give as a gift an empty notebook for the friend to fill, (as in Sonnet 77), rather than that one would make a gift of 'tables' already crammed with the record of one's best thoughts. (See the introductory note).
are within my brain - i.e. the contents are recorded in my memory. Subsequent reading of the sonnet, however, suggests that the 'tables' were only blank sheets of notepaper, so the implication of this line is 'The thoughts which I intended to record on these blank sheets of paper are etched forever in my memory. The physical presence of the paper itself is superfluous'.
are - the plural verb is used because tables is either a singular or plural noun, depending on whether one visualises it as a bundle of blank leaves, or as a single item.

2. Full charactered with lasting memory,

Full charactered = written out in full. Shakespeare uses to character meaning 'to write' in Polonius' advice to Laertes:
These few precepts in thy memory
Look thou character. Ham.I.3.58-9.
lasting memory = memory which does not fade.

3. Which shall above that idle rank remain,

Which - the antecedent is dubious. 'Thy gift, thy tables' is the first option, but since it clearly will not last for all eternity, and has already been lost, it is probably best to take the last mentioned item, the poet's lasting memory, which is promised to last beyond all date.
idle rank = trivial list of items (which I would have recorded had I kept the book). The word rank also suggests social precedence. idle has a wide range of derogatory meanings. Compare for example
With burdocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers,
Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow
In our sustaining corn. KL.IV.4.4-6.

4. Beyond all date, even to eternity:

Beyond all date = forever, beyond any possible final date or termination.

5. Or, at the least, so long as brain and heart

Or, at the least - This qualification immediately seems to undermine the thought of the poem, because the lofty ideas of immortality are suddenly thrown aside in favour of the body's decay. Perhaps the desire is to contrast the constancy of love with the frailty and impermanence of human life.

6. Have faculty by nature to subsist;

have faculty by nature = have their nature so constructed as to....
to subsist = to survive, to exist.

7. Till each to razed oblivion yield his part

Till each = until each one, brain and heart. They were the source of thoughts and emotions.
razed oblivion = oblivion, which razes all things to the ground; oblivion, which is so destructive that it is itself razed to the ground. to raze is to flatten, to level to the ground. A verb usually used to describe the action of armies after they have conquered a city.
yield his part / Of thee = gives up its memory of you. The construction leads one first to read it as 'till each one gives up its existence', but the commencement of the next line forces a revision of the meaning. It also creates a sort of breathlessness, so that the phrase thy record never can be missed acquires a special character, etching it in the memory.

8. Of thee, thy record never can be missed.

thy record = the things recorded of you in the notebook, hence, by extension, a record of you as you were then.
missed = lost, seen to be missing, because destroyed.

9. That poor retention could not so much hold,

That poor retention = that notebook, which has only limited space to record details of you, and is therefore a wretched thing in comparison with my memory.

10. Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score;

tallies = notches on a board, adjuncts to memory.
to score = to mark on a tally board. Debts were marked (notched, scored) on a tally stick, which was then cut in half, the debtor and the creditor each keeping half of the stick. The reference may be more general however and relate to any sort of marking as a record of articles consumed or used in some way. OED.2.a. gives an example from 1577 : In buieng of drinke, by the firkin or pot, The tallie ariseth, but hog amendes not. Shakespeare does not use the word other than here, and he only uses tally once, in a revealing passage from Henry VI Part II:
Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a grammar school; and whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used, and, contrary to the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill. 2H6.IV.7.29-34.

11. Therefore to give them from me was I bold,

them = the tables.
was I bold = I was confident that it was all right to do so.

12. To trust those tables that receive thee more:

to trust = because I could trust and rely on.
those tables that receive thee more = the other tables, i.e. my brain, which is more receptive to you and therefore keeps a better record.

13. To keep an adjunct to remember thee

an adjunct = something in addition, something attached to another object. A memento or reminder. From the Latin adiunctio = a joining to, a union.

14. Were to import forgetfulness in me.

Were to import = would indicate, would imply.
forgetfulness in me - which obviously cannot be, since my love for you prevents me from ever forgetting you.

1. No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change:

No - Q uses an exclamation mark to emphasise the negative. This and the following two sonnets have a pattern of 'No!' starting a quatrain. In this sonnet it is the first quatrain, in the next the second, and finally, in 125, the third quatrain. In the epilogue sonnet, 126, we would expect it at the beginning of the couplet, but since the couplet is missing in that one, the absence becomes a sort of ultimate negative, a final emptiness, an unstated triumph which denies the superiority of time over love, or humanity, or even over the words which we use to express our aspirations.
boast - Time usually boasts and exults over his destruction of physical objects, as for example in Sonn.64
When I have seen by Time's fell hand defaced
The rich proud cost of outworn buried age;
When sometime lofty towers I see down-razed
And brass eternal slave to mortal rage;
or 107, where he (and death)
insults o'er dull and speechless tribes.
The defiance of this opening statement, a sort of throwing down of the gauntlet, is re-emphasised in line 9 at the opening of the third quatrain.

2. Thy pyramids built up with newer might

Thy pyramids - Several suggestions have been made as to what might be referred to here. It could be a general term, relating to all lofty and grandiose constructions, which are especially the concern of time, since time will eventually return them to 'razed oblivion', and because they were often structures built specifically to outlast time, and to guard mortal remains for immortality. Hence the use of thy, rather than the, because such structures become the property of time after the original builders are long since dead. Contemporary usage allowed the description of steeples and towers as pyramids. (See OED 3. 1610 I Camden's Brit. (1637) 585 [Lichfield Cathedral Church] doth mount on high with three pyramids or spires of stone). A more direct contemporary reference seems to be suggested in built up with newer might. KDJ suggests that it could refer to the towers built as part of the pageantry for James I coronation procession of 1603-4. In the Strand 'a vast rainbow was supported "by two magnificent Pyramid's, of 70. foot in height" '. (KDJ p.26. The details are from Ben Jonson's collected works). This seems very probable. Until recently there was a tendency not to allow into the sonnets anything that might be of a comparatively later date (i.e. post 1600). The situation has changed somewhat over the last 20 years, and there is more of a willingness to admit that the maturity and sophistication shown by many of them suggests a much later date of composition than was originally thought possible. (See introductory note above).

3. To me are nothing novel, nothing strange;

nothing novel, nothing strange - nothing may be taken as adverbial, i.e. 'in no way novel or strange', or as a noun, 'they are not new or strange things (because there is nothing new under the sun)'. Compare Sonnet 59:
If there be nothing new, but that which is
Hath been before, how are our brains beguiled,
Which, labouring for invention, bear amiss
The second burden of a former child!

4. They are but dressings of a former sight.

dressings = dressings up, disguises, new clothes on an old structure.
a former sight = something seen before, something already known. Perhaps with a pun on site, which was in use in Shakespeare's day. OED site.n(2).2.a. gives examples from 1578 and 1600, the latter being: "Anniball....rode to the gate Capena, for to view the site of the cittie". The word site is not found in Shakespeare.

5. Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire

Our dates are brief - probably a biblical or classical echo. Pindar wrote, 'the shadow of a dream is man', and there is a Latin hymn Hic breve vivitur. But the theme is common in the bible, in Ecclesiastes for example, and in many classical authors, especially in Horace.
our dates = our life span; the dates that mark significant events in our lives.
admire = marvel at, wonder at.

6. What thou dost foist upon us that is old;

foist upon us = palm off upon us. The word is originally descriptive of cheating at cards. Its use here suggests that the writer has a low opinion of Time and all his trickery, and will continue with his open defiance.

7. And rather make them born to our desire

them = the old things you have foisted upon us in the shape of new ones.
born to our desire = viewed as if they were our own new born creations (rather than the hackneyed repetition of old sights). There is possibly a pun on bourn, meaning border or limit, as in
The undiscovered country from whose bourn
No traveller returns Ham.III.1.79-80.
The implication would be that they were things satisfying the extremes of our desires.

8. Than think that we before have heard them told.

before have heard them told = have heard earlier descriptions of them, have heard them reckoned up. This quatrain (5-8)claims that many of the things which we see we regard as totally new creations, due to ourselves alone, because of our addiction to novelty and self-flattery, when in fact they are mere repetitions of objects which existed long ago.

9. Thy registers and thee I both defy,

Thy registers - equivalent to thy records in line 11.

10. Not wondering at the present nor the past,

I.e 'I am not unduly dazzled by events of the present, or by those of the past'. Or, in accordance with the defiance expressed in the previous line, 'I refuse to be in awe of the present or the past'.

11. For thy records and what we see doth lie,

thy records = the written records of history, history itself. thy refers to Time. The word record is used four times in the sonnets, (see below), always in connection with some quasi-historical documentation. Note that we still have a Public Records Office in the UK, which stores historical documents. The word in this sonnet seems to be accented on the final syllable. Compare:

Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory. 55

O, that record could with a backward look,
Even of five hundred courses of the sun,
Show me your image in some antique book, 59

Till each to razed oblivion yield his part
Of thee, thy record never can be miss'd. 122

Perhaps the most significant fact is that the word links this sonnet to the previous one.

doth - strictly speaking a singular verb, but apparently used as a plural on occasions.

12. Made more or less by thy continual haste.

'The continuously fleeting events of our existence are emphasised or diminished in importance because of your (time's) irrational haste.

13. This I do vow and this shall ever be;

This I do vow = I take this vow that etc. The substance of the vow is stated in the following line, but it could initially be taken as a reinforcement of the poet's defiance of time, first given in line 1, and then more forcibly stated in line 9.

14. I will be true despite thy scythe and thee.

thy scythe - the frequent implement associated with Time, or Death. See the wood cut illustration opposite. Time mercilessly cuts down all things, just as the mower cuts down the blades of grass to make hay in the spring and summer time. Such were the commonplace images of Shakespeare's day, now somewhat rare, since death has been so much sanitized in the Western world by hospitals and medical practice. It is quite difficult for us in the 21st century to think ourselves back to a time when death was familiar and omnipresent. Average life expectancy was about 35 and every year was potentially a plague year, and every illness potentially fatal. See also the illustration above from a Gothic tapestry which depicts a bishop with death holding his hand.

and thee = and you yourself, Time. Time as the agent may to a certain extent be sequestered from his implements. However there is also a slightly uneasy reference to the youth himself - 'I will be true despite your faithlessness (for I can show what truth in love really should mean)'.

1. If my dear love were but the child of state,

my dear love = my precious (costly?) affection for you. The subsequent lines seem to indicate that it is the poet's love for the youth, rather than the youth himself, which is here referred to.
the child of state = something engendered through considerations of profit and advantage, or the state of the times; something dependent on political fortune and favour. The phrase however is of a somewhat hazy meaning, suggesting not only a love which is politically and mercenarily disadvantaged, but also more indirectly a person loved who is linked to statesmen and women, someone who himself jockeys for position and perhaps toadies to the great ones of the world.

2. It might for Fortune's bastard be unfathered,

It - the first of five 'its' in the sonnet, which, as SB points out, in the midst of successive waves of subjunctives, negatives and vaguenesses stands forth as something 'sure, constant, forthright, simple and blank'. SB p.419. Here it attempts to define my dear love, or what my dear love would be if it were subject to the calculating effects of personal power and advantage.
for = as, being seen as. Fortune's bastard - Fortune was either impersonal or seen as a female goddess. Hence Fortune's bastards are technically the offspring of illicit liaisons with Fortune, the father being unknown. Since Fortune was fairly promiscuous with her favours, the world was littered with her illegitimate children, in the form of brief climbs to the dizzy heights of success by those whom she had temporarily loved. In Elizabethan times, meteoric rises to fame and fortune, followed by an equally spectacular crash, imprisonment, and execution, were not uncommon. The fate of Essex, executed in 1601, was the one notorious case probably closest in date to this sonnet. For Fortune as the harlot, compare the two following comments from Hamlet:
Out, out, thou strumpet, Fortune! All you gods
In general synod take away her power Ham.II.2.487-8.

Ham. Then you live about her waist, or in the middle of her favours?
Gui. Faith, her privates we.
Ham. In the secret parts of Fortune? Oh most true. She is a strumpet. Ham.II.2.231-4.

unfathered = lacking a visible or known father, having no protection.

3. As subject to Time's love or to Time's hate,

As = as being. The fact that a love which is 'the child of state' is subjected potentially to the love or hatred of Time makes it appropriate to describe it as 'unfathered, like a foundling'.

4. Weeds among weeds, or flowers with flowers gathered.

The line adds a further dimension to the description of Fortune's love child. It is like being a weed indiscriminately growing among other weeds, or like flowers gathered in bundles for display. In either case its projected life will be brief and indifferent. There may be a reference to courtiers' dress. The elaborate costumes of the court and court ceremonies make the individual no more than a weed or flower among other weeds and flowers.

5. No, it was builded far from accident;

 

 

  builded = built. A standard alternative form of the time. Most important is probably the echo from the previous sonnet,
Thy pyramids built up with newer might,
for this points the contrast between the poet's love for the youth, a love which is not the subject of ephemeral change, and the pyramids, which become the playthings of Time at any moment after their construction. Compare for example the thought in Shelley's poem Ozymandias.

 

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said 'Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert...Near them on the sand
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works ye mighty and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away'.

6. It suffers not in smiling pomp, nor falls

It suffers not in = it suffers no harm from, it does not endure the odium of being subjected to.
smiling pomp = the friendly (but potentially deceitful) visage of those in power. The Machiavellian ideal would be to wield authority with a smile, so that no one would suspect, by a darkened or angry look, that they might be in danger. They could then be removed easily without having had time to prepare counter manoeuvres. However the implication here may be that the favour of great ones is as onerous to bear as their hatred, because it would require eternal vigilance and looking over one's shoulder.

7. Under the blow of thralled discontent,

nor falls / under etc. = nor is it brought low, as discontented factions are brought low, by being cast into prison, or otherwise removed. discontent is an abstract noun personified to stand for those persons in a state who chafe at the existing regime and would have it changed. Such people could be considered to be thralled, i.e. enslaved, by the situation of being devoid of power, or by the constant threat of being physically restrained and cast into prison.

8. Whereto th' inviting time our fashion calls:

Whereto = to which, i.e. to smiling pomp or thralled discontent. The line is not easily understood, and opinions vary as to its meaning. The subject of calls could be either th'inviting time or our fashion, with either being the object. Or perhaps they are both the subject, being in apposition to each other. inviting time probably means 'the time which invites and motivates us to do such and such'. A reasonably safe interpretation would therefore be 'It (my love) is not tempted to follow the swings of fashion which time dictates, either as a courtier walking the knife edge of preferment, or a dissident threatened with punishment'.

9. It fears not policy, that heretic,

policy = the art of making prudent judgements, but especially those relating to statecraft. It often had a pejorative connotation, implying cunning, craftiness and dissimulation (OED 4.a.).
that heretic - perhaps policy personified is thus called because it changes direction so frequently, and thus has no constant beliefs. It is a renegade and keeps faith with no one.

10. Which works on leases of short-number'd hours,

which - sc. policy. It calculates advantages and disadvantages in the short term, but is incapable of producing anything worthwhile or lasting. short-numbered hours = restricted time spans, hours that fly as if they were far shorter than normal.

11. But all alone stands hugely politic,

But it (my love) surmounts all these others by knowing precisely what is important. It outdistances all their policies, and therefore, in that sense, it is vastly more politic than they are.

12. That it nor grows with heat, nor drowns with showers.

To the extent that it is unaffected by any changes in the political climate. It is totally independent of them.

13. To this I witness call the fools of time,

To this = to the fact of the superiority of my love. I witness call = I call as witnesses. the fools of time - the phrase has already been used in Sonnet 116 - Love's not Time's fool, i.e. love is not duped by Time into believing what time wishes it to believe (And other meanings. See the notes on Sonnet 116). Here it is generally thought that the phrase refers specifically to some contemporary individuals or groups of individuals with a common well known purpose. Thus Essex and his confederates might be intended. He was executed in 1601, having humbly declared his loyalty to the Queen, although he had been guilty of armed uprising. Another suggestion is that it refers to the participants in the Gunpowder plot of 1605, who were tried and executed in January 1606. Essex was very popular in his lifetime, and could claim to be dying for the good cause of having sought to protect the Queen. His crime or crimes were the fact of having disobeyed her, and of having fomented rebellion. The Gunpowder plotters could claim, as Catholics, to be dying the deaths of martyrs. Time had presumably duped them into playing the game of politics, or to believe that their cause was justified. They therefore died in pursuit of good, or 'the good', as they perceived it.

14. Which die for goodness, who have lived for crime.

See the note above. The antithesis seems to between dying a good Christian death and living a bad life. The word crime was of more general application in Shakespeare's day, and was used frequently as a synonym for sin. As for example when Hamlet's father's ghost exclaims

.....I am thy father's spirit,
Doomed for a certain term to walk the night,
And for the day confined to fast in fires,
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away. Ham.I.5.9-12.

and it is used three other times in the sonnets, where the implication is the crime of unfaithfulness, or, in one case, the heinous crime of Time in causing the beloved youth to grow older. Thus we should not necessarily interpret the word here as applying to political crime, or the act of treason, which it was in the case of the Gunpowder plotters. The sentence could apply in a general sense to all hypocrites, almost to all humans, (hypocrite, mon lecteur, mon semblable, mon frere to use Baudelaire's words), all those who have sin on their souls but who are happy enough to attain eternal forgiveness with a death bed repentance. The wording does not help any more in specifying who these fools of Time were, for it is too general and unfortunately there are no further clues. Nor does it help much in settling the moral question of whether or not it is desirable to repent sincerely of one's crimes. If anything, the thought stands against the Christian doctrine of salvation by repentance and forgiveness, for it seems to take a swipe at those who die for goodness, as though it suspects that their repentance cannot be genuine, but is a mere matter of expedience, to be classed alongside all the other dubious acts of those who 'suffer under smiling pomp, or under the blow of thralled discontent'. Such actions, it is implied, are all time serving, calculating, heretical, a species of political debauchery. Yet for a love that is hugely politic and is all alone, (as the heretic might be), the claim to perfection is somewhat undermined by these counter examples. For it differs from them only in being less worldly, its ambition for long lasting success being much the same as that of the fools of Time, who would be glad enough to march onwards to glory for all eternity, were it at all possible.

Nevertheless, these buried contradictions do not surface until after several readings, and the poem carries all before it with its sense of conviction and its vigour of expression. Despite almost everything being expressed through negatives (my love does not do this or is not that etc.), one receives from it a positive sense that it describes a love such as all loves should be. Nothing can now diminish it, nothing can prevent it from being the supreme achievement, nothing can corrupt it or swerve it from its path. It is the non pareil of loves, and will survive even when this insubstantial pageant of our lives has faded, and when all the breathers of this world are dead. Such is its strength that it will outlast the pyramids, and it seems, after all, that this is a fitting way to draw the curtain on this most extraordinary of all loves, as is done in these three sonnets, for nothing else will ever be able to match it.

1. Were't aught to me I bore the canopy,

Were't aught to me = Is it of any consequence to me? Does it matter to me? Would it be (have been) of benefit to me? The ought of Q is a variant spelling of aught.
I bore = that I bore, that I could have borne, that I might (in the future) bear. The context does not make it clear whether this is a future or past event referred to, or if the speaker did actually participate in a procession. The tone of the sonnet however, and that of the two preceding ones, implies that he did not and would not involve himself in such ceremonials, which are nothing in comparison with true love. Or that if he did, it touched only his external person and meant nothing to his heart.
canopy = a baldaquin carried on poles in a procession, to protect and give shade to some illustrious person. The use of the suggests that some particular event is being referred to, possibly the coronation procession of James I on 15 March 1604. Shakespeare, as a leading member of the King's Men, as his acting company was then called, was granted four yards of red cloth for use in this procession. No doubt this would have been for the manufacture of some rich garment. However we do not know if he did or did not take part in the ceremony. The previous sonnet, It suffers not in smiling pomp, could possibly refer to the same event, since one of the meanings of the word pomp is 'procession'. (OED.2.) Being selected as one of the canopy bearers was a great honour for an aristocrat. See the illustration opposite for an example. A canopy was also held over the consecrated host in processions, such as on the feast of Corpus Christi.
bore = carried. The tense of the verb is uncertain. It could be past tense, or it could imply 'that I might at some time carry it in the future'.

2. With my extern the outward honouring,

With my presence (i.e. the external part of me) doing honour to a public persona (who can be known only by outward show).

3. Or laid great bases for eternity,

great bases = vast foundations (such as might be used for pyramids). However, since the speaker is hardly in a position to be involved in such undertakings, the reference is perhaps symbolic. He would not desire to do so, even if it were possible. Or perhaps he refers obliquely to his own poetry, which will live on when Tyrants' crests and tombs of brass are spent. Possibly he no longer asserts this, concerned only to prove that his love alone is eternal, and not his poetry.
for eternity = to last for all eternity.

4. Which proves more short than waste or ruining?

Which - the antecedent is probably the laying of great bases for eternity, or the bases themselves.
proves = turns out to be. This can be either a singular or plural verb.
more short than waste or ruining = shorter lived than if they were the immediate objects of Time's destruction and ruination. The construction is elliptical, and one has to interpret it according to its more obvious purport, and in terms of the words waste and ruining Thus '(It would be of no import if) I involved myself in great projects, which are often more short lived than waste and ruin themselves'.

5. Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour

Have I not seen - a rhetorical question equivalent to 'Surely it is well known that etc.'
dwellers = those who insist upon, those who live according to the rules of etc.
form and favour = the appurtenances of ceremony; the formalities of the court, and its rewards. The obsequiousness due to great ones, and the favours bestowed by them.

6. Lose all and more by paying too much rent

all and more - that there cannot be more than all does not seem to have bothered Shakespeare. Compare:
For whether beauty, birth, or wealth, or wit,
Or any of these all, or all, or more, 37
Commentators suggest that it might refer to losing all that one has, and, in addition, getting into debt. However it is not necessary to insist on a rigid interpretation. The excessive loss of all and more points to complete ruin for the devotee of the favours of the great.
paying too much rent = laying out too great a commitment. The phrase is metaphorical. Although it could refer primarily to financial ruin, it indicates the total ruin of the person so engaged in the transitory and false pursuit of ambition. The rent they are paying is their devotion to such a cause.

7. For compound sweet, forgoing simple savour,

Giving up (forgoing) the simple delights (of true love) in favour of the complex rewards of political preferment. The metaphor is from medicine, where simples referred to unmixed herbal remedies, compounds to mixtures of several substances, or possibly it is a metaphor from cooking. Both compound and sweet may be taken as nouns or adjectives. Taking the former as the adjective the phrase means 'an elaborate and complex sweet dish'. Compare also:
'He may turn many a rare esteemed physician into shame and blushing: for whereas they, with infinite compounds and fair promises, do carry men to death the furthest way about; he with a few simples preserves himself and family to the most lengthened sufferance of nature'.
John Stephens Essays and Characters, A Shepherd 1615.
savour = taste, flavour. I suspect also that there is a punning reference to 'our Savior', mentioned many times in the Communion service. It is spelt savor in Q. See the note to line 10 below.

8. Pitiful thrivers, in their gazing spent?

Pitiful thrivers = superficially successful go-getters who in reality should be pitied; wretched and miserable time servers who put on a veneer of success.
In their gazing spent = who waste their time and energies in gaping at what others do. One of the echoes from the communion service. See below for the full text, and the note to oblation, line 10. The gazers in the Communion Service are castigated as sinful malingerers who are making a mockery of truth.

9. No; let me be obsequious in thy heart,

No - see the note to line 1 of Sonnet 123.
Obsequious in thy heart = dutiful, serving you silently, devoted to you inwardly. The word is from the Latin obsequor, to accommodate oneself to the will of another, to comply with, yield to, submit to.

10. And take thou my oblation, poor but free,

take thou = receive (this gift)
oblation = offering, gift. From the supine of the Latin irregular verb fero, I bear. This is a religious term, used in the Communion service of the Anglican church, of which there seem to be echoes in this sonnet. (See the second extract below). The only other occasion on which Shakespeare uses the word is in A Lover's Complaint.

Lo, all these trophies of affections hot,
Of pensived and subdued desires the tender,
Nature hath charged me that I hoard them not,
But yield them up where I myself must render,
That is, to you, my origin and ender;
For these, of force, must your oblations be,
Since I their altar, you enpatron me. LC.218-224.

Clearly this extract has a lot in common with the present sonnet, for the youth is offering himself, his affections and desires, to the maid who is the object of his albeit temporary adoration. His desires are the oblations, and he offers them from himself as the altar. The thought is somewhat complex, especially with the word enpatron (for which OED only gives this example), but it seems that both here and in the sonnet the echoes of the communion service are unmistakable and would have been apparent to anyone alive in Elizabethan England, for all of whom church attendance on Sunday was compulsory. It is the combination of the words savour, gazing, oblation, pure, seconds, render, me for thee, altar, which call to mind the Last Supper, the table (altar), the love feast, the pure offering of oneself, the consecration, and the implied words 'Read this in remembrance of me', just as Christ said 'Do this in remembrance of me'. The implied thought is 'Just as The Son of God, our Saviour, offered up himself as an oblation to redeem mankind, so I offer myself to you, to remain with you for eternity. And just as at the last supper our Saviour broke bread and offered it to his disciples, enjoining them to continue the observance as a remembrance of him, so I render myself to you, that we may be eternally joined in the sacrament of love. As often as you read this poem you will be commemorating my love for you, which has no end'. SB is of the opinion that none of the references are sufficient to make a reader think of the Eucharist while reading the poem. This I would dispute, for there are simply too many of them to pass unnoticed, and the rarity of the word oblation is in itself enough to trigger the echoes in the minds of those familiar with the service. In any case one cannot expect so delicate a subject to be flaunted entirely openly, and conventions of the time would require that covert references at most be used in likening one's love to that of Christ's oblation of himself on the cross. There is only a thin dividing line between outright blasphemy and the mystic's expressions of passionate love, although intrinsically there is nothing wrong with asserting that all human loves partake of the pattern of divine love, the love of God for the human race, and the particular manifestations of that love known to the Christian faith. But an open expression of such comparisons could easily be misinterpreted and could render its author the subject of intense scrutiny and imprisonment. Therefore such hints as have been noted are as much as we would expect in the political and religious circumstances of the time, but they are there nevertheless, and cannot be disregarded.

11. Which is not mixed with seconds, knows no art,

Which - refers to my oblation, the offering of my love.
seconds = second rate material, impurities. Significantly, the word was used in the gradation of flour. OED gives an instance, dating from 1618, of its adjectival use to describe inferior bread, and one from 1577 describing the second extraction of honey. Occurence of the noun is not recorded for another century, other than this instance, which is glossed as 'A quality (of bricks, flour, etc.) second and inferior to the best' (OED.(a. & n.2). 5). The link with the purest wheat bread that conveniently may be gotten for the Eucharist should not be overlooked. There may also be a disclaiming (but nevertheless blasphemous) reference to the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, who redeemed both me and thee.
knows no art = is not cunning or devious.

12. But mutual render, only me for thee.

render = rendering, offering (of each to the other). I.e. the only art (skill) that his love knows is that of the mutual exchange and mingling of loves, the rendering of one to the other. The word 'render' is used in the Communion service in the following: Dearly beloved, forasmuch as our duty is to render to Almighty God our heavenly Father most hearty thanks, for that he hath given his Son our Savior Jesus Christ, not only to die for us, but also to be our spiritual food and sustenance, ... See the note to line 10 above.

13. Hence, thou suborned informer! a true soul

Hence = Get thee hence! In this context almost equivalent to 'Get thee behind me Satan!'
suborned = bribed. An informer in Elizabethan or Jacobean times would be in the pay of the government. Walsingham built up an extensive intelligence service under Elizabeth. Informers could of course embellish the reality in order to gain greater credence. Those informed against were not necessarily guilty.
suborned informer - it is not known for certain to whom this refers, if indeed it is to a real person or to a mere abstraction. Some editors think it refers to the youth himself, others to an onlooker who has been misinforming the youth, while others think it harks back to Sonnet 123 and is a final challenge against Time, who attempts to distort and destroy the reality of love. Of the most recent editors, JK thinks it is a malicious onlooker; KDJ thinks that most probably it is Time itself; GBE either some specific individual or tale bearers generally; SB lists 'a self-serving toady' or the youth himself as possibilities. Seymour Smith is confident that it is the Friend himself, who is finally being reminded that the poet is not, and never has been, under his control. (Shakespeares Sonnets, 1973, p.175). It could refer in a general sense to the devil's advocate who is always at hand to defeat idealism, and to all those who disbelieve in the power of love.  (See the Introductory Notes for further discussion of the suborned informer).

14. When most impeached stands least in thy control.

impeached = accused. It is often used in connection with accusations of treason, but can have a wider application, suggestive of any sin or crime. Shakespeare does not use the word much (about 10 times) and the following is typical:

I am disgraced, impeach'd and baffled here,
Pierced to the soul with slander's venom'd spear,
The which no balm can cure but his heart-blood
Which breathed this poison. R2.I.1.170-3.

stands least in thy control = is the least subject to you, is not in your power in any way.

1. O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power

my lovely boy - Some commentators have objected to this phrase and found it too mawkish. At least one book has been written on the supposition that it can only be addressed to a very young boy, probably the son of the Earl of Pembroke, the father being one of the candidates for the title of the beautiful youth. All such objections are obviously misplaced, as it is well known that the language used by lovers often resembles that of the fondest exchanges between parent and child. Besides, the speaker has only just declared that his love is not mixed with seconds, knows no art, so it is no surprise to find him addressing the youth in the most artless way, using no similes or metaphors, but simply the unvarnished words. Love and loveliness has been the enduring theme of the sonnets to the youth, so it is fitting that they should end in this way, with loving care and devotion.

2. Dost hold Time's fickle glass, his sickle, hour;

Time's fickle glass = Time's treacherous mirror, (which always shows a person's face at the present time, but never shows what changes have occurred). This meaning is prompted by the frequent use of glass, (equivalent to mirror), in the Sonnets, starting with Sonn.3:
Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewest
Now is the time that face should form another;
There are 10 uses of glass, including this one. In eight of them, the meaning is unequivocally 'mirror'; in one, Sonn.5, it has the modern meaning. One is therefore almost compelled to assume that here the predominant meaning must be 'mirror'. Many editors think that the reference is mainly to an hourglass. This would be untrustworthy also, in that the individual never knows what the next hour will bring, and when the hour of death is at hand. In Durer's engraving above Death is shown holding an hourglass. Probably both meanings are intended.
his sickle, hour - Time was frequently depicted bearing a scythe (a large version of a sickle, and an hourglass). Some editors read sickle-hour, i.e. the hour in which wheat was ripe for the sickle, hence the hour of mortality, the hour of death. The line is difficult because it is not entirely clear how the boy holds time in his power, since throughout the sonnets the opposite has been feared. hold may be interpreted as 'holding back, restraining', and the youth may paradoxically be seen as defying time by remaining beautiful in the lover's eyes, and beautiful in himself. This meaning is reinforced by the subsequent explanation that Nature has granted him the privilege of being plucked away from the jaws of destruction. But this privilege will not last forever.

3. Who hast by waning grown, and therein showest

Who hast by waning grown - In the sense that growth is also a form of decay, a hastening onwards to old age, it may also be described as waning. His youth wanes as he ripens to maturity. As in Sonn.60:
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crowned,
Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
The word waning is usually applied to the moon and the moon's phases, a suggestion which is probably relevant here, because of the reminiscences of the harvest moon, shaped like a sickle in the autumn sky.
therein = by doing this, by waning and growing. As his beauty increases it shows by contrast the decrepitude of his lovers.

4. Thy lovers withering, as thy sweet self growest.

lovers - see the note on this word by SB, pp.431-2 . In Shakespeare's day lover could mean simply friend, admirer, or an acquaintance who looked upon one with favourable intent. But it also could have a similar range of meanings, often with implicit sexual overtones, as in the modern sense, when two people are referred to as lovers. The language of the Sonnets is often fraught with double meanings and it never allows a commentator to declare with certainty that the relationship between lover and beloved was or was not a sexual one. The use of the word lovers here is no exception.

5. If Nature, sovereign mistress over wrack,

Nature - Nature here steps in as the champion against Time, and as having sovereign power over it. There are 16 uses of the word in the Sonnets, where it roughly means 'the sovereign power that creates all things', as here, or, comparably, in The Winter's Tale:
For I have heard it said,
There is an art that in their piedness shares
With great creating Nature WT.IV.4.86-8.
In the pantheon of pagan deities Nature would be placed somewhere near the top, as having power over all created things. However she does not reverse Time's processes, but merely decides when they are to act. Thus she is 'sovereign mistress over wrack (= ruin)' in that she determines the moment when destruction falls. The sentence is in any case conditional, implying that 'If Nature appears to be pulling you back from ruin, it is only because she has an ulterior motive for the time being. She cannot save you forever'.

6. As thou goest onwards still will pluck thee back,

still = always, ever, continually. The word may be taken both with that which precedes and that which follows. Thus 'as you ever hasten forwards' and 'she (Nature) will always pull you back from the brink'. The construction also allows the meaning, 'as you go forward, yet she will still manage to etc.'

7. She keeps thee to this purpose, that her skill

keeps thee = detains you, keeps you as her possession, holds you back, preserves you.
to this purpose = with this intent, for this reason.
that = in order that.
her skill - i.e. Nature's skill and excellence in creating and managing the beauties of creation.

8. May time disgrace and wretched minutes kill.

May time disgrace - Nature's skill in preserving the youth and his beauty will disgrace Time which is only intent on destroying him.
minutes - Q gives the singular mynuit which has encouraged commentators to see a connection with the French minuit, or midnight, which was often feared as the hour of death. The emendation to minutes is therefore not generally accepted. The reason I have retained it is that 'and wretched minute kill ' sounds so ungrammatical that its sense jars against the otherwise smooth running of the poem. With or without the emendation, the meaning of the line is not obvious. Presumably it implies that, if the youth is saved by nature from destruction, then time is not operative, and wretched minutes are of no account, they have effectively been killed.

9. Yet fear her, O thou minion of her pleasure!

her = Nature.
minion = plaything, darling; servant.

10. She may detain, but not still keep, her treasure:

detain = hold back (from time's ravages), preserve by keeping in a safe place.
still = always, forever.

11. Her audit (though delayed) answered must be,

Her audit = Nature's presentation of her accounts. The word audite, from the Latin, means literally 'hear ye', a summons used to a person to give an account of themselves. It was often used in a theological sense, referring to the account one must give of oneself to God. Also used in connection with the Last Judgement. OED 3 gives the following example: 1606 Dekker Sev. Sins i. (Arb.) 15 Those heapes of Siluer...will be a passing bell...calling thee to a fearefull Audit.
Strictly speaking the sense of these lines is that Nature must render an audit of her action in holding back the youth from Time's clutches, and give a profit and loss statement of the same. But it is impossible not to read them also as a warning to the youth that he must settle his own accounts with God and Nature. Has he used his time profitably, or has he not been merely frivolous and inconsiderate, for which he might ultimately have to pay a heavy price?

12. And her quietus is to render thee.

quietus = sanctioning of accounts. Debts that were paid in full had the words Quietus est written on them, meaning 'It is settled.' Nature makes the same stipulation with the human race, that, having made the loan of life, the debt must be paid to her in full (presumably by dying). Nature here must settle her account with Time.
is to render thee = is achieved by sacrificing you. Or perhaps 'is yet to be presented to you'. There is probably a conflation of ideas here, that Nature must render an account to Time for having borrowed the youth, and that the youth must settle his account with Nature, having profited from her generosity. On Nature's balance sheet would be written the worth of the youth, and whether the care expended on him had been worth the price, and if he had repaid the debt. Only when fully repaid could Time write upon it Quietus est. With regard to the account supplied to the youth there is an obvious reference to the common phrase of 'paying one's debt to nature', i.e. dying. The word render is used in the Sonnets only here and in the previous sonnet, in the same line, so that the mutual render, only me for thee, (125 line 12), becomes here almost a brutal sacrifice, a giving up of the youth to the necessity of Time. Quietus also has the suggestion of 'quietness, peace' as for example in Hamlet's famous lines
For who would bear the whips and scorns of Time,
............................
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin Ham.III.1.70, 74-5.
where the quietus also contains the sense of peace and rest after a long travail. Therefore there is an implication here that Nature can perhaps find peace by getting rid of the burden of this unruly child, the fair youth, who has perhaps not justified the outlay expended upon him. However it would be too churlish to insist on these possible derogatory meanings, since the tone of the poem is, if anything, tender, loving and solicitous. Compare also:
'Lastly, to end him; he cares not when his end comes, he needs not fear his audit, for his quietus is in heaven'.
Sir Thomas Overbury, Characters, A Franklin. 1614-16.
The use of audit and quietus suggests that, in literary parlance, they were generally used to indicate a summing up of one's life and a settling of the accounts before God and before one's conscience.

13. (                                           )

Opinions differ as to the significance of the two bracketed empty lines at the end of this sonnet. It has been suggested that Thomas Thorpe the publisher excluded the lines as they might have given too direct a reference to the identity of the fair youth. Another suggestion is that since the couplet should by rights begin with 'No!' to match the pattern of the previous sonnets, the only fitting negative for the closing lines of this farewell sonnet are ones which do not rely on words. For words detract from the purity of love.
Or the blanks enclosed by brackets might suggest the shape of an hour glass, which will consume the youth's hours. Or their emptiness might indicate a gaping grave. At any rate the shortness of the sonnet and the closing two lines do give a sense of incompleteness, suggesting that it might have been impossible to finish the sequence, and that perhaps their love was unending.

14. (                                            )

Perhaps, rather than the silence of the grave, which Hamlet's final words The rest is silence convey, we should look for a parallel in Prospero's loving farewell to Ariel in the Tempest, (V.I.316-8) a farewell which elicits no reply, for Ariel flies off to join the fiery elements to which he belongs, and Prospero realises that he can no longer hold him.
My Ariel, chick,
That is thy charge. Then to the elements
Be free, and fare thou well!

1. In the old age black was not counted fair,

In the old age = in olden times.
black = dark, brunette. The ideal of female beauty in Renaissance literature and sonnets is a blonde. This ideal possibly goes back to the ancient world, and Helen of Troy. However blackness was not seen as entirely undesirable, and is praised even in the The Song of Solomon.

I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me, they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. 1.5-6.

It may be that the old age refers back only to the reign of Elizabeth, whose fair reddish hair was chivalrously considered to be the ideal of female beauty. As she grew older she relied much on thick cosmetics and wigs. Shakespeare could be taking a swipe here at that practice, which he seems to have disliked intensely.
not counted fair = was not considered beautiful.

2. Or if it were, it bore not beauty's name;

it bore not beauty's name = it did not have the reputation of being beautiful, it was not called beautiful. The line is almost contradictory, for it seems to say 'if black was beautiful, it was not beautiful', but mentally one supplies the extra links to give 'if it were in fact considered to be beautiful it nevertheless was not given the appellation'.

3. But now is black beauty's successive heir,

successive heir = succeeding to, inheriting her (beauty's) title. Probably with a pun also on 'hair'.

4. And beauty slandered with a bastard shame:

slandered = given a bad reputation.
a bastard shame = a shame caused by the bastardy of blackness, which is not the true child of beauty; a shame attached to the name of bastard, since beauty itself is now no longer genuine, but of false parentage, i.e. cosmetics (as explained in the next two lines).

5. For since each hand hath put on Nature's power,

put on Nature's power = taken over the power of Nature to allocate beauty. The phrasing is suggestive of applying powder or rouge or white lead to the face, as if Nature's power could be equated with a thick layering of cosmetics.

6. Fairing the foul with Art's false borrowed face,

Fairing the foul = making beautiful what is ugly
Art's false borrowed face = the artificial face put on by the use of cosmetics, and the skilful application of them.

7. Sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower,

hath no name - has no renown, as all beauty is now, or could be, artificial; has lost her claim to being called 'beauty'; has lost her name through the shame of being bastardized; has lost her name through being slandered, having now been made black, instead of fair.
no holy bower = no sacred precinct in which to be worshipped. Gods and goddesses of antiquity had holy bowers and groves set aside and dedicated to them. Shrines would often be erected to them in such places.

8. But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace.

profaned = cast out of the temple, barred from the holy places. From the Latin word profanus meaning 'before i.e. outside the sanctuary or temple'.
if not lives in disgrace - It is not clear what is the worse penalty, to be pronounced profane, or to live in disgrace. They probably mean approximately the same thing, although, since one is dealing with the abstract and fanciful idea of beauty as a goddess, one need not insist too rigidly on an exact meaning. It is interesting that the word is an echo from the previous sonnet, in which Nature supposedly disgraces Time by protecting the youth. Here Art has disgraced Nature by making false effigies of beauty. disgrace could also mean 'to make ugly, to disfigure'.

9. Therefore my mistress' eyes are raven black,

Therefore - the logical connection between the colour of his mistress' eyes and what has been described in the previous eight lines is not clear. It seems that one is meant to understand that the eyes are in mourning for the death of beauty, and are therefore clothed in black. But since we assume that black is their natural colour, they cannot have put on mourning weeds for this occasion only, unless they also are guilty of disguising their true colour. The poet is evolving a fanciful conceit that his mistress' eyes became aware of how others were bastardising true beauty and therefore put on mourning in sympathy with her.
raven black = black like a raven's feathers.

10. Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem

Her eyes - many editors emend to her brows, or her hair, to avoid the rather banal repetition of 'eyes'. It also explains the phrase so suited, which would mean 'dressed in a similar fashion'. Alternatively one could change eyes in the line above to brows. The fact that her hair is black is indicated by 130:
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
suited - a pun on sooted is possibly intended.

11. At such who, not born fair, no beauty lack,

mourners / at such who - the modern idiom would be 'mourners for'. Those referred to are the ones who, lacking natural beauty, make up for it by adorning themselves with cosmetics.

12. Sland'ring creation with a false esteem:

Slandering creation = by falsely interfering with natural beauty, slanderously indicating that created things are bad.
esteem - estimation, valuation. By painting themselves other than they are, they create a false estimation of their worth.

13. Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe,

so they mourn = they mourn in such a way that; they mourn so intensely. they = sc. my mistress' eyes.
becoming of their woe = their appearance is ideally suited to their grief. Presumably, his mistress' eyes, which are naturally black, look like true and fitting mourners for beauty slandered by false devotees.

14. That every tongue says beauty should look so.

Every tongue = everyone. Compare:
All tongues, the voice of souls, give thee that due, 69.

beauty should look so = beauty should look just like your eyes look; beauty should look like you; you are now the true icon of beauty.

 

1. How oft when thou, my music, music play'st,

How oft when thou = how often when you.
my music = you, who are my music and my delight. Compare Sonn. 8, line 1, which also uses the word twice in one line:
Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly?

2. Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds

that blessed wood = the wooden soundboard of the harpsichord or virginals; the entire instrument (which was mostly made of wood). Or, more probably, the keys, which were made of wood, and probably not covered with ivory at this date. So also woods' in line 8 and dead wood in 12. However OED does not record this use of woods, equivalent to the modern word 'ivories'. See the comments on jacks below (l.5.)
whose motion sounds = whose motion causes the instrument to give sound; the motion of which resounds.

3. With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway'st

gently swayest - either the harpsichordist gently sways while she is playing the instrument, or the word means 'to control, to master'. gentle also had the meaning 'well-bred, of gentlemanly birth'. See line 11 below.

4. The wiry concord that mine ear confounds,

the wiry concord = the concord of sound made by the strings of the virginals.
my ear confounds = mixes sound and pleasure in my ears. From the Latin confundere to pour together, to mix. The word here evidently has a more gentle meaning than in the earlier sonnets when it implied 'bringing to utter ruin', as for example
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound 60.

5. Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap,

jacks = the pegs attached to quills which plucked the strings of the virginal. They were attached by levers to the keys of the keyboard, but, being within the instrument, did not actually touch the player's hand. The poet is probably referring loosely to the woods, or keys, as OED seems to think. (OED, Jack n.(1), 14. In the virginal, spinet, and harpsichord: An upright piece of wood fixed to the back of the key-lever, and fitted with a quill which plucked the string as the jack rose on the key's being pressed down. (By Shakes. and some later writers erron. applied to the key.) The jacks could certainly be seen leaping up and down. But in most harpsichord music the speed at which the notes were played would also give the impression that the keys were leaping to meet the fingers of the player's hand.

leap - the word is sexually suggestive, as are many others in the sonnet. leaping-houses were brothels, as in the following :
What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? unless hours were cups of Sack...and dials the signs of leaping-houses. 1H4.I.2.9
It is not known if the phrase 'nimble Jack' was current at the time.

6. To kiss the tender inward of thy hand,

the tender inward of thy hand - not necessarily the palm, as it could also apply to the underside of the fingers. The Elizabethans made a distinction between a formal kiss of the top of the hand in greeting, and a more intimate kiss made when the lover raised the inside of the hand of his beloved to his lips. I think we would make the same distinction today. See GBE p.245, note 6. And compare this from A Winter's Tale:
But to be paddling palms and pinching fingers WT.I.2.115
... Still virginalling / Upon his palm? WT.I.1.25-6.

7. Whilst my poor lips which should that harvest reap,

that harvest = the harvest of your kisses.

8. At the wood's boldness by thee blushing stand!

woods' - keys. See the note above, line 2. I think woods is best treated here as a plural noun.
by thee blushing stand - although the subject is ostensibly my poor lips, it is evidently the poet himself who stands enviously beside the virginals while his mistress plays. His lips are flushed with envy, anger and desire.

Note that the first sentence does not end till this point, as though it were a melody played with many variations.

9. To be so tickled, they would change their state

To be so tickled = in order to be tickled as the keys have been tickled (by your fingers). Tickling obviously is either a childish activity, or one associated with love-play.
they would change = they would wish to change
their state = their nature, their composition. I.e. his lips desire to be changed to wood and take the place of the keys.

10. And situation with those dancing chips,

situation = place, location. This seems to be its only meaning in Shakespeare, who uses the word only here and in Henry IV Part II.
Much more, in this great work,
Which is almost to pluck a kingdom down
And set another up, should we survey
The plot of situation and the model, 2H4.I.3.48-51.
More decisive however is the following from Henry V, where the plural is used:
FL. I think it is in Macedon where Alexander is porn. I tell you, captain, if you look in the maps of the 'orld, I warrant you sall find, in the comparisons between Macedon and Monmouth, that the situations, look you, is both alike. H5.IV.7.24-27.

chips = woods, keys. See OED.1a and 3, which gives this example.

11. O'er whom thy fingers walk with gentle gait,

O'er whom = over which (i.e. the chips), but suggestive also of the 'saucy Jacks'.
thy - Q wrongly gives their, as also in l.14. The error, which is common in Q, is emended by all editors.
gentle gait = well-bred pace and deportment; caressing movement.

12. Making dead wood more bless'd than living lips.

dead wood = the keys of the keyboard. Possibly also the deadness of impotence.
more blessed = more fortunate, happier.

13. Since saucy jacks so happy are in this,

saucy jacks = impudent keys of the keyboard; but with obvious reference to other vulgar and pushy men, his sexual rivals, with whom she was familiar; and to penises. Compare, in the preface to Laura, by Robert Tofte (1597): so we, by your countenances, shall be sufficiently furnished to encounter against any foul-mouthed JACKS whatsoever. See also SB p.439. The sonnet is deliberately laden with sexual innuendo. One imagines that having one's mistress sit at the virginals to play the latest love song could be quite sexy. (See the illustration above, and at the bottom of the page. The title of the book is suggestive. Other female musicians are shown to the left). Shakespeare does not often use the word 'virginal', but when he does it is always in a sexual context, most explicitly in Two Noble Kinsmen, a non-canonical play, but large sections of it being attributed to Shakespeare:
Pal. She met him in an arbour:
What did she there, coz? Play o' the virginals?
Arc. Something she did Sir.
Pal. Made her groan a month for't;
Or two, or three, or ten. TNK.III.3.33-6.

Other quotations are given above, at line 6. Note that the Puritans strongly disapproved of music and dancing, as it encouraged too free and easy a contact between the sexes.

 

14. Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss.

them = the saucy jacks. Probably a not too hidden reference to fellatio, since the line could be read as 'Let your fingers do the work for them, (the saucy Jacks), but for me, let it be your lips'.

 

1. The expense of spirit in a waste of shame

expense = expenditure; disbursement of assets; riotous and thoughtless extravagance, as in the following:
No care, no stop! so senseless of expense,
That he will neither know how to maintain it,
Nor cease his flow of riot: Tim.II.2.1-3.
spirit = vital energy, sexual energy, inner vitality. The word has close links with sexuality, sometimes signifying semen, or sexual energy, or the penis. As for example in Ben Jonson's Volpone, where Mosca proposes that his master, Volpone, requires a young girl to lie with him to restore his health: Volpone has already fallen in love with the girl, and is by no means as decrepit as he pretends to be, but Mosca makes out that he is impotent:

.... And a virgin Sir. Why alas,
He knows the state of's body, what it is:
That nought can warm his blood Sir, but a fever;
Nor any incantation raise a spirit;
A long forgetfulness hath seized that part. Volpone.II.3.154-9.

Compare also from Romeo and Juliet:
This cannot anger him: 'twould anger him
To raise a spirit in his mistress' circle
Of some strange nature, letting it there stand
Till she had laid it and conjured it down; RJ.II.1.23-6.
Various mysterious fluids were thought to circulate in the body and they were believed to determine aspects of personality.
......yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me: Ham.II.2.596-9.

Why, universal plodding poisons up
The nimble spirits in the arteries,
As motion and long-during action tires
The sinewy vigour of the traveller. LLL.IV.3.301-4.

In this sonnet spirit has a general signification as a life giving force within the psyche, and more specifically, sexual energy and male sexual functions. It was also widely believed that every male orgasm shortened the life of the enjoyer by one day.

A waste of shame = a wasteland, a desert of shameful moral decay, i.e, where no virtue flourishes. waste also meant a useless and extravagant expenditure or consumption, a squandering, (OED.5.a.). Probably also a pun intended on a waist of shame, i.e. a prostitute's body.

2. Is lust in action: and till action, lust

lust in action - lust, personified, as it works towards the fulfilment of its aims; or, the physical act of intercourse, driven only by lust; or, the person seized by lust, performing such an action. action is sometimes used by Shakespeare as a synonym for sexual intercourse. As for example in Pericles when the Bawd discusses with Boult the need to acquire more women for the brothel, for the ones they have with continual action are almost as good as rotten Per.IV.2.8.

till action = until it achieves its goal.

3. Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,

bloody = willing to shed blood, bloodstained. The modern slang word meaning 'very' was not then in use.
full of blame = guilty, criminal, full of fault. The word blame tends not to be used as a noun in this way nowadays, except in phrases such as 'No blame attaches to him'. Compare:
My high repented blames dear sovereign pardon to me. AWW.V.3.36.

4. Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;

savage = devoid of all civilised values, cruel, immoral.
extreme = Going to great lengths in any action, habit, disposition, or opinion; (OED.4.e.)
rude = coarse, brutish, uneducated. There are many examples of the word in Shakespeare, mostly in the sense of the modern word 'crude'. As for example.
Rude am I in my speech,
And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace: Oth.I.3.81-2.
The word does not have at this time the modern meaning of 'impolite'.
not to trust = not to be trusted.

5. Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight;

As soon as it is experienced hated immediately thereafter. To enjoy is often used of having intercourse as in:
REGAN Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony;
Dispose of them, of me; the walls are thine:
Witness the world, that I create thee here
My lord and master.
GONERIL Mean you to enjoy him? KL.V.3.75-9.
and:

Neither call the giddiness of it in question, the
poverty of her, the small acquaintance, my sudden
wooing, nor her sudden consenting; but say with me,
I love Aliena; say with her that she loves me;
consent with both that we may enjoy each other: AYL.V.2. 5-9.

straight = immediately.

6. Past reason hunted; and no sooner had,

Past reason = beyond the control of reason.
hunted - the object hunted is the attainment of the imagined pleasure.
no sooner had = as soon as enjoyed, as soon as the sexual congress is finished. to have in this context is equivalent to 'to have intercourse', 'to possess sexually'.

7. Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait,

past reason hated - the subsequent hatred is as irrational as was the original pursuit.
as a swallowed bait = like a bait that a fish swallows. The bait causes the fish to react with frenzy akin to madness. Although bait is a term applied to any poisoned or hooked morsel used to entrap an animal, Shakespeare uses it mainly with reference to angling. E.g.:
URSULA. The pleasant'st angling is to see the fish
Cut with her golden oars the silver stream,
And greedily devour the treacherous bait:
So angle we for Beatrice; who even now
Is couched in the woodbine coverture.
Fear you not my part of the dialogue.
HERO. Then go we near her, that her ear lose nothing
Of the false sweet bait that we lay for it. MA.III.1.26-32.

8. On purpose laid to make the taker mad.

On purpose laid = laid or set as a bait, in order to entrap. Strictly speaking a bait is not laid 'to make the taker mad' but simply to catch or entrap the taker. The effect of it however can be to make the trapped creature react with frenzy.

9. Mad in pursuit and in possession so;

Mad - this is the generally accepted emendation of Q's made. The description of Lust personified, or of the person afflicted by lust, continues. It is, or he is, mad in the pursuit of the object of his lust.
in possession so = equally mad when possessing sexually the object of desire.

10. Had, having, and in quest to have extreme;

Had, having - see note to line 6.
in quest to have - in pursuit of intercourse. A quest is a search.
extreme = exceeding all the boundaries of reasonable behaviour.

11. A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;

A bliss in proof = an ecstatic sensation while it is being experienced. to prove something is to try it out, to experience it (OED 3). As in:
You have seen and proved a fairer former fortune
Than that which is to approach. AC.I.2.32-3.
a very woe = an absolute, extreme sorrow.

The emendation of this line from Q's A blisse in proofe and proud and very wo is generally accepted. See the extensive note by SB contra an article by Graves and Knight 'A Study in Original Punctuation and Spelling' R.Graves & L. Riding, included in Graves's The Common Asphodel London 1949. (SB. 447-452.) Note that proved looks like proud in the original, suggesting a visual if not an oral pun at least on proud = erect. The reading proved is confirmed more by the sequence of thought than anything else, from proof to proved, since the orthography would not in any case distinguish between proud or proved. The other uses of proved in the sonnets are :
And worse essays proved thee my best of love.110
If this be error and upon me proved, 116
for which Q gives prou'd and proued respectively.

12. Before, a joy proposed; behind a dream.

Before = before the act, while it is still imagined.
a joy proposed = a delight which the doer envisages for himself i.e. proposes to himself that he will have, enjoy, do etc.
behind = afterwards, when it is past and over. The word is not often used in a temporal sense in Shakespeare. Frequently, when it has a temporal meaning, it seems to indicate 'hereafter', 'what is to follow'. Compare for example the following:
......when I should see behind me
The inevitable prosecution of
Disgrace and horror, AC.IV.14.64-6.

...if you break one jot of your promise or come one
minute behind your hour, AYL.IV.1.170-1.

And thou shalt live in this fair world behind,
Honour'd, beloved; Ham.III.2.170-1.

We were, fair queen,
Two lads that thought there was no more behind
But such a day to-morrow as to-day, WT.I.2.62-4.

a dream - perhaps reminiscent of
So have I had thee as a dream doth flatter,
In sleep a king, and waking, no such matter. 88.

13. All this the world well knows; yet none knows well

All this = all this catalogue of woe and disgust.
the world = everyone in the world.

14. To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

To shun the heaven = to avoid the tempting sense of delight.
that leads men - although men may be taken as mankind in general, there can be no doubt that the views expressed are written from a male perspective. Shakespeare may have had at times an equally jaundiced opinion of female sexuality, as for example in the King Lear extract given in the introductory notes above. But in the plays it is as easy to find as many passages showing a delight in sexual relations between men and women, as it is to discover the contrary.

1. My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

A traditional comparison. Shakespeare uses it himself in the sonnets to the youth:
Against that time when thou shalt strangely pass
And scarcely greet me with that sun thine eye, 49

2. Coral is far more red, than her lips red:

Coral - In Shakespeare's day only the red variety would have been generally available. OED.1.a gives the following information: Historically, and in earlier literature and folk-lore, the name belongs to the beautiful red coral, an arborescent species, found in the Red Sea and Mediterranean, prized from times of antiquity for ornamental purposes, and often classed among precious stones. The comparison of lips with coral was commonplace. lips here could be read as singular or plural.

3. If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

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Skin and breasts were often described as whiter than snow. Breasts were also compared to pearl and ivory. The wittiness of this line is is in the use of the agrestunal word 'dun', which brings the reader down to earth with a bump. OED glosses it as: Of a dull or dingy brown colour; now esp. dull greyish brown, like the hair of the ass and mouse. It was often used in the phrase 'The dun cow', a phrase nowadays sometimes transformed into the name of a pub. Logically, since snow is white, one should accept that her breasts were dun coloured, i.e. somewhat brownish. Whether this confirms or not that his mistress was truly dark seems doubtful, for the most likely cause of the claim here to her darkness is that of being deliberately provocative. Skin is never as white as snow, or as lilies, or as enchanting as Cytherea's, therefore to countermand the extravagant claims of other poets by a simple declaration of something closer to reality might jolt everyone to a truer appraisal of love and the experience of loving.

 

4. If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

If hairs be wires - hair was often compared to golden wires or threads, as in the sonnet by Bartholomew Griffin given above. A Renaissance reader would not have visualised wire as an industrial object. Its main use at the time would have been in jewellery and lavish embroidery. The shock here is not in the wires themselves (a sign of beauty) but in the fact that they are black.

5. I have seen roses damasked, red and white,

White, red and damasked are the first three varieties of rose described in Gerard's Herbal, and it appears that there were only these three colours. (See the commentary to Sonnet 109.) The damask rose was pinkish coloured. This is Gerard's description: 3. The common Damaske Rose in stature, prickely branches, and in other respects is like the white Rose; the especiall difference consists in the colour and smell of the flours: for these are of a pale red colour, of a more pleasant smel, and fitter for meat and medicine.

6. But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

SB, p.453, gives an illustration of a beauty literally portrayed according to the extravagant conceits of the time. Her cheeks have roses growing in them.

7. And in some perfumes is there more delight

In the traditional world of sonneteering the beloved's breath smelled sweeter than all perfumes. It was part of the courtly tradition of love to declare (and believe) that the goddess whom one adored had virtually no human qualities. All her qualities were divine. Compare, for example, the following from Cymbeline, one of Shakespeare's later plays (c. 1609-10), where Iachimo describes Imogen, with whom however he is not in love, although he had hoped to seduce her.
.......................................................Cytherea
How bravely thou becomest thy bed, fresh lily,
And whiter than the sheets! That I might touch!
But kiss; one kiss! Rubies unparagoned,
How dearly they do't! 'Tis her breathing that
Perfumes the chamber thus: the flame o' the taper
Bows toward her, and would under-peep her lids,
To see the enclosed lights, now canopied
Under these windows, white and azure laced
With blue of heaven's own tinct. Cym.II.2.13-23.

(Cytherea = Venus). Note the similes which equate skin with lilies, lips with rubies, breath with all perfumes, eyes with the lights of heaven, and the whole apparition with Venus.

8. Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

that from my mistress reeks - the use of 'reeks' was probably not quite as harsh and damaging to the concept of beauty as it seems to a modern ear. The word was not as suggestive of foetid exhalations as it is now. However, even from an early date, it tended to be associated with steamy, sweaty and unsavoury smells. The original meaning seems to have been 'to emit smoke', a meaning which is still retained in the Scottish expression 'Long may your lang reek'. There seems to be little doubt that Shakespeare could have used a gentler and more flattering word if he wished to imply that his mistress was a paragon of earthly delights. The expression is on a par with the earlier descriptions of dun breasts and hair made of black wire.

9. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

See note below.

10. That music hath a far more pleasing sound:

Curiously, these two lines (9-10) almost express the opposite of their exact meaning. One is tempted to read 'I love to hear her speak, for the sound is far more pleasing than music to my ear'. In fact that is almost a stronger meaning than the superficial and more obvious one, because the declaration that he loves to hear her surmounts the obstacle of his prior knowledge that music might be better. However much better it is he still would much prefer to listen to her voice, and his knowledge of the superiority of music is irrelevant. The mere introduction of the term music enlightens the reader's ear to the quality of experience the poet derives from listening to his beloved. Technically the effect is perhaps achieved by the directness of the statement 'I love to hear her speak', which works in the same way as the bold and breathtaking declarations made earlier to the youth - for I love you so, dear my love you know, etc. The whole effect is then consolidated by the pleasing sound of music which follows.

11. I grant I never saw a goddess go,

I admit that I never saw a goddess walking by. to go = to walk, as the next line confirms. In the ancient world encounters with gods and goddesses were often reported, and probably quite widely believed. Literature abounds with incidents of intervention in human affairs by various deities. Odysseus for example is often surprised when Athena disguises herself as a maiden and only reveals herself to him as she leaves. Commentators usually cite the example of Aeneas' encounter with Venus in Virgil's Aeneid - vera incessu patuit dea (by her gait she was revealed as a true goddess) Aen.I.405. Shakespeare had himself described Venus in his poem Venus and Adonis.
There may be a joking reference to sexual intercourse, as in: O let him marry a woman that cannot go, sweet Isis, I beseech thee! AC.I.2.59. The irreverence would be appropriate in a poem which debunks classical references and metaphors, as for example that shown above by Griffin, with its reliance on Aurora, the Graces and Thetis, all goddesses of classical antiquity.

12. My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:

'My beloved is human, a goddess with earthly feet'. The poet is asserting that divine comparisons are not relevant, for his beloved is beautiful without being a goddess.

13. And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare,

rare = precious, superb, of fine and unusual quality. The word has more of the sense of something wonderful and rich than in its modern uses. Shakespeare uses it far more frequently in the later plays. To the famous description of Cleopatra floating on her barge, which is put in the mouth of Domitius, Agrippa exclaims 'O rare for Antony!'

..............................For her own person,
It beggar'd all description: she did lie
In her pavilion---cloth-of-gold of tissue--
O'er-picturing that Venus where we see
The fancy outwork nature: on each side her
Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids,
With divers-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem
To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool,
And what they undid did.
AGRIPPA O, rare for Antony! AC.II.2.

Despite not being a goddess his beloved may be as rare to him as if she were Cleopatra.

14. As any she belied with false compare.

 

As any she belied = as any woman who is belied. Compare:
Lady, you are the cruellest she alive. TN.I.5.225,
and
the fair, the chaste, the unexpressive she. AYL.III.2.10.
belied = (who is) falsely portrayed. OED.2 defines belie as 'to tell lies about, to calumniate with false statements', and cites the following: 1581 Wherein you doe unhonestlye slaunder him and belye him, without cause.
false compare = false and deceptive comparisons, insincerities. compare could also hint at 'compeer', one who is comparable, on an equal footing.

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.

1. Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me,

Thine eyes - eyes were the prime movers in setting up the bond between Laura and Petrarch, Sidney and Stella, and no doubt between other sonneteers and their mistresses. One should also remember Shakespeare's own words in The Merchant of Venice:
Tell me where is fancy bred,
 Or in the heart, or in the head?
How begot, how nourished?
      Reply, reply.
It is engendered in the eyes,
 With gazing fed; and fancy dies
In the cradle where it lies.
 Let us all ring fancy's knell
   I'll begin it,--Ding, dong, bell. MV.III.2.63-71.

2. Knowing thy heart torments me with disdain,

Knowing thy heart torments me = (your eyes), being aware of the fact that your heart tortures me. The Q reading torment may be correct, its meaning being 'Knowing your heart to torment me, i.e. knowing that it is in the process of tormenting me'.
disdain = contempt, scorn, arrogant indifference. This was the traditional attitude of the adored beauty, who would not yield to the sexual desires and intemperance of her lover, either because she was naturally frigid, or simply because, as may well have been the case, she did not fancy him. The conventions of love poetry of the time usually ascribed her aloofness to her excessive purity and virginal chastity.

3. Have put on black and loving mourners be,

Have put on black = have dressed themselves in black clothes (for mourning) ; are coloured black. The poet interprets the dark colour of his beloved's eyes as symbolic of their sympathy with his suffering. They appear to have clothed themselves in black as if they were mourners at the funeral of his desires.

4. Looking with pretty ruth upon my pain.

ruth = pity, compassion.
pretty ruth - the poet finds the display of compassion very fetching and alluring, probably rather sexy.
upon my pain = on me suffering pain because I love you. Compare the groans of love in the previous sonnet. In reality the lover groaned because the beloved would not satisfy his desires for closer intimacy and sexual fulfilment, though this was never stated directly.

5. And truly not the morning sun of heaven

truly - see the comment on oaths in the previous sonnet, 131, in the note to line 6.

the morning sun of heaven = the sun, as it arises in the heavens in the morning. But presumably with a pun also on mourning.

6. Better becomes the grey cheeks of the east,

better becomes = is more adequately suited to, is better in harmony with.
the grey cheeks of the east - the sun rises in the East, into a darkened sky, described here as grey cheeks. The greyness suggests the cold of dawn, and the fleeting, disappearing blackness of night. Possibly also the pallidness of the beloved, but it is more likely that the metaphor is one of becomingness and the harmonious totality of dawn, rather than a direct comparison of the greyness of the woman's face with the morning sky.

7. Nor that full star that ushers in the even,

that full star = Hesperus, or the evening star, (the planet Venus, which shines in the morning and evening, close to the sun). In the days before artificial lighting these celestial phenomena would be well known to everyone. Venus is often very prominent in the evening sky at sunset, shining like an exceedingly bright star. Although modern telescopes have shown that it is always a crescent, this would not have been apparent to Shakespeare and his contemporaries, who would only ever have seen it as a' full star'.
that ushers in - OED 7.b. gives this example of ushers as meaning 'to inaugurate or bring in (a period of time)'. However the word is clearly based on the noun, 'usher', recorded at a much earlier date, an official who stood at a doorway, or who conducted attendants and dignitaries in a court of law, or at certain civic functions. The metaphor here is of an usher, the evening star, who officiates at the going down of the sun. It introduces a tone of solemnity and hushed silence to the description.
the even = the evening.

8. Doth half that glory to the sober west,

Doth half that glory to = provides half the glory to, glorifies to even half the extent that (those two mourning eyes glorify your face).
sober = restrained, sombre, subdued.
5-8. - GBE finds these metaphors (morning sun, evening star, sober west etc.), so trite and threadbare that he suspects a parodic intent. I think that that is too harsh a judgement, and there is beauty in the lines despite the relative familiarity of the metaphors. They are only hackneyed if one is often coming across them, which is not likely to be the case. Others think that the metaphors are unflattering and suggest that his mistress is ugly, apart from her eyes. Inevitably any comment on such matters is subjective and not factual, but on a personal note I find them more exalting than demeaning to the image of her face. Who would not wish to be compared to the dawn light, or the bright star of evening, both of them harbingers of returning beauty?

9. As those two mourning eyes become thy face:

mourning - this is an emendation of Q's morning, now generally accepted. In spelling the two words at the time were interchangeable.
become thy face = are suited to your face, are well and fittingly placed within your face.

10. O! let it then as well beseem thy heart

as well = in the same way (as your eyes seem to mourn for me)
beseem thy heart = be fitting for your heart, be appropriate that your heart should also.

11. To mourn for me since mourning doth thee grace,

since mourning doth thee grace = as the act of mourning adds grace and beauty to you,

12. And suit thy pity like in every part.

'Let not only your eyes, but every part of you be suitably garbed and behaved as if they too were pitying me'. The syntax of the line does however allow different interpretations. It could be taken with the previous line, with mourning being the subject of suit. 'And the mourning you now show is appropriate (doth suit) to the pity which every part of you seems now to have adopted'. Probably the word suit hints also at soot, 'to blacken', as in:

Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem,  127.

13. Then will I swear beauty herself is black,

Then will I = if you do these things, i.e. mourn me in your heart as well as with your eyes, and pity me (by letting me have sex with you?), then I will etc.
swear - but perhaps the swearing will be with such sarcanet surety oaths as carry no weight. (See the note to line 5 above).
beauty herself = the very essence of beauty, beauty in the abstract, ideal beauty, the goddess Beauty.
black = dark coloured, brunette, sun-tanned, morally debased, wicked. The word could have all of these meanings. As a pure description of colour Shakespeare in the sonnets applies it to night and to ink. As a description of complexion it is used of his mistress here and in other sonnets, usually with the implication that her moral complexion is also under consideration. Cleopatra uses it of her own facial and skin colour:
.....................................................Think on me
That am with Phoebus amorous pinches black
And wrinkled deep in time. AC.I.5.27-9.
The fashion for sun-bathing was unknown in Elizabethan times and high class women would avoid getting a sun tan, as it was too suggestive of peasant toil, a hard open air life, and poverty. Keeping a milk white skin was a much more desirable ideal.

14. And all they foul that thy complexion lack.

And all they foul = and all those other beauties (who are fair, i.e. blonde) are foul (dark, morally suspect, wicked).
that thy complexion lack = who are not coloured like you. complexion also referred to the moral and physical constitution of a person. OED 1-3. Here the prime meaning seems to be that of facial colour, which is apparently dark. How dark it is impossible to say, since the words black and foul are used with moral connotations, as well as physical ones, and in the previous sonnet he declares,
In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds,
which, taken literally, implies that her facial complexion is not black at all.

1. Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan

Beshrew = Shame upon, fie upon, damnation upon etc. A mild oath, rather like 'in good faith' of 131. Desdemona uses it in Othello:
Beshrew me, if I would do such a wrong
For the whole world.OTH.IV.3.78-9.
It is possible that there is some obscure reason for these mild and rather feminine imprecations. See the note to line 5 of Sonnet 131. Possibly the dark lady was prone to oft making use of them.
that heart = that heart of yours.
that makes my heart to groan - that causes me to groan with the pangs of love. See the note to line 6 of Sonnet 131.
Thy face hath not the power to make love groan

2. For that deep wound it gives my friend and me!

that deep wound = the wound caused by Cupid's darts, the wound that causes the heart to groan. Also the hurt caused by his friend securing a liaison with his mistress and thus betraying him, as described in the following lines.
it - this refers back to his mistress's heart, which is the ultimate cause of his entanglement, and his friend's distress.
deep wound - probably an indirect reference to female genitalia, as in the Passionate Pilgrim, when Venus intercepts Adonis (with whom she is hotly in love):
'Once' quoth she 'did I see a fair sweet youth
Here in these brakes deep-wounded with a boar,
Deep in the thigh, a spectacle of ruth!
See in in my thigh,' quoth she 'here was the sore.'
She showed hers ; he saw more wounds than one,
And blushing fled, and left her all alone. PP.9.8-14.

3. Is't not enough to torture me alone,

Surely it is sufficient (for the satisfaction of your sense of triumph, conquest etc.) that you should put me only through the torture of loving you? I.e. why do you have to involve my friend as well?

4. But slave to slavery my sweet'st friend must be?

slave to slavery = most deeply and completely enslaved. Possibly also a suggestion of being enslaved to a slave, a person of base social standing. The main point of the repetition however seems to be to emphasise how much stricken with love his friend is.
my sweetest friend - this is the first mention of the male friend in the dark lady series. It is usually assumed that the friend referred to is the wonderful youth addressed in sonnets 1-126, and that the incidents referred to are the same as those mentioned in 40-42, when the friend steals the poet's mistress. But as with all other similar conjectures, none of the biographical details in the sonnets, if there are any, may be independently verified.

5. Me from myself thy cruel eye hath taken,

i.e. I am bereft of all sense by my infatuation with you.
thy cruel eye - the cruel eye of a disdainful mistress was traditional. As for example Stella, Sidney's idol, who threatens to turn away her eye :
Whatever may ensue, oh let me be
Copartner of the riches of that sight:
Let not mine eyes be hell-driv'n from that light:
Oh look, oh shine, oh let me die and see.
For though I oft myself of them bemoan,
That through my heart their beamy darts be gone,
Whose cureless wounds ev'n now most freshly bleed:
Yet since my death-wound is already got,
Dear killer, spare not thy sweet cruel shot:
A kind of grace it is to kill with speed. AS & S 48.
Both the look of the mistress, and its absence, could be equally cruel.

6. And my next self thou harder hast engrossed:

my next self = the fair youth, he who is dearest to my heart, my other self.
harder = more seriously, more egregiously.
thou ... hast engrossed = you have taken possession of, seized upon, devoured for your own use, swallowed up, monopolised ; you have made (him) more coarse by sexually enslaving him. The word engross is not common in Shakespeare (nine uses including cognates), of which the following are typical.

Percy is but my factor, good my lord,
To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf;
And I will call him to so strict account,
That he shall render every glory up, 1H4.III.2.147-50.

For this they have engrossed and piled up
The canker'd heaps of strange-achieved gold; 2H4.IV.5.71-2.

I have long loved her, and, I protest to you,
bestowed much on her; followed her with a doting
observance; engrossed opportunities to meet her;
fee'd every slight occasion that could but niggardly
give me sight of her; MWW.II.2.175-80.

The predominant meaning is that of swallowing up and devouring something exclusively for one's own use. But in Richard III the word is used in the sense of 'to increase in size'. Perhaps there is an element of that here, with sexual suggestiveness, especially in conjunction with the word harder. 'You have caused him to have a stronger erection than even I have managed'.

7. Of him, myself, and thee I am forsaken;

myself - because I have lost my rationality, I am no longer in control of myself, I am deprived of my identity.
forsaken = deprived of, bereft of, abandoned by.

8. A torment thrice three-fold thus to be crossed.

thrice three-fold = nine times. It is not entirely clear how the poet manages to triplicate his woes, and perhaps impertinent to enquire why it is so. It could be that each participant is three times implicated in the menage à trois, by deceiving themselves and the two other participants. Since there are three of them the pain is thus triplicated. But there may be significance in the fact that this is sonnet 133, and a sort of numerical pun is thus intended. (I am the one who suffers three times three the torment). At any rate, the thrice three-fold suggests a huge increase in the torment that the speaker suffers.

9. Prison my heart in thy steel bosom's ward,

Prison my heart = imprison my heart, me, my feelings, my fate. prison is an imperative verb - please imprison me, I insist that you imprison me.
thy steel bosom's ward = the guardianship and protectorate of your relentless care. steel is meant to suggest an unyielding and unforgiving quality. The beloved's heart was often depicted as cold and unyielding as adamant. ward has a number of meanings connected with imprisonment and fortification. It could be the place of imprisonment (OEDn(2)17.a.) or the garrison which kept watch, (OEDn(2)12), or the parts of a lock which 'ward' off anything but the correct key (OEDn(2)24.a.). Evidently here the meaning is that of a secure place of protection and imprisonment.

10. But then my friend's heart let my poor heart bail;

let my poor heart bail = let my heart in its wretchedness at least stand bail for (my friend's heart). commentators think that an earlier and rarer meaning of bail is here intended, viz, to confine (OED.v(3).1), which gives however only this example and one from 1852. The word may have been more common, and based on the noun of similar meaning, i.e. charge, custody, jurisdiction, power (OED.n(1).1). However of the 15 other uses of the word in Shakespeare, (including one in the sonnets) the meaning of delivery, release or redemptiom, or the action of arranging the same, is always the one implied. I therefore think that the meaning here of these two lines is 'Let my poor heart, which you hold, be the surety for my friend's release. It matters not who holds me in custody, as long as I, through his release, can be his warder'.

11. Whoe'er keeps me, let my heart be his guard;

Whoe'er keeps me = whoever imprisons me, whoever stands guard over me.
let my heart be his guard = let me be the one who is warder to my friend. his seems to be inevitably referring to the poet's friend, rather than to 'whoe'er keeps me', since, if it were the latter, it would be almost impossible to wrest any coherent meaning from the last four lines. See also the note to the previous line. This phrase is probably not a mere repetition of let my poor heart bail (him).

12. Thou canst not then use rigour in my jail:

rigour = harshness, severity, strictness. The thought seems to be that, since I am standing as surety for him, you cannot use unnacustomed severity in your restraint of me, for fear of harming both of us, me in my own right, and him, being under my guard. However the poet than rethinks the situation, and realises that his lover is not likely to subscribe to this view, but will be as harsh as ever, for he is totally in her power, a realisation which he states in the final couplet.

13. And yet thou wilt; for I, being pent in thee,

And yet thou wilt - i.e you will use harshness in detaining me.
being pent in you = being imprisoned by you, being totally in your control. No doubt a play on the sexual meaning, given the content of 135 and 136 which follow shortly.

14. Perforce am thine, and all that is in me.

Perforce = by force, by duress. The implication is that you have control of me, whether I wish it or not.
and all that is in me = my body and soul, all of me. An echo of some of the other words of commitment in the sonnets, such as

And thou, all they, hast all the all of me. 31

When thou art all the better part of me? 39

For nothing this wide universe I call,
Save thou, my rose; in it thou art my all. 109

but here the boot is on the other foot, and the totality is not one of giving, but one of imprisonment. There may also be a deliberate biblical echo in these words, which resemble those from Psalm 103:
Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. PS.103.1-5.
Perhaps the poet wishes to contrast the love which might have been with the love which is.

1. So now I have confessed that he is thine,

So = since; well then; it is the case that. I prefer the first meaning, which makes lines 3-4 contingent upon lines 1-2. 'Since I have confessed etc., I will forfeit myself etc.' Alternatively one reads the line as 'Well then, I have made a clean breast of it, he is addicted to you (and so am I)'.

2. And I my self am mortgaged to thy will,

And I myself am mortgaged = and, in addition to him, whom you possess, I am myself bound to you according to the terms of a mortgage. It is difficult to know how Shakespeare understood the phrase mortgaged to thy will since he does not use the word mortgage elsewhere. Mortgaging a property involves handing over ownership of it to a person or organisation in return for a sum of money, which is in theory repayable. On full repayment the property is reclaimed. In affairs of love mortgaging oneself presumably means giving one's heart to the beloved in return for reciprocal love from her. The mortgage is then payed off by continual devotion. The use here of the word will, which has a variety of meanings, including whims, wishes, sexual desire, lust, vagina (see the next two sonnets), does probably imply that the poet is sexually infatuated and has given himself up entirely (mortgaged himself) to the enjoyment of sexual pleasure with her, or to the hope of it and infatuation with it.

3. Myself I'll forfeit, so that other mine

Myself I'll forfeit - A piece of financial terminology linked in with the idea of a mortgage. 'I will abandon the principal, or capital, which was used to set up the mortgage, i.e. myself '.
that other mine = that other self, my friend, who is my all the world. With a hint also of a mine from which precious minerals are extracted.

4. Thou wilt restore to be my comfort still:

restore = bring back to health; return to me unharmed.
to be my comfort still = to be yet, or always, available to comfort me. But there is surely a biblical echo in this from the well known Psalm 23:
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine
enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. Ps.19.23.5-6
Possibly also from Psalm 71:
Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel. Ps.71.21-2.
All this is an echo of his idolatrous/non-idolatrous attachment to the youth as described in 105. Perhaps a contrast is intended between the love that might have been, the ideal love, as in the psalms, and the actuality which has to be suffered in his current predicament.

Lines 1-4: It seems best to read this Quatrain as a unit, and not to take the first two lines as self-contained and independent. Thus : 'Since now that I have confessed that he is yours and I also am mortgaged to you, I will forfeit my right to the principal in the hope of securing his release'. If we do not do this the financial terminology on which the sonnet is based becomes fragmented and rather meaningless, and the separate lines all fly off tangentially having little connection with each other.

5. But thou wilt not, nor he will not be free,

But thou wilt not = but you will not do it (restore him to me).
nor he will not be free = and neither will he try to, or be desirous of being free; and you will not free him either.

6. For thou art covetous, and he is kind;

covetous = greedy for possession, having an ardent desire for. The meaning could also be extended to imply 'being sexually avaricious, lusting after' OED.3. The first meaning links in with the financial terminology and the usurer accusation of line 10; the second with the tone of sexual vituperation which runs through the sonnet.
kind = gentle, considerate; typical of his kind, i.e. a young man and therefore at the mercy of his sexual desires.

7. He learned but surety-like to write for me,

The line is of uncertain meaning. It is intepreted by many commentators as showing that the friend went to plead with the lady on behalf of the poet, and to advance his love affair, but instead fell in love with her himself. Instead of signing up for the love contract on behalf of the poet, he signed up for himself. This may however be too literal an interpretation.
surety-like = as if he himself were the guarantor (surety) of my love for you.
to write for me = to write on my behalf, to support my plea, to sign for me, to use his pen (penis) instead of my having the opportunity to use mine, hence 'he usurped my place as a lover'.

8. Under that bond that him as fast doth bind.

Under that bond = according to the conditions of that bond (a written legal agreement). This probably refers back loosely to the mortgage of line 2. Under could refer to a signature at the bottom of a page, under the wording of the bond. The term bond is much used in the Merchant of Venice. It is upon the conditions written in the bond that Shylock insists on his rights, and because of its conditions he ultimately finds it impossible to take his pound of flesh. In the extract below Portia uses the term this bond is forfeit, meaning that the payment stipulated in the bond was due and had to be forfeited. (See line 3 above).

PORTIA Why, this bond is forfeit;
And lawfully by this the Jew may claim
A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off
Nearest the merchant's heart. Be merciful:
Take thrice thy money; bid me tear the bond. MV.IV.1. 225-9.

'Under that bond' probably also has a bawdy meaning similar to from below your duke to beneath your constable. AWW.II.2.
as fast does bind = that ties him, imprisons him as tightly (as it does me).

9. The statute of thy beauty thou wilt take,

The statute of thy beauty = the (legal) rights to which your beauty entitles you. It is noticeable that here the poet does not quibble on whether or not she is beautiful, as in 131, 132 and 137.
thou wilt take = you will take up and enforce. You will insist upon exacting the due penalties. take does not normally have this meaning, but the context enforces it here.

10. Thou usurer, that put'st forth all to use,

usurer = moneylender. Usury was considered an evil in Elizabethan England, and at times was legislated against. Nevertheless it was a necessary part of political and mercantile life, and had to be tolerated, but with much disapprobation. Moneylenders, often part of the Jewish community, were actively disliked and often individuals were persecuted. The metaphor is therefore distinctly unflattering to the dark lady, and more than undoes the work of the previous line, which at least suggests that she is beautiful (if cruel), a suggestion which previous sonnets had attempted to deny.
that put'st forth all to use = who uses all her capital in loans to earn more interest; who offers all her sexuality for use by those who are entrapped by her.

11. And sue a friend came debtor for my sake;

This line continues from line 9. You will enforce your beauty's rights and come down hard on my friend who only became indebted to you (hooked by you) in order to save me. came probably is equivalent to became, but it could also suggest 'came into your company as one who was in debt to me, or willing to be indebted to you (for sexual pleasures?) on account of my infatuation with you, and hoping to ease my burden'.
sue is a legal term meaning 'pursue through the courts', in this case for settlement of a debt. The problem with this whole string of legal and financial metaphors is that superficially they appear transparent and straightforward, but in attempting to transfer them to a loving situation, and, even worse, to one in which three lovers are involved, the obvious interpretations often seem to be inapposite. (See the introductory note).

12. So him I lose through my unkind abuse.

him I lose = I am or will be bereft of him, deprived of him; I set him free (loose or loosen).
So him I lose - this echoes in a contrary sense the opening words, so now I have, and contributes to the sense that one is travelling in circles and that there is no escape. This idea is then reinforced by the final couplet and its crushing conclusion.
through = as a result of.
my unkind abuse = your harsh treatment of me; my harsh treatment of you. unkind = unnatural, not according to one's kind. abuse can mean 'deception' so the line could mean 'Thus I lose him through my cruel attempts to deceive you (and myself?), or through your deception of me'. unkind is used in Sonnet 120
That you were once unkind befriends me now,
where it is descriptive of the youth's harsh treatment of the poet in that he takes over his lover, possibly the same situation that is referred to here.

13. Him have I lost; thou hast both him and me:

Him have I lost - almost a repetition of so him I lose of the previous line, except that it is in the past tense now, as if here the feared event has become real and final.
thou hast both him and me = you possess us both, you have intercourse with us both. Compare the use of have in 129:
Had, having and in quest to have extreme.

14. He pays the whole, and yet am I not free.

He pays the whole = he settles the entire debt, he pays off all the mortgage. No doubt with a pun on whole / hole implying 'he satisfies your sexual appetite'.
and yet am I not free - the poem ends on a note of despair.

1. Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will,

'No matter what or who other women have to satisfy their desires, you have your own Will(iam)', or 'you have your own insatiable vagina (Will)', or 'you have a compliant male whose penis (Will) satisfies you'. The line echoes proverbial and folk wisdom about women's desires, and their ability to have their way by fair means or foul. As for example 'Women will have their wills' and 'Will will have will though will woe win', which last presumably means 'Desire will have what it wants, even though it brings sorrow', applicable to both males and females. The predominant meaning of 'Will' here is possibly 'William', which could apply to a) the poet; b) the poet's friend; c) the woman's husband. There is general agreement about a), but no one knows if b) and c) are relevant. None of the other lines of the poem confirm unequivocally that there is more than one William, although it seems quite clear that there is more than one lover. If the poet's friend's name is Will then it narrows the field of candidates of known names who might be the 'lovely boy' of the sonnets. But the evidence is far from clear and may be interpreted either way, for Will or not for Will.

2. And Will to boot, and Will in over-plus;

to boot = in addition, over and above what you need, have, want.
in over-plus = in excessive surplus. Will here probably puns on the meanings William, sexual craving, penis.

3. More than enough am I that vexed thee still,

This and the following line are of uncertain import. This one probably includes the quirky hidden allusion to Will am I = William.
still, as elsewhere, means 'continually, without ceasing'.
Perhaps one could paraphrase the line as 'Surely I, Will, who troubled you so often with my pleas of love, am more than enough to satisfy your desires'. JK suggests that vex could have sexual connotations, in its sense of 'to agitate, to stir'. Shakespeare uses the word fairly frequently, but not elsewhere with sexual innuendo. In The Tempest there also occurs the conjunction of the two words 'vexed' and 'still':

in the deep nook, where once
Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew
From the still-vexed Bermoothes, Tem.I.2.227-9.

4. To thy sweet will making addition thus.

The difficulty with these two lines (3 and 4) is that they are out of harmony with the rest of the poem. They imply that the poet's love pleas have been successful, and that he is allowed to have sex with her. But if that is so, then the subsequent begging for admittance is not necessary. He is already receiving what he claims to be so desirous of. Perhaps one could solve the problem by putting a question mark at the end of this line, causing the am I of the previous line to be an interrogative rather than a direct statement of fact.
thy sweet will = your amorous desires, your sweet cunt.
making addition = adding something to, putting something in.
thus = in this way i.e. by vexing you continually; by having intercourse with you.

5. Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious,

Wilt thou = will you? Are you (not) willing to?
whose will is large and spacious = who has such large and insatiable sexual desires, who are so willing to accommodate all lovers, who has such a large and roomy vagina.

6. Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine?

vouchsafe = grant, permit, allow. A word much in use in the bible and prayer books generally. Phrases such as 'Vouchsafe O Lord unto thy servant' are common. The liturgical vocabulary of words such as vouchsafe, gracious, will, brings this sonnet to the edge of an abyss of blasphemy. It is almost as if the poet, in his agony, wishes to be arraigned for his idolatrous infatuation. The echo of not my will but thine be done from Christ's agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, which comes close to identifying the poet with Christ and the dark lady with God the Father, perhaps does no more than confirm that Shakespeare was imbued with readings from Christian literature. But it is difficult to believe that he was unaware of these echoes. Possibly he decided to allow them not because he wished to drag in the sacred name of the Godhead to a sordid affair of sexual mistrust, but to point the moral that all love is equally mysterious and can never find the appropriate or adequate words to transmit or explain itself.
to hide my will in thine = to merge our desires as one, to have intercourse.

7. Shall will in others seem right gracious,

will in others = others' penises; others who have the name William, other's sexual desires.
right gracious = truly adorable, acceptable, enjoyable etc. Possibly with a hint of class snobbery. An earl's dick might be more acceptable than that of a peasant or a mere player. An earl was addressed as 'Your grace'.

8. And in my will no fair acceptance shine?

in my will = for my penis; for my sexual desires.
no fair acceptance shine = there is no corresponding shining welcome.

9. The sea, all water, yet receives rain still,

The poet now turns to a more grandiose metaphor from nature. Surely if the sea can continue to receive moisture from all sources then his beloved can follow such an example and take all those who desire her. The same metaphor is used in Twelfth Night. JK thinks that it is 'less seamy' than here, i.e. less grossly sexual. In fact it is not so, since the Twelfth Night episode finishes with an image of male detumescence, and quite possibly the whole speech was accompanied with obscene gestures on the stage. O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soe'er,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute: TN.I.1.9-13. The 'validity' and 'pitch' in the above quotation probably refers also to the strength of the male erection, and the final line to the inadequacy of male love-making, which is over in a minute. The date of Twelfth Night is c.1601-2.

10. And in abundance addeth to his store;

in abundance = abundantly, with great largess, bounteously.
addeth = adds.
his store = its (the sea's) reserves, quantities of water.

11. So thou, being rich in Will, add to thy Will

Just as the sea, being rich in water, adds still more, so you, being rich in Will (in its various senses), may add yet more to your desires and Wills.

12. One will of mine, to make thy large will more.

one will of mine = a desire of mine (to have intercourse with you, to be with you); one penis, which is mine. See the next sonnet, line 12.
to make thy large will more = to increase your rapacious sexual pleasure, to swell out your large cunt, to make your store of Williams increase.

13. Let no unkind, no fair beseechers kill;

A difficult line, with no agreement as to its meaning. Some editors prefer to take the second 'No' as the utterance of a refusal by the woman. 'Let no unkind 'No!' of yours kill those who plead their love for you'. Lovers' refusals were, in lovers' parlance, said to be so wounding as to kill the suitor. The fair beseechers are the lovers of the fair damsel. Alternatively unkind may be taken as a noun signifying cruelty. 'Let no cruelty kill off your admirers, me being one of them'. kill might also have a sexual reference to 'dying', a slang term for having an orgasm.

14. Think all but one, and me in that one Will.

all but one = all wills are alike; all penises are alike; taking one is like taking another. A reference also to the phrase 'all's one', meaning 'it's of no great consequence', as in the following examples from the plays: DES. All's one. Good faith, how foolish are our minds! OTH.IV.3.22. Up with my tent there! here will I lie tonight;
But where to-morrow? Well, all's one for that.
Who hath descried the number of the foe? R3.V.3.7-8. me in that one Will = that I am the William you desire; that whatever one is in you, it is me; that whatever that one pleasure is that you desire, I will give it to you. The meanings of this line are deliberately laden with ambiguities and innuendo.

1. If thy soul check thee that I come so near,

thy soul = your inner self. Probably not intended here to have any distinct spiritual significance, as it does in the later sonnet 146:
Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth
Similar uses of the word, unladen with spiritual and religious import, or at least with only a minor admixture of it, are found elsewhere in the sonnets, of which I give most of the examples below. In thy soul's thought, all naked, will bestow it; 26 Save that my soul's imaginary sight 27 And all my soul and all my every part; 62 Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul
Of the wide world dreaming on things to come, 107 As easy might I from myself depart
As from my soul, which in thy breast doth lie: 109 ...a true soul
When most impeached stands least in thy control. 125 The word 'soul' is almost equivalent to 'mind' or 'intellect', or 'inner self', or perhaps 'conscience', but it has the advantage of sounding more weighty and philosophical than any of these.
check thee = should rebuke, or reproach you (i.e. if it should happen that your soul etc.). Alternatively it could mean 'If your soul is at present actively rebuking you'. check also has the meaning of 'to hold back', a meaning which is partly activated here.
that I come so near = that I hit the nail on the head, that I manage to understand you so well. But, because of the content of the rest of the poem, the predominant meaning here seems to be the physical one of sexual intimacy, both in the sense of the speaker pushing himself upon the lover, and also in the sense of having an orgasm. Partridge (Shakespeare's Bawdy, 1947, p.89) gives the following under come - To experience a sexual emission. ...
Mar. Well, I will call Beatrice to you, who I think hath legs.
Ben. And therefore will come? MA.V.2.20-2.
He also gives examples under 'come into my chamber', 'come to bed', 'come over', and 'do it'. The following is typical:
Bawd. We have one here Sir, if she would - but there never came her like in Mytilene.
Lys. If she'd do the deed of darkness thou wouldst say. Per.IV.5.27-9.

Evidently the sexual meaning of 'to come' was well established in Shakespeare's time, although it was probably not as prevalent as in our own.

2. Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy Will,

thy blind soul = your soul which is (perhaps deliberately) not seeing what is going on. No entirely satisfactory explanation of the use of this phrase has been given. It links in with the idea that Cupid is traditionally thought to be blind, and with the blindness through infatuation of those who love, as in the next sonnet:
Thou blind fool love, what dost thou to mine eyes 137.
I suspect that there is a link with the blind mole, perhaps for rhyme's sake, perhaps because the mole works away underground in the same way that the soul tunnels underneath the mind. Compare the following:
Well said, old mole! canst work i' the earth so fast? Ham.I.5.162.

Pray you, tread softly, that the blind mole may not
Hear a foot fall: we now are near his cell. Tem.IV.1.194-5.

and the following from the sonnets to Laura by Robert Tofte II.2. (1597):
Marvel I do not, though thou dost not see
My griefs and martyrs; which I still sustain.
For thou, the Mole of Love dost seem to me;
But if a Mole, th'art only to my pain.
How comes it then that, seeing thou art blind,
Thou me consum'st, as if thou had'st thy sight?
Why, as thy nature by instinct doth bind,
Stayest not below? Pack hence, and leave this light!
Either those eyes still shut, not me to grieve;
Or under ground, in darkness, always live!
The Mole of Love was evidently something with which Elizabethans were familiar, but we are not, but it seems to be symbolic of something which undermines the persona.
thy Will = your William, your passion, your sexual desire, my penis (that is yours to use). Note that Q italicises this 'Will' and also capitalises it, as also the Wills in lines 5 and 14. One tends therefore to think that the primary meaning is the name William. However Q's record of use of typeface is somewhat erratic, and one has to be cautious about relying on it entirely as a pointer to added meaning.

3. And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there;

will = wish, desire, lust, penis, William.
is admitted = is acknowledged as a fact; is allowed, is permitted (to enter).
there = in that place where I came too near, in your soul. The line has an obvious bawdy meaning.

4. Thus far for love, my love-suit, sweet, fulfil.

Thus far for love = to that extent, for the sake of love. I.e. permit me to be admitted there, for the sake of my love for you, or your love for me, or for the sake of love in general, for the sake of Cupid.
love-suit - OED 12 gives for suit 'wooing or courting of a woman, solicitation for a woman's hand'. It gives no entry for love-suit. The word suit has predominantly a legal meaning, which also shades into other meanings related to 'pursuit'. It is a common idea in courtly love poetry, that one makes suit (pursues, courts, assails) the woman who is adored. Compare:
How canst thou tell she will deny thy suit,
Before thou make a trial of her love? 1H6.V.3.75-6. Well, Love, since this demur our suit will stay, Sidney, A&S.52.
Shakespeare does not use the word in this sense elsewhere in the sonnets.
sweet = sweetheart, my sweet one. Possibly it is an adjective referring to 'love-suit', possibly an adverb qualifying 'fulfil' - 'sweetly fulfil my desire'.

5. Will, will fulfil the treasure of thy love,

Will = William; my penis; desire and its satisfaction.
fulfil = satisfy, comply with the wishes of ; fill up physically. The latter meaning, though more or less defunct in modern speech, is illustrated well by Shakespeare's use of it in Troilus and Cressida, when the Prologue describes the gates of Troy: Priam's six-gated city,
Dardan, and Tymbria, Helias, Chetas, Troien,
And Antenorides, with massy staples
And corresponsive and fulfilling bolts,
Sperr up the sons of Troy. TC.Prologue15-19.
The corresponsive bolts are well matched up to and aligned with the sockets, or metal hoops, into which they are inserted, thus 'fulfilling' those spaces which were formerly empty. The sexual meaning of the word is unavoidable here in this line of the sonnet, and in the next line where it becomes inverted to 'fill it full'.
the treasure of thy love = the secret place where your treasury of love is stored; all your heaped up riches of fine qualities. Again with sexual innuendo, pudenda. As in the following from Linche's sonnets to Diella:
O that I might but press their dainty swelling! (her breasts)
and thence depart to which must now be hidden,
And which my crimson verse abstains from telling;
because by chaste ears, I am so forbidden.
There, in the crystal paved Vale of Pleasure
Lies locked up, a world of richest treasure. Linche, Diella 32. 1596.
Also in sonnet 6, urging the youth to find some willing dame:
.........treasure thou some place
With beauty's treasure, ere it be self-kill'd. 6
Beauty and treasure were often allied, because beauty is rich with so many wonderful things. Compare also this from Sidney's Astrophel and Stella: Toward Aurora's court a nymph doth dwell,
Rich in all beauties which man's eye can see:
Beauties so far from reach of words, that we
Abase her praise, saying she doth excel:
Rich in the treasure of deserved renown,
Rich in the riches of a royal heart,
Rich in those gifts which give th'eternal crown; 37. Also, from the same: Nor debarred from beauty's treasure,
Let no tongue aspire to tell,
In what high joys I shall dwell, A&S Tenth Song.

6. Ay, fill it full with wills, and my will one.

See note above.
Ay = indeed; yes, certainly.
and my will one = and (let) my will, desire, lust, penis, be one among the many which fill you up, occupy your mind totally, fill your vagina.
Note also that the Q spelling of Ay is 'I', giving momentarily the meaning 'I alone am capable of shafting you to your satisfaction'. The Renaissance spelling of I for aye was usual and context decided the meaning. Compare: I! I! O I may say that she is mine. Sidney A&S.69.
where the meaning 'Aye' is also intended for the first two Is.

7. In things of great receipt with ease we prove

things of great receipt = matters of great moment, stores of great quantity, sexual organs of great capacity. The bawdy innuendo continues, leading to the play on something and nothing in the third quatrain.
we prove = we demonstrate mathematically, we know by experience.

8. Among a number one is reckoned none:

Since numbers were plurals, the number one could not be considered to be a number. Alternatively, where large numbers were concerned, adding one to a great heap made effectively no difference. The idea is ultimately traceable back to Aristotle. KDJ quotes
One is no number, maids are nothing then,
Without the sweet society of men. Marlowe, H&L.255-6.
reckoned = counted as, considered to be.

9. Then in the number let me pass untold,

in the number = in the list of all those wills which (or whom) you entertain.
let me pass untold = let me be unnoticed and uncounted. Do not pick me out (so as to reject me). untold refers to 'telling' meaning both counting and relating a story, possibly also to the tolling of a bell. As in :

So is my love still telling what is told. 76

10. Though in thy store's account I one must be;

in thy store's account = in the strict account and record of what your storeroom holds, i.e. in the list of those you accept.
I one must be = I would have to be counted as an object, my presence would have to be recorded. There is possible a visual pun intended here, viz. '1 one must be', i.e. one must be equal to one, (since the letter I looks so much like the number 1).

11. For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold

11 and 12. Nothing and something were slang terms for sexual organs, both male and female. These two lines, 11 and 12, also play on the dual meaning of hold, to think or consider (that such and such is so) and to take physically into one's hands. Hence there are at least two concurrent meanings 'Consider me to be of no value, a worthless thing, so long as you also take pleasure in thinking me to be a sweet thing in your company', and 'Take me to be a mere sexual object, and hold my dick, letting it be a sweet experience for you'.

12. That nothing me, a something sweet to thee:

that nothing me - see the note above.
sweet - this may also be a vocative, as in line 4. 'sweetheart' or 'my sweet one'.

13. Make but my name thy love, and love that still,

still = always.

14. And then thou lovest me for my name is 'Will.'

And then thou lovest me = and then you effectively love me, the person (rather than just a name). The conclusion is hardly conclusive, and is not likely to have won the poet any sexual favours, since one assumes she new his name already, and punning on Will = William, or Will = penis, or Will = your voracious sexual appetite, would not be calculated to endear him to her. The poem may be read in several ways, as a witty sexual joke, as a dream of what he longs for, or as a last desperate throw of the dice in hoping to win more attention from her waywardness.

1. Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes,

blind fool, Love - Cupid was traditionally portrayed as blind. The description of him as a fool was less common, but lovers were often thought of as being temporarily seized by insanity and guilty of many acts of folly. The clown Touchstone in As You Like it remembers what it was like to be in love:
I remember, when I was in love I broke my sword upon a stone and bid him take that for coming a-night to Jane Smile; and I remember the kissing of her batlet and the cow's dugs that her pretty chopt hands had milked; AYL.II.4.44-8.
batlet = washing paddle. dugs = teats.

2. That they behold, and see not what they see?

That they behold = that (as a result of your influence) they observe the world.
and see not what they see = pretend not to see the unpleasant facts which they do see; seem to see things, but apparently do not register them.

3. They know what beauty is, see where it lies,

see where it lies = see where it is situated. Possibly also 'see how it can falsely mislead'.

4. Yet what the best is take the worst to be.

I.e. they take the worst things, both morally and physically, to be the best. The word order is inverted - 'take the worst to be the best'.

5. If eyes, corrupt by over-partial looks,

corrupt by over-partial looks = bribed and won over by flirtatious and seductive glances from you. However looks probably refers to the glances from his own eyes which are already unable to make valid judgements of what they see (hence they are over-partial, biased, prejudiced in her favour).

6. Be anchored in the bay where all men ride,

The imagery is of ships anchored in a sheltering bay or harbour, and puns on the meanings of 'to ride at anchor', as a ship does, and 'to ride', meaning to be astride a horse, or mounted on a woman and having sex with her. Essentially a sexual metaphor intended to convey the poet's infatuation with his mistress' body and his brooding desires which visualise her nakedness. His eyes and the eyes of his mind are fixed upon her body.

7. Why of eyes' falsehood hast thou forged hooks,

of eyes' falsehood - the main culpability is attributed to the eyes, which see first of all, before the heart can apprehend anything.
thou = Cupid, love. Not only has love corrupted the eyes, but out of this corruption he has made (forged) hooks which hold the heart firmly locked in its infatuate loving. forged is a term from the blacksmith's art of hammering iron in the forge. There is also a suggestion of making false coin, (forgery), implying that the rewards promised are not what they pretend to be.

8. Whereto the judgment of my heart is tied?

Whereto = to which. 'Why does the judgement of my heart (mind) follow the lead given by the eyes?'

9. Why should my heart think that a several plot,

a several plot = a private piece of land, a separated enclosure.
9 - 10. 'Why should I think that you are my exclusive property, and that you love only me, when it is quite plain, (and in my heart of hearts I know it), that you offer your body to all comers?'

10. Which my heart knows the wide world's common place?

my heart knows - the contradiction is that he both knows and does not know (probably does not want to know) that she is false.
the wide world's = all and sundry's; Tom, Dick or Harry's; anyone's. common place = piece of common land, land that is open to the use of all members of a community. In Elizabethan days much land was still grazed as 'common', being publicly owned by the village community. Members of the community not only had grazing rights and rights of wood gathering etc., but the publicly owned land was also divided into plots which were farmed by individuals on a yearly basis. Enclosure was however already going ahead in some areas, with land being claimed by the richer members of society and then being taken from the community and fenced in.

11. Or mine eyes, seeing this, say this is not,

seeing this, say this is not = seeing the fact that you are promiscuous, nevertheless deny it.

12. To put fair truth upon so foul a face?

'In order to make appear as truth and beauty that which is foul'. There is a suggestion also of the distortion caused by cosmetics, which make a foul face seem fair. Also a reference to 'putting a good face on things', i.e., making the best of a bad situation.

13. In things right true my heart and eyes have erred,

In things right true = With regard to all things that are upright, true, honest, chaste, unsullied. The reference could be to former loves, even to the youth, whom he has deserted in favour of the dark lady. Or it could be to the dark lady herself, whom he has incorrectly judged to be fair and true. things, here as elsewhere, has a slang sexual meaning. JK gives "His heart and eyes have made mistakes in judging things right true ('chaste cunts' and 'honest women' as well as 'true acts and statements'), and love has enforced a deranged fixation on the dark lady as a punishment..." JK.p.369.n.12.

14. And to this false plague are they now transferred.

this false plague = this deceitful woman; this plague, sickness, misery of making false judgements; this infatuation.
are they now transferred = they (my heart and eyes) have now had their rights, duties and obligations handed over to (the rule of another, the practice of self-deception). transferred is a word used in legal parlance, meaning to convey or make over the title to a piece of land, or a right, or possession. (OED.2.) Commentators suspect that the reference to 'plague', which was prevalent at the time, may have been hinting at infection with venereal disease.

1. When my love swears that she is made of truth,

made of truth = all truthfulness; faithful in love; unable to lie. With a pun also on 'maid of truth', a true virgin.

2. I do believe her though I know she lies,

There may be a religious connection in this idea of believing what one knows to be impossible. At about this period the doctrine was advanced that the more preposterous Christian truth was, the greater was the act of faith in believing it, and therefore the greater were one's merits in the eyes of Christ the Redeemer in making the act of faith. Here the lover is compelling himself to believe what he knows (by a sixth sense?) to be untrue, that his mistress is faithful to him.

3. That she might think me some untutored youth,

That = in order that, so that.
untutored youth = a green youth, without any knowledge of how mature humans behave. Compare Cleopatra's protestations, on looking back over her liaison with Julius Caesar:
.............My salad days,
When I was green in judgement, cold in blood,
To say as I said then! AC.I.5.73-5.

4. Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.

unlearned = with no knowledge of, not having studied. The final -ed syllable is pronounced.
the world's false subtleties = the ways of the world; the cynical tactics which older people use to advance themselves. Compare sonnet 66, which lists some of the world's false subtleties:

Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,

etc.

5. Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,

vainly = to satisfy my vanity; with futility and stupidity; ineffectually.

6. Although she knows my days are past the best,

PP gives: Although I know my yeares be past the best. (See above). In both cases the meaning is clear, and the poet acknowledges that the days of his youth are past. In the Q version the emphasis is on the woman's complicity in pretending not to know his age.

7. Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:

simply = absolutely, without pre-condition (OED.6.d.); like a simpleton, like an untutored youth.
I credit = I give credence to, I believe. Also perhaps with a suggestion that the transaction resembles a financial or mercenary one, with a trade off between his age and her unfaithfulness.
her false-speaking tongue - her voice which tells untruths. No doubt also a reference to the false serpent (the devil) which betrayed Eve, Adam, and all their progeny in the Garden of Eden. This and lines 3-4 perhaps echo the opening lines of the Book of Proverbs:
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and
discretion. Proverbs.I.1-4.
The simple mind of youth is beguiled by the experienced talk and subtlety of the crafty. SB also points out that bawds would pass off experienced prostitutes as virgins to young men, no doubt at much inflated prices. SB.p.477.n.1.

8. On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed:

On both sides = by you and by me. By you because you lie about your faithfulness and honesty. By me because I pretend to be young and a simple, easily gulled youth.
simple truth = obvious truth, unadorned truth. The PP version is entirely different:
Outfacing faults in loue, with loues ill rest.
The meaning is far from clear, but it is probably something like: 'thus boldly ignoring and overpowering our faults by our restless activity'.

9. But wherefore says she not she is unjust?

wherefore = for what reason, on what account, why? Compare:
Wherefore was I born? R2.II.3.122.
says she not = does she not say.

10. And wherefore say not I that I am old?

wherefore = see above.
say not I = do I not say?

11. O! love's best habit is in seeming trust,

love's best habit = the best practice for lovers to adopt (in these situations); the best garb for love to wear (so as to disguise its age and duplicity). habit means either 'usage' 'custom' or 'clothing'.
seeming trust = the appearance of trusting each other. love here has become abstract, and refers to 'love itself', rather than to the person loved as in line 1.

12. And age in love, loves not to have years told:

age in love = older lovers, lovers who are past a certain age, lovers who are no longer youthful. 'Age', is personified as an older person who has fallen in love. Compare from the Passionate Pilgrim:
Crabbed Age and Youth cannot live together. PP.12.

13. Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,

Therefore - echoes the repeated wherefore from above, and sums up the reasons for the deception and the end result.
I lie with her, and she with me = I deceive her and she deceives me; we sleep together and make love.

14. And in our faults by lies we flattered be.

in our faults = with all our faults (of lying and self-deception); with the guilt of our faults lying upon us; with our bodily imperfections, you because you are not much of a beauty, me because I am old.
by lies = by lying to each other; by lying to ourselves; by making love.
we flattered be = we are caressed and soothed; we console ourselves (by pretending to be young, truthful and desirable).

1. O! call not me to justify the wrong

O! call not me = do not insist that I etc. The language could be that of the courtroom - call the witness to the stand -, as in 35 and 49, which use legal terms (Thy adverse party is thy advocate--) to defend the beloved youth against the charge of betrayal.
to justify the wrong = to defend you against the charge of wrongdoing. What the crime is is never accurately specified, but we infer from the traditions that it is typical of the harsh cruelty which the beloved was expected to show towards the passionate lover. In the following lines it is the pain caused by the beloved's indifferent eyes, which nevertheless flirt with other men. But in addition we tend to deduce, judging by the previous five sonnets, that the unkindness is that she is not interested in him at all and sleeps with other men. When he decides later on in the sestet to defend her, (line 9), the wrong is the conventional one of wounding him with her eyes, as Laura wounded Petrarch, and as many Celias, Chlorises, Delias, Fidessas, Stellas and others wounded their patient adorers. As portrayed by the sonneteers, these beauties remained aloof from their lover's pleas, although they occasionally smiled, and even less frequently allowed a kiss. Beauty and chastity were their defining features. The difference with Shakespeare's dark lady is that she is neither beautiful (at least not in the conventional sense), and certainly not chaste. The sonnet conventions have therefore been more or less turned upside down and brought close to ridicule. Whether this element of ridicule and parody is the predominant force in these sonnets, rather than the personal anguish which springs from the experience of loving, it is impossible to say. It is partly our own unfamiliarity with this world of courtiers and sonneteers with its conventionally defined love charades that makes it so difficult for us to judge the extent to which direct human experience overcame convention and allowed what we might regard as ordinary emotion, or even love, to intrude. It is possible to love even according to formulae and rules, but it often happens that the reality of desire breaks down the conventions. Ideally the beloved is inaccessible because she is naturally chaste. She could even be married to another man, which makes her doubly fenced in, for she cannot break her vows and she does not wish to gratify stray men. That situation does not here apply, because, as the poet has depicted her, even if she is married, she still welcomes other men to enjoy her 'treasure'. The traditional background which we might therefore put in place to interpret the sonnet falls away, and we are inevitably led to read it in a much more glaring light, and to assess the relationship of loved and lover without the usual constraint of pre-conditions.

2. That thy unkindness lays upon my heart;

thy unkindness = your cruelty (of abandoning me. See the note above). Your unnaturalness, in not behaving as those of your kind (type, species) should do. The unnaturalness lay in not being like the conventional chaste beauty of most sonnets.
lays upon my heart = inflicts upon me, brings home to me.

3. Wound me not with thine eye, but with thy tongue:

Wound me not with thine eye = do not use the power of your eyes to harm me. See the notes to lines 12 and 14 below, which elaborate on the fatal power of the eyes in the contest of love.
but with thy tongue = use your tongue to wound me (by telling me that you have another lover).

4. Use power with power, and slay me not by art,

Use power with power - of uncertain meaning. Probably it means 'be directly forceful, overcome me by force (rather than stratagem)'. It could also imply 'use the weapons that I understand, fight me on my own terms'.
slay me not by art = do not kill me by using clever tricks and stratagems, but kill me directly (as in line 14).

5. Tell me thou lov'st elsewhere; but in my sight,

elsewhere = someone else, i.e. your heart is attached elsewhere, in someone else's bosom. The secondary meaning is 'not now, not in this place (when I am so unprepared to deal with the bad news)'.
in my sight = while I look on.

6. Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside:

Dear heart = a term of endearment. As in Wyatt's famous poem:
Thanked be to Fortune, it hath been otherwise
Twenty times better; but once in special:
In thin array, after a pleasant guise,
When her loose gown from her shoulders did fall,
And she me caught in her arms long and small,
Therewith all sweetly did me kiss
And softly said, "Dear heart, how like you this?"
From the poems of Sir Thomas Wiat, edited by A.K.Foxwell, London 1913, Misc.poems 1528-36, No.11, 'They flee from me that sometime did me seek'. See elsewhere on this site for Wyatt's poems.  
It is possible that Shakespeare was echoing this verse with its endearment, remembering better times. The phrase is used elsewhere in the plays, but not frequently:
It is thyself, mine own self's better part,
Mine eye's clear eye, my dear heart's dearer heart, CE.III.2.61-2. Awake, dear heart, awake! thou hast slept well; Awake! Tem.I.2.305. Do, then, dear heart; for heaven shall hear our prayers; TIT.III.1.211. Farewell, dear heart, since I must needs be gone. TN.II.3. 97. Also in the Sonnets: Take heed, dear heart, of this large privilege; 95 Only in the Twelfth Night extract is it spoken with frivolity, in the others it is a genuine expression of tenderness.
forbear = refrain from, desist from (glancing aside).
to glance thine eye aside = to cast a sideways glance with your eye, i.e. give flirtatious glances to other men in the vicinity.

7. What need'st thou wound with cunning, when thy might

What need'st thou = why should you need to
wound with cunning = use cunning tricks to hurt me.
might = force, power. As in the phrase 'military might'.

8. Is more than my o'erpressed defence can bide?

The imagery of these two lines (7-8) is that of warfare, probably siege warfare. The cunning could consist of undermining the walls of the besieged town, or taking it by other Trojan horse type stratagems. The 'might' is the besieging army camped outside the walls.
o'erpressed defence = overstretched defences, defensive force which is barely able to withstand the onslaught.
bide = abide, endure, withstand.

9. Let me excuse thee: ah! my love well knows

Let me excuse thee - in a sudden volte face the poet now undertakes to do what he had refused to do in the opening two lines.
ah, my love well knows - a note of tenderness appears, appropriate to his change of heart. 9-12: The poet suggest that the true reason for his beloved's behaviour is consideration for him. She is sparing him the agony of turning her eyes in his direction, because she knows that in the past it has been devastating for him, as her eyes have not often, if at all, expressed approval of his love.

10. Her pretty looks have been mine enemies;

Her pretty looks = her lovely appearance, her bewitching glances.
have been mine enemies - because the beloved's looks always were potentially painful to the lover, as they could signify rejection, or disdain, and because, more specifically in this case, she has been obviously casting eyes in the direction of other men.

11. And therefore from my face she turns my foes,

from my face = away from my face.
my foes = mine enemies of the line above, i.e. her looks.

12. That they elsewhere might dart their injuries:

elsewhere = into someone else's heart; in another place (where I am not present and do not have to watch).
might dart their injuries = might send out their killing darts. The eyes alone of the beloved were capable of wounding the lover, but this was often allied with the idea of Cupid's darts, or arrows. Sidney has Cupid take up his residence in Stella's eyes, from which he sends out his darts to destroy onlookers' hearts. E.g. A&S.17:
........while Cupid weeping sate:
Till that his grandame, Nature, pitying it,
Of Stella's brows made him two better bows,
And in her eyes of arrows infinite.

13. Yet do not so; but since I am near slain,

Yet do not so = do not turn your eyes away from me.
near slain = nearly killed. Being wounded and slain by the beloved's eyes was relatively common in the love story as told by sonneteers. Compare for example Robert Tofte to Laura (published 1597):

And if, by chance, un'wares, thou sometimes kill :
Thou, with thy smile, the wound canst heal again ;
And give him life whom thou before hadst slain.

Laura, Pt.II.3.

14. Kill me outright with looks, and rid my pain.

Kill me outright with looks - This is fairly typical of the lover's approach to his stony hearted lover. (See the note above). Sidney calls Stella a thief, a murderer, a tyrant, a rebel runaway, a traitor, a witch and a devil in the final stanza of the Fifth Song, which sums up the accusations listed in the poem. This is the stanza which proves her to be a murderer:
Yet, English thieves do rob, but will not slay;
Thou, English murdering thief, wilt have hearts for thy prey;
The name of 'murderer' now on thy fair forhead sitteth;
And even while I do speak, my death wounds bleeding be,
Which, I protest, proceed from only cruel thee.
Who may, and will not, save, murder in truth committeth.
A&S.5th Song.49-54.
rid my pain = end my agonies, rid me of my suffering of unsatisfied longing for you.

1. Be wise as thou art cruel; do not press

Be wise as thou art cruel = (I suggest that, warn you that, you ought) to be wise to the same extent, in a similar manner, as you are cruel. I.e. learn wisdom and, if you are going to be like the typical disdainful lover, be as wise and chaste as they are. Or, 'Since you are determined to be cruel, try to be wise also'. Cruelty in the fair beloved was traditional and expected. It consisted mostly of disdain (see the next line) and a refusal to gratify the lover's amorous desires. Here, in addition, the cruelty is unfaithfulness and an open preference for other men. For the traditional manner of cruelty compare the lines to her in an earlier sonnet :
Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel; 131
and from Astrophel and Stella
Yet since my death-wound is already got,
Dear killer, spare not thy sweet cruel shot:
A kind of grace it is to kill with speed. Sidney.A&S.48.
Smith in his sonnets to Chloris (1596) threatens to retreat to the desert in despair at his lover's disdain, and there take his revenge:

And like Amyntas, haunt the desert cells
(And moneyless there breathe out thy cruelty)
Where none but Care and Melancholy dwell.
I, for revenge, to Nemesis will cry!
If that will not prevail, my wandering ghost,
Which breathless here this love-scorched trunk shall leave,
Shall unto thee, with tragic tidings post!
How thy disdain did life from soul bereave.
Then all too late my death thou wilt repent!
When murder's guilt thy conscience shall torment. Chloris 24.

Nemesis - the goddess of revenge in antiquity.
All sonneteers, from Petrarch on, found their chaste and lofty beloveds cruel.
do not press = do not seek to overcome by violence, do not provoke. A part military metaphor, as in the previous sonnet:
What need'st thou wound with cunning when thy might
Is more than my o'er-press'd defense can bide? 139.
Partly also a reference to a form of torture, in which heavy weights were placed on the accused person if he/she refused to speak.

2. My tongue-tied patience with too much disdain;

My tongue-tied patience - being tongue tied was well established as the characteristic of the sincere lover. Compare the sonnet to the youth on the subject, 23. But the precedent had in any case been celebrated long before by Sidney:
Dumb swans, not chattering pies do lovers prove;
They love indeed, who quake to say they love. A&S.54.
pies = magpies. prove = turn out to be.
disdain - see the note above.

3. Lest sorrow lend me words, and words express

Lest = for fear that. See OED.1. The build up of ideas, from sorrow, to words, to expressing one's pain, which describes a chain of cause and effect, was a common feature of sonneteering. The technical name for it was 'climax', a term from rhetoric, meaning a series or a ladder. See OED.1. and SB.p.484.n.3-4.

4. The manner of my pity-wanting pain.

The manner of = the character, nature of; the way in which it woll manifest itself.
pity-wanting pain = pain which is not pitied by you; i.e lacking pity. Or, pain which is desirous of pity. The agony is traditionally that of not being loved in return, and having one's amorous advances denied.

5. If I might teach thee wit, better it were,

If I might teach thee wit = If I might be so bold as to suggest how you could behave more wisely. The phrase seems to be mildly deprecating, as if he does not wish to overstep the mark in criticising her behaviour. 'Let me make the suggestion that etc.' Or it could be taken as a sign of impatience, i.e., 'surely you have enough sense to see that this is how you should behave'. But however we interpret the tone, there is no mistaking the reality of the situation, that she does not love him, her heart is 'elsewhere'.

6. Though not to love, yet, love to tell me so;

Though not to love = although in reality you do not love me.
yet, love, to tell me so = yet, my love, to tell me that you do love me. I.e. it would be better, (my dearest), if you do not love me, to lie to me, and to tell me that you do. The second love is probably a vocative, equivalent to 'darling, dearest', but it could conceivably be interpreted as the more sadistic 'yet enjoy telling me that you love/do not love me'.

7. As testy sick men, when their deaths be near,

testy = bad tempered, crotchety. There are only nine occurrences of the word in Shakespeare, of which the following from Julius Caesar gives the full flavoured meaning. Brutus is responding angrily to Cassius' display of bad temper:
Must I observe you? must I stand and crouch
Under your testy humour? By the gods
You shall digest the venom of your spleen,
Though it do split you; JC.IV.3. 45-8.

8. No news but health from their physicians know;

No news but health = only good and cheering news of their recovery. physicians = doctors. The title of a medical doctor at the time, although it seems that the word was interchangeable with 'doctor'. It occurs again in Sonnet 147:
My reason, the physician to my love,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve
Desire is death, which physic did except. know = hear, learn, discover.
I cannot discover if this information is factual, either then or now, or merely an intuition. Doctors, as professionals, no doubt treated their patients as lesser beings, and never attempted to give them a full diagnosis. Compare for example Tolstoy's description of the doctors' treatment of Ivan, who suffers from a mortal illness, in 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich'. They regard his questions about the seriousness of his disease as impertinent and irrelevant, and imply that no mere patient has the right to intrude into the mysteries of medicine. In Elizabethan times medicine was not a science as we understand it. All the remedies prescribed were mere quackery, based on chance experience and false theories. Nevertheless, the doctors believed in themselves and in their efficacy, and in cases of mortal illness they were called in to help, and prudence alone would be enough to make them cautious of prophesying death for a patient.

9. For, if I should despair, I should grow mad,

grow mad = become insane; become enraged. (See OED.5). Compare from Midsummer Night's Dream:
The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name. MND.V.1.7-17.
Here the speaker is, or threatens to be, 'the lover, all as frantic', i.e as frenzied as any madman. But the conditions of all three types was considered to be similar.

10. And in my madness might speak ill of thee;

in my madness = in my mad frenzy.
speak ill of thee = slander you, say nasty things about you, reveal the ugly truth (which incidentally he has already done in the previous five sonnets).

11. Now this ill-wresting world is grown so bad,

ill-wresting = that turns everything askew, that distorts and maims all that it hears of. to wrest is to force something with a twisting movement.

12. Mad slanderers by mad ears believed be.

mad ears = mad listeners, the populace at large (who have all gone mad in this ill-wresting world).
believed be = are believed.

13. That I may not be so, nor thou belied,

That I may not be so = in order that I may not be mad, or go mad, as I have described; in order that I may not be believed; in order that I do not speak ill of you, by becomong a mad slanderer.
nor thou belied = nor you have false stories told about you, be slandered. Possibly also, bearing in mind sonnet 138, therefore I lie with her and she with me, 'in order that you do not have other men sleeping with you'.

14. Bear thine eyes straight, though thy proud heart go wide.

Bear thine eyes straight = do not glance aside, do not look flirtingly at other men, but keep your eyes true (straight) to me.
go wide = strays, wanders far and wide surveying the talent; misses the mark, as an arrow goes wide of the target, i.e. strays away from me.

1. In faith I do not love thee with mine eyes,

In faith = truly. A mild oath, comparable to in good faith of 131, and beshrew that heart of 133. The dark lady was perhaps in the habit of using such expressions, and the poet responds to her by using them in reply, for example as a result of some protestation on her part. One can imagine her saying, not too convincingly, 'In faith, I do love thee more than I can tell'.
mine eyes = my eyes. The psychological tension between eyes and heart is a familiar theme, already used in 24, 46-7, and 132-3. It is traceable back ultimately to Petrarch, e.g.:
these are those lovely eyes which always are
housed in my heart among the blazing flames,
describing which I find I'm never tired. Can.75. trans. J.G. Nichols.

2. For they in thee a thousand errors note;

they = my eyes.
errors = blemishes, faults, physical imperfections. Strictly speaking the word is from the Latin errare to wander, and hence it implies also a wandering from the path of virtue, but the claim that it is the eyes which have detected these errors limits the scope somewhat, for eyes are not very helpful in detecting moral faults.
note = notice, count up.

3. But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise,

my heart - the ruling principle in love matters, equivalent approximately to 'the mind, the emotions'.
what they despise = what the eyes see and condemn.

4. Who, in despite of view, is pleased to dote.

Who = which i.e. my heart.
in despite of view = despite what the eyes see. Probably a pun intended on in despite of you, since the sound of the two phrases is nearly identical.
is pleased to dote = is happy to love you to distraction. To dote is to love foolishly and without judgement. Compare:
For well thou know'st to my dear doting heart 131

and see the note thereon (Sonnet 131)

5. Nor are mine ears with thy tongue's tune delighted;

thy tongue's tune = the sound of your voice. Probably a derogatory and sarcastic phrase, in line with the comments on her appearance and smell. Compare sonnet 130
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
But despite the negative at the beginning of the line, the words themselves contribute to the sense of being pleased and delighted. He could after all have said 'Mine ears are with thy tongue's tune disgusted', which has an entirely different and insalubrious effect.

6. Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone,

Nor tender feeling = Nor is my sense of touch. I do not think that the word tender here is much more than a space filler, unless one wishes to assume that the poet is drawing attention to his remarkable sensitivity to the sense of touch. It could however be generally descriptive, implying that touch is a particularly delicate and fine sense. Or it could be intended as a contrast with the baseness of her caresses, indicating that where tenderness was expected it was not to be found.
to base touches prone = liable to be stimulated by crude and coarse caresses. The phrase could be generally descriptive of the sense of touch, i.e.'tender feeling, which is always prone to be influenced by suggestive touches'. Or it could be specific to the poet - 'my sense of touch, which is not so eager for sensual stimulation as to be moved by you'. In either case there is obviously a suggestion of sexual stimulation in the words 'base touches'.

7. Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited

Nor taste, nor smell = neither taste nor smell, the remaining two of the five senses. Compare 131 :
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
desire to be invited - taste and smell have been personified, so, continuing the imagery, they may be invited to a feast with the beloved. However they are not much pleased with what they find. Unlike a traditional beauty, she does not distil honey from her lips, and her smell is not pleasing either, certainly not the pleasant amber breath which is admired in the sonnet to Chloris above.

8. To any sensual feast with thee alone:

To any sensual feast - feast and banquet seem in some cases to be synonymous, although the word 'feast' could also refer to whole days of celebration as well as the actual eating and drinking. Compare sonnet 47:
With my love's picture then my eye doth feast
And to the painted banquet bids my heart;
Compare also
When we, in kind embracements, had agreed
To keep a royal banquet on our lips;
How soon have we another feast decreed. Zepheria 26 Anon. 1594.

sensual - this has overtones of sexual meaning, as in
For thou thyself hast been a libertine,
As sensual as the brutish sting itself. AYL.II.7.
One could perhaps paraphrase these two lines (7-8) as 'nor are my senses of taste and smell stimulated by sharing any intimate time with you, and in that respect you definitely do not turn me on'. The mention of a feast is mainly metaphorical, and need not be taken to indicate a shared banquet with the two of them alone. (See the quotation above from Zepheria). The only feasting is that of each one upon the other.
The conventions which the poet is following dictate that taste and smell be included in his descriptions, as well as the other senses. It does not follow that specific encounters are here referred to, or specific practices, such as kissing, licking, toe-sucking, or whatever. What sexual practices were indulged in at the time we are not likely to discover from Elizabethan literature, which is fairly restrained in its descriptions.

9. But my five wits nor my five senses can

my five wits - this refers to a curious offshoot of Elizabethan psychology, whereby the five physical senses, sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell were supposedly matched by five inner or intellectual senses. These were common wit (= common sense), imagination, fantasy, estimation, memory. Needless to say the distinction could hardly be maintained with any accuracy, since it has no psychological basis, and the phrase 'five wits' often meant the 'five senses'.

10. Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee,

one foolish heart = me, the poet who is foolishly in love with you.
serving thee = being your servant, being a slave. Being your stud and satisfying you sexually.

11. Who leaves unswayed the likeness of a man,

who = which (i.e. my heart).
unswayed = unruled, with nothing in control, rudderless.
the likeness of a man = one who looks like a man, but is not one, because he has lost control of his wits and his senses; an empty shell of a man.

12. Thy proud heart's slave and vassal wretch to be:

Thy proud heart - this echoes
Bear thine eyes straight, though thy proud heart go wide
of the previous sonnet. A chaste beloved's heart was always described as proud and cruel.
vassal wretch = enslaved lowly creature.
The tradition of being a slave and vassal to one's mistress was well established. Compare, for example Sidney's
Oh ease your hand, treat not so hard your slave A&S.86.
A vassal was the tenant of a lord in medieval England. His social condition was almost equivalent to that of serfdom, but, after the Black death of the 14th century, labour shortages contributed to a breakdown of the existing social order, and vassalage to a lord declined. Nevertheless many of the larger Elizabethan households were run on the supposition of absolute devotion and near slavery to the lord and master (or mistress, if the master had died and she had not remarried). The term vassal was therefore easily understood by Renaissance readers. wretch had a variety of meanings, most of them indicating social and economic deprivation. Sometimes it was used as a term of endearment, but here the term is more that of 'inferior, outcast person'.

to be - the word order is reversed. 'To be the slave of thy proud heart'.

13. Only my plague thus far I count my gain,

my plague = my wretched addiction to loving you; you yourself, who have infected me with desire for you (and perhaps with venereal disease as well).
I count = I consider, I count up, I tot up.
my gain = my profit, something advantageous to me.

14. That she that makes me sin awards me pain.

That she that = that woman who, that (beloved, cursed) female who. There are two distinct possibilities here. That could simply be a conjunction, leading on from the previous line. Thus 'I count it as profit to me that the one who etc.' But the more forceful and more Shakespearian meaning is as first given, 'that female person who, i.e. you, who have infatuated me', especially as it concurs with the concluding line of sonnet 130, which foreshadows this one:

As any she belied with false compare.

(See the introductory note above for the links this sonnet has to130).  awards me pain = gives me torment (such as traditional cold beauties give to their lovers, by refusing all contact); gives me penance. The reference is not only to the pain of loving, which all sonneteers agree to, but also to the relationship between the sinner and the earthly confessor, or priest, or to the ultimate pains of purgatory which are suffered by the dead as a reward for their sins. The following from William Percy's Coelia of 1594 is illuminating:
If it be sin so dearly for to love thee,
Come, bind my hands! I am thy prisoner!
...............
Enjoin me penance whatsoever likes thee;
Whate'er it be I'll take it thankfully !
  Yet since for love it is I am thy Bondman
  Good COELIA, use me like a Gentleman. Coe.7.

There are three ideas which are common to both these sonnets, love as sin, awarding of penance, and being a vassal or Bondman. The rather lame and (to us) laughable conclusion of the Percy one should not distract us too much from its obvious links with Shakespeare, and it helps us to untwist the strands of ideas which Shakespeare is using. The idea of love as sin was an agreed convention, for by definition the lover was at fault for loving and having lustful desires, while the beloved was a chaste and cruel Saint who only tolerated love of her person in so far as it was conducive to virtue. Hence she had a right to administer pain, or penance. Sins automatically required absolution, which was given by the priest in confession, but a penance was attached to the absolution, in the form of the recitation of prayers, e.g. five Our Fathers and five Hail Mary's.

The words used here by Shakespeare, award, pain, sin, have a religious significance, which is obvious in the case of sin, but less so with the other two words. OED gives for award meanings which are mainly associated with the law courts, and Shakespeare only uses the word three times elsewhere, twice in the Merchant of Venice in a legal context. But also there are two other relevant examples, under OED 5: to sentence, to consign (to custody etc.): 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Heb. vi. 2 (R.) That last judgment, which shall awarde some to eternall felicitie, and other some to euerlastyng paynes.
1602 W. Fulbecke 1st Pt. Parall. 83 Yet euerie of them shall be awarded to prison.

There is also a close link between pain and penance, since penance, which was the undergoing of some suffering as part of the process of remission of one's sins, could include the pain of purgatory. OED gives as the primary meaning of pain (OED.1) Suffering or loss inflicted for a crime or offence. It can also mean the sufferings and/or punishment of hell or purgatory (2.b), and the word is also linked with peine forte et dure, a type of torture applied to those who refused to speak. SB (p.483) thinks that Shakespeare refers to this in the previous sonnet:
.......do not press
My tongue-tied patience with too much disdain; 140.
Clearly the knot of ideas included in this couplet is complex, embracing doctrines of sins' forgiveness through purgatorial pains, or the penance of the confessional, or the judicial torture of peine forte et dure.

The primary meaning is of course the pain of rejection by or indifference of the beloved, but there are secondary meanings associated with repentance, either at the last judgement or in the confessional, as discussed above, the pain of judicial torture, peine forte et dure, and perhaps also the pain of venereal disease.

 

1. Love is my sin, and thy dear virtue hate,

An expansion of the concluding line of the previous sonnet:
That she that makes me sin awards me pain.
(See the notes to line 14, Sonnet 141). His beloved makes him sin by making him love her. The idea is that the lover is always at fault, mostly because his love gave rise to sexual desires, which the mistress rebuffed by her virtue and chastity. Hence the use of the word 'virtue' in this line. Hatred also was a common theme of the sonneteers. The chaste mistress appeared to hate the lover, and was often accused of doing so, because she refused to gratify him. Sir Philip Sidney expresses the traditional view of the beloved, who is apparently accusing him, the lover, of lustful thoughts and castigating his love as sinful. He replies by claimimg that his heart is pure and that his love is formed after the Petrarchan and spiritual mould:
But with your rhubarb words you must contend,
To grieve me worse, in saying that desire
Doth plunge my well-formed soul even in the mire
Of sinful thoughts, which do in ruin end?
If that be sin which doth the manners frame,
Well stayed with truth in word and faith of deed,
Ready of wit and fearing nought but shame:
If that be sin which in fixed hearts doth breed
A loathing of all loose unchastity,
Then love is sin, and let me sinful be. A&S.14.
rhubarb = purgative; stayed = supported; fixed = loyal.
It is clear therefore that Shakespeare sets this sonnet within the tradition, with the sinful lover being unpitied by his Mistress. But he immediately adds life to this tradition by wrenching it to one side and accusing her, not of the usual cruelty and cold chastity, but of hot lechery. His complaint is that she includes him out, as it were, and he has no share in her amorous adventures.
thy dear virtue = your precious, highly valued, costly (to me) characteristic, inherent quality. Your virtuous behaviour (ironic).
hate - As mentioned above, hate is part of the armoury of the chaste mistress, because she is entitled to defend her modesty and purity which the lover is attacking by his amorous desires. Hatred in the beloved should not be interpreted as a vice or sin, other than that it caused pain to the lover. It was an essential part of her purity and shielded her from earthly passions. See the love/hate sonnet by Drayton given at the bottom of this page.

2. Hate of my sin, grounded on sinful loving:

Hate of my sin = i.e. hate of my sinful love, my lust.
grounded on = securely based on. The antecedent seems to be hate, her hatred of his love, a hatred which the poet implies is hypocritical, since it is based on the woman's own amorous desires for other men. On the other hand the phrase grounded on sinful loving could be simply a slightly awkward explanation of my sin, i.e. my sin is the crime of basing my love on sinful sexual desire, and not on impartial adoration of your spiritual and divine beauty. Compare also from Barnes:
Grounded, I waver still! and wavering, still am grounded! P&P.31
and see the note to line 10 below, which has more of Barnes' sonnet.

3. O! but with mine compare thou thine own state,

but = at least; only; if only you would.
mine = my state, my spiritual condition.
I.e. before you accuse me, look into your own heart, and you will find it to be no better than mine (as detailed in the following lines).

4. And thou shalt find it merits not reproving;

You will find that my spiritual condition (it) does not deserve (merit) criticism, (when you compare it with your own).

5. Or, if it do, not from those lips of thine,

Or if it does deserve criticism, it should not be spoken from your lips (for it would be a case of the pot calling the kettle black).

6. That have profaned their scarlet ornaments

That have profaned = which have sinned against, shown religious disrespect for. profane is based on the Latin word profanus meaning literally 'outside the temple', hence common, sinful, impious, non-religious. The profane action suggested here is that she allowed common, unholy, sinful kisses to touch her lips.
scarlet ornaments = rich red colouring, rather like draperies. The whole thing refers to her lips, which traditionally were ruby, coral, crimson etc. The use of ornament may suggest artificial colouration, i.e. lipstick.
scarlet is a colour that is associated with sin, the devil, the beast, the Whore of Babylon (Revelations 17 - 19). Compare also Shakespeare's use of the word in the plays:
Thy ambition,
Thou scarlet sin, robb'd this bewailing land
Of noble Buckingham, my father-in-law: H8.III.2.254-6. (addressed to Cardinal Wolsey). His scarlet lust came evidence to swear
That my poor beauty had purloined his eyes; Luc.1650-1. There may be a reference to the scarlet robes of cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, as in the quotation from H8 above, hence, obliquely, to cardinal sins, serious and mortal sins, of which lust was one.

7. And sealed false bonds of love as oft as mine,

sealed = to stamp, as one does with a seal on (red, scarlet) sealing wax. This was done when a document was given its final, official stamp. Hence the phrase 'signed and sealed'; and the word seal is still used for the closing of an envelope, although it is no longer relevant to the original meaning of appending a seal. A bond was a legal document recording an agreement, and would have been finished with a legal seal or stamp. Shakespeare uses elsewhere the idea of kissing = sealing bonds of love, making a compact of love. Compare: Take, O take those lips away,
That so sweetly were forsworn,
And those eyes, the break of day,
Lights that do mislead the morn;
But my kisses bring again
Bring again;
Seals of love, but sealed in vain,
Sealed in vain. MM.IV.1.1-6. as oft as mine = as often as my lips have done the same. I.e. we have both been unfaithful. The falseness could be that of not intending to remain faithful, or subsequently being unfaithful, or being unfaithful at the outset to another (one's spouse) if one were already married. Shakespeare we know was married and therefore was committing adultery (which in those days was a crime). Whether or not the dark lady was married (assuming she did exist), we do not know, but it is consistent with some of the other sonnets to assume that she was (e.g. 135), as also it is consistent with the sonneteering tradition. Sidney's Stella married Lord Rich, and Sidney continued to dote on her, although not as physically it seems as the poet here does on his mistress.

8. Robbed others' beds' revenues of their rents.

Stole the sexual rights of others, i.e. sexual pleasure and comfort, the benefit of children. Revenues and rents are almost synonymous, and the line appears to be tautological, although JK states that: rents are 'fees paid by tenants' and revenues (accented on the second syllable) 'estates yielding income'. JK.374.n.8. The following glosses I hope will help to give the meaning of what is a highly compressed and richly suggestive line.
others' beds = marital beds belonging to others, the others probably being the deceived spouses.
revenues = overall annual income; marital dues of sexual performance.
rents = regular periodic payments on property etc., occasional bouts of intercourse. The fruits of marriage, i.e. children.
The subject, those who did the robbing, is lips of thine of line 5, which here stand for the whole person. The anonymous author of Zepheria uses 'revenue' and 'rent' in one of his nearly incomprehensible sonnets:
From the revenue of thine eyes' Exchequer
My faith his Subsidy did ne'er detract!
............
But if the Rent, which wont was of assize,
Thou shalt enhance, through pride and coy disdain!
Exacting double tribute to thine eyes etc. Canzon 38. (c.1594)


Some commentators think that the subject (the robber) could be mine (i.e. my lips), if one disregards the comma at the end of line 7. This would put the onus of unfaithfulness more on the speaker - he was at least as frequent in robbing other's beds as she was in profaning her lips. It is possible that both meanings are intended. The beloved is guilty of sealing false bonds of love, and of robbing others' beds of their rent, and the poet is himself guilty of the same.

9. Be it lawful I love thee, as thou lov'st those

Be it lawful = Assuming it is lawful that; grant that it is lawful that. The phrase is also said to be a formulaic one, like 'An't please you', equivalent to 'Well then', or 'Seeing that it is so', but Shakespeare does not use it elsewhere. Here the suspicion of adultery and betrayal gives more of a specific meaning, and implies 'If you are claiming that what you are doing is lawful and permissible, in loving those others, then I too, in loving you, make the same claim'.

10. Whom thine eyes woo as mine importune thee:

Whom thine eyes woo - i.e those others. The eyes were the greatest weapon in the armoury of the traditional chaste maiden. Here they are being used not in the traditional sense of smiting almost unconsciously with Cupid's darts, but promiscuously, in order to seduce.
importune is often used of pestering another with one's love suit. Compare:
Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain,
If with too credent ear you list his songs,
Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open
To his unmastered importunity. Ham.I.3.29-32.
Commentators note that parts of the sonnet almost read like a round or roundelay, changing directions frequently so as to return to a starting point. Thus these two lines have 'I love thee, thou lovest those, thine eyes woo them, mine woo thee'. And lines 1-2 have 'Love is a sin, virtue is hate, hate of my sin, the sin of loving'. And the repetition of 'pity' in 11 - 12. It is not so much a deliberate attempt to follow a pattern or form as a delight in the exuberance of language and its contrarieties, and the enjoyment of shaping and reshaping the same words to make them ring. Compare for example:
I burn yet I am cold! I am a cold, yet burn!
In pleasing discontent, in discontentment pleased!
Diseased, I am in health! and healthful, am diseased!
In turning back proceed! proceeding, I return! Barnes. P&P. Sonn.31. The same sonnet uses the word grounded at the beginning and end of a line, (see above, line 2) and it may have functioned as a distant echo when Shakespeare was writing his lines.

11. Root pity in thy heart, that, when it grows,

Let pity take root in your heart, so that, when it grows etc.
Note that the cry for pity made by the lover to the beloved was so common as by now to have become de rigueur, but somewhat stale. The following from Sidney is typical:
My mind bemoans his sense of inward smart;
Such smart may pity claim of any heart,
Her heart, sweet heart, is of no tiger's kind:
And yet she hears, yet I no pity find; A & S.44.
Pity could mean anything from inner sympathy to a kindly look, a smile, words of encouragement, or the bestowing of sexual favours. Here the emphasis is on the granting of sexual favour.

12. Thy pity may deserve to pitied be.

Thy pity = your sympathy and compassion, your willingness to sleep with me. (See the note above).
may deserve to pitied be = might earn the right to be pitied (in all its meanings).

11-14. One suspects other meanings, because the lines as they stand seem so inconclusive as an argument for her to grant her favours. Since the conclusion looks to the future, it may be that he is hinting at a time when she will be 'withered and old' and men will no longer desire her, but she will still long for them. As in Wyatt's poem:
Perchance thee lie withered and old
The winter nights that are so cold,
Plaining in vain unto the moon,
Thy wishes then dare not be told,
Care then who list, for I have done.
If she denies him now, men in the future will deny her, by self-example she will have condemned herself to loneliness and an empty bed. There may also be sexual innuendoes in grows, pity, have and hide. Thus 'If you pity my growing penis now, your cunt may earn the right to be pitied hereafter.' However Partridge does not give bawdy uses of 'pity', although he does cite grows. See the note below for have and hide.
pity could be the equivalent of nothing in 136:
For nothing hold me so it please thee hold
That nothing me a something sweet to thee.

13. If thou dost seek to have what thou dost hide,

If you seek to obtain what you refuse to others. This sounds rather like the proverb 'You cannot have your cake and eat it', suggesting perhaps 'you cannot have sex and not have it, or pretend your innocence'.
hide = withold, deny.
to have and to hide both have sexual meanings in addition to this. As in Sonnet 129:
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme 129
and
Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious,
Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine?135
There is also the following from Romeo and Juliet:
for this drivelling love is like a great natural that runs lolling up and down to hide his bauble in a hole. RJ.II.4.87-9
where natural = fool, and bauble = plaything; penis.
The closing lines therefore may be interpreted fairly tamely as 'If you deny me pity, it may be denied you in your turn, since you have set the example of refusal'. More racily it could be 'If you want to have sex, and go on having it, then hide me in you now, for refusing may mean that others may refuse you hereafter, and cause you the deepest anguish, seeing what an unreformed nymphomaniac you are'.

14. By self-example mayst thou be denied!

By self example = by your own example.
mayst thou be = you may be, you could be. May it be that you will be! I.e. the poet expresses the wish that she will be denied, to teach her a lesson for having denied him.

1. Lo, as a careful housewife runs to catch

Lo, as - this introductory phrase signals the start of an extended simile, after the epic style of Homer and Virgil. (See the example above and the introductory note).
Lo = look, behold.
housewife - pronounced 'hussif'. Usually a married woman, she looked after the running of the house. Domestic economy in those days, depending on the size of the household, would also include looking after the chickens in the barnyard. Even town houses kept chickens.
careful - suggestive of economy and prudent management. It could also mean 'full of anxiety'.
runs to catch = runs after, in order to catch. The imagery creates in the first two lines a mental picture of the woman in panic, rushing after a fluttering bundle of feathers, forgetting, in her eagerness to catch it, everything else which might be important to her.

2. One of her feathered creatures broke away,

One of her feathered creatures = a hen, goose, bantam, turkey etc. creatures is a slightly derogatory term, meaning animal, beast, servant, puppet. Feathered creatures could be a reference to overdressed courtiers, such as the young woman might have been in the habit of pursuing; a popinjay, a dandy.
broke away = which has broken out (of the chicken run, or the yard).

3. Sets down her babe, and makes all swift dispatch

Sets down her babe = puts the child she is carrying on to the ground.
makes all swift dispatch = runs as fast as she can. As in
Therefore the Dukes of Berri and of Bretagne,
Of Brabant and of Orleans, shall make forth,
And you, Prince Dauphin, with all swift dispatch,
To line and new repair our towns of war H5.II.4.4-7.

4. In pursuit of the thing she would have stay;

the thing = the creature, the object of her pursuit.
she would have stay = that she desires to keep in its place, to stop. to stay is either to remain in one place, (intransitive), or to cause to remain in one place (transitive). The woman desires that the fowl should not run away in the first place, and that she will be able to stop it when it does.

5. Whilst her neglected child holds her in chase,

holds her in chase = runs, chases after her.

6. Cries to catch her whose busy care is bent

Cries to catch = cries as she tries to catch; cries in order to catch.

her whose busy care is bent = the housewife, whose only fussing concern (busy care) is directed towards (bent).

7. To follow that which flies before her face,

flies before her face = flees from her. Also, flies in the air close to her face, and appears to taunt her. There are various expressions using to flee (or to fly) and face, e.g. to flee from the face of (danger etc.), to fly in the face of (= to contradict). To flee and to fly were often used interchangeably, as the action of fleeing was similar to that of a bird taking flight. (See OED flee v.6.). As Lady Macduff, when in imminent danger of being murdered exclaims: Whither should I fly? I have done no harm. Mac.IV.2.72-3.

8. Not prizing her poor infant's discontent;

Not prizing = not valuing, not being aware of. Similar to the archaic verb apprize, to set a value on.
discontent = unhappiness, misery.

9. So runn'st thou after that which flies from thee,

So runn'st thou = in just such a way you run from. The point of the simile is reached. All this chasing is like the woman's pursuit of men, and the poet's pursuit of her.

10. Whilst I thy babe chase thee afar behind;

I thy babe = I who am your babe. Some commentators think that this and line 12 reveal Oedipal longings in Shakespeare's psyche. No doubt it does, but it is common enough, for we learn how to love mostly from our mothers, and there is an element of comfort seeking in all loving.
afar behind = far off in the distance; while I am far behind you (as you run away).

11. But if thou catch thy hope, turn back to me,

thy hope = the man you are chasing and hoping to win.

12. And play the mother's part, kiss me, be kind;

play the mother's part = behave like a true mother; take on the role of a mother, who gives comfort, and dandles her infant, rather than the role of a distant stony-hearted goddess (or betraying hussy).
be kind = be generous and gentle, favour me with your kisses; act like a mother, do not be unkind, i.e. unnatural.

13. So will I pray that thou mayst have thy 'Will,'

So will I pray = if it turns out as I have described, and you comfort me, then I will pray that etc. But since he does not know if she will come back, perhaps the meaning is 'If you can see this scenario developing as I have described it, then I will pray etc.'
thy Will = your desire; sex; (possibly) the man called Will whom you are chasing; me whose name is Will. (See especially Sonnet 135)

14. If thou turn back and my loud crying still.

If thou turn back = if, when you have finished your pursuit (of the man or the chicken) you return and see to me, or, if you turn round and remember me. Possibly a sexual reference, as in the nurse's garrulous account of Juliet's fall in her childhood:
And then my husband--God be with his soul!
A' was a merry man--took up the child:
Yea, quoth he, dost thou fall upon thy face?
Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit; RJ.I.3.40-3.

still = bring peace to my crying, quieten me.

1. Two loves I have of comfort and despair,

loves = loved ones, beloveds.
of comfort and despair = who offer both comfort and despair. At this stage, both loves could be giving this mixture of pain and consolation, although, because of what follows, we automatically interpret it as saying that one of them is the comforter, the other the destroyer.
SB points out that comfort and despair are also theological terms, harmonising with the theological idioms of the poem. (SB p. 497.n.1). OED gives 'Comforter' as one of the titles of the Holy Spirit, as for example in Matthew:
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another
Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Matt.4.14.16
but the notion of Christ, or God as the comforter was just as common. As for example in Psalm 19:
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
A belief in Divine Providence and in the consolation of religion was much more widespread then than it is nowadays, and it was almost the only protection the majority of people had against disease, famine, and all the other disasters which threatened communities.
OED does not give any help with the theological meanings of 'despair'. The teaching of the time was that despair of God's mercy was akin to disbelief and one of the greatest sins in the Christian catalogue of sin, if not the greatest. It was a sin against the Holy Ghost (who might loosely be equated with truth), for which no forgiveness was possible. Thus the two qualities, comfort and despair, are equivalent to a trust in the Holy Spirit, or a disbelief in him and his efficacy, tantamount to a tryst with the devil, the opposing evil spirit.

2. Which like two spirits do suggest me still:

two spirits = a good spirit, and an evil spirit, corresponding to a guardian angel and the devil. Catholic belief was that each individual had his or her own guardian angel to protect him or her. The corresponding evil angel was less of a personal attachment, but was more likely to be one of Satan's vast army of spirits which roamed the earth always hoping to tempt and lead astray any human whom they chanced upon. There is also a reference to the Morality Plays, and the tradition of psychomachia (fighting of spirits) in which personified Virtues and Vices fought for the control of a man's soul. In Marlowe's Dr. Faustus The Good Angel and the Evil Angel try to influence Faustus' actions, the latter winning the contest.
G. Ang. Sweet Faustus, leave that execrable art.
Faust. Contrition, prayer, repentance - what of them?
G. Ang. Oh, they are means to bring thee unto heaven.
E. Ang. Rather illusions, fruits of lunacy,
That makes men foolish that do trust them most.
G. Ang. Sweet Faustus, think of heaven and heavenly things.
E.Ang. No Faustus, think of honour and of wealth. Fau.452-9.
Spirits were normally invisible, but would on occasion reveal themselves to humans.

suggest me still = continually tempt me; continually lead me on (to good or evil).

3. The better angel is a man right fair,

The better angel = the better of the two spirits. Note that 'angel' was a term usually applied only to good spirits, creatures who normally inhabited heaven, but had an additional role of helping to ensure that things went well on earth. The 'Fallen Angels' were those who inhabited hell, their leader being Lucifer, but they were normally referred to as devils or evil spirits. They were all formerly blessed angels in heaven until they revolted. (See Milton's Paradise Lost Bk. 1).
right fair = truly beautiful, both physically and spiritually. Just, honest, gentle and trustworthy. Probably the same person referred to as the friend in 133-4, and the youth addressed in the former sequence 1-126.

4. The worser spirit a woman coloured ill.

The worser spirit - note that the word 'spirit' is used of the woman, in contrast to 'angel' for the man. Spirits were more often evil than good.
a woman coloured ill - the poet's mistress, the subject of most of sonnets 127-152. Possibly also the same woman is referred to in 41-2. The fact that she is coloured ill is a reference to her dark complexion, mentioned in 127, 131and 147, but also to her moral darkness.

5. To win me soon to hell, my female evil,

To win me soon to hell = to tempt me to take the broad and swift road to damnation. soon = swiftly, without delay. No doubt also a reference to the hell on earth which he anticipates suffering when he loses the 'fair youth'. It is noticeable however that the theological imagery begins here to break down. The two guardian spirits are not tempting or provoking him directly, as is their usual custom, but they seem to be attacking each other, for the worse one is tempting the better one to sin.
Commentators see here a reference to the village pastime of Barley-Break of which I give the OED definition: An old country game, varying in different parts, but somewhat resembling Prisoner's Bars, originally played by six persons (three of each sex) in couples; one couple, being left in a middle den termed ‘hell,’ had to catch the others, who were allowed to separate or ‘break’ when hard pressed, and thus to change partners, but had when caught to take their turn as catchers. It seems to have been a variation on the simple game of tig, but the fact that it was played by couples, resulting often in a change of partners, may have allowed it to develop into a game of sexual romps as the evening wore on. It is not certain that the mere use of the word hell is proof that Shakespeare was alluding to this game, although the fact that it was described by Sidney in his Arcadia, and that its alternative name was 'Last-in-Hell' may be significant. KDJ thinks that references to the lower part of the stage in the theatre, or to part of the old law courts at Westminster, or to a debtor's prison, are all just as probable. (KDJ p.404). I am not aware that the custom of Barley-Break survives anywhere in England now, and it probably died out in the 19th century. Further details are given at the bottom of this page. The sexual connotation of 'hell' as female genitalia does not seem to be activated until line 12.

6. Tempteth my better angel from my side,

Tempteth = tempts, seduces.
side - this is the PP reading accepted by most editors as preferable to Q's sight (see above, adjacent to the Q version). A guardian angel usually hovered close to the person protected. KDJ cites the following from Othello:
........did he live now,
This sight would make him do a desperate turn,
Yea, curse his better angel from his side,
And fall to reprobation. Oth.V.2.207-10.
Possibly also a reference to being in bed with, as the following indicate:
For never shall you lie by Portia's side
With an unquiet soul. MV.III.2.307-8.

So then two bosoms and a single troth.
Then by your side no bed-room me deny;
For lying so, Hermia, I do not lie. MND.II.2.50-2.

The phrase is ageless, and Dylan Thomas in Under Milk Wood tells us of an old couple:
Mr and Mrs Floyd, the cocklers, are sleeping as quiet as death, side by wrinkled side...

7. And would corrupt my saint to be a devil,

would corrupt = wishes to, intends to corrupt.
my saint = my good angel, my beloved. Addressing one's beloved as a saint was common in the sonnet tradition, and dates back to Petrarch and his Laura.

8. Wooing his purity with her foul pride.

Wooing his purity = tempting his pure nature, seducing him. The use of 'wooing' is suggestive of the end in sight, having sex with him. Compare :
And when a woman woos, what woman's son
Will sourly leave her till he have prevailed? 41.

foul = ugly, sinful, morally debased. Note however that the PP version has fair, evidently intended as ironic.
pride = gorgeous finery; swollen self esteem. It was also the sin which was especially associated with the devil.

9. And whether that my angel be turned fiend,

whether that = if it is or is not the case that
my angel = my saint, my beloved, my man right fair.
be turned fiend = has become a devil, has been converted to your side. The theological imagery continues, the idea being that a good angel might be perverted to join the fiends in Hell, and in this case he does. It is not very true however to Christian tradition, for, apart from the first rebellion led by Lucifer, which separated the good from the bad, the proud from the obedient and respectful, heavenly angels were considered to be incorruptible. One should therefore not press too closely the religious interpretation, for the meaning is directed more towards earthly Saints and earthly fiends.

10. Suspect I may, yet not directly tell;

Suspect I may = I might well be suspicious.
yet not directly tell = yet I cannot be sure through hard evidence, yet I cannot immediately be sure. I cannot tell for certain (if he has become a fiend).

11. But being both from me, both to each friend,

being both from me = both of them being absent, apart from me, separated from me.
both to each friend = each being a friend of the other.

12. I guess one angel in another's hell:

I guess one angel in = I guess, suspect, that one of the angels is in etc.
another's hell = the other one's hell. Hell here could have its ordinary spiritual and mortal significance, the place of damnation, the place of final suffering, but applicable also to various hells on earth. Which implies that merely being in the dark lady's company could be a hell on earth. But at this stage all the secondary meanings seem to assume primary importance as the sexual jealousy reaches a crescendo. ' I think his prick is in her cunt when he is with her' is what the poet seems to be saying, for the frequent connotation was that 'hell' was the female sexual organ, and the well known story of Bocaccio in the Decameron tells how Rustico teaches Alibech how to put the devil into hell, i.e. the penis into the vagina. (Decameron III 10). So that in this line the angel has definitely become a devil. Another link is possibly to the game of Barley-Break, details of which are given in the note to line 5 above, and in more detail below. Evidently in that game being in 'Hell' with someone one fancied was not too bad a thing after all.
The equating of hell with the female pudenda, although no doubt a piece of ancient slang, might well have been given contemporary significance from the experience of catching venereal disease in the stews (brothels) which were in London, by old tradition situated on the South bank, near the play houses. Perhaps Shakespeare was recalling such an experience. KDJ cites a satire on the Earl of Leicester, News from Heaven and Hell, in which Leicester's punishment in hell for his lust on earth is that he is joined forever in intercourse with a female fiend:
thus was his paradice turned into his purgatory, his fine furred gape into a flaming trape, his place of pleasure into a gulfe of vengeance, and his pricke of desire into a pillor of fior. KDJ p.404. From D. C. Peck, '"News from Heaven and Hell": a defamatory narrative of the Earl of Leicester', ELR 8 (1978) 141-58.

13. Yet this shall I ne'er know, but live in doubt,

this = whether or not the good angel has entered hell, or they have become lovers.
live in doubt - note that doubt was also a theological term, allied to the sin of despair. To doubt or deny the truth was a sin against the Holy Spirit. The truly despairing man, although he believed in God and Salvation, nevertheless doubted its efficacy and came to believe that Christ's love and mercy was insufficient to save him.

14. Till my bad angel fire my good one out.

A cluster of ideas is implied by these words. Fire suggests the flames of hell and the triumph of evil over good. The bad angel appears to force the good one out into the open, as if he had been hiding somewhere. It also suggests that she may get rid of him, drive him away when she is sated with him. OED.8a. gives the following nearly contemporary example: 1615 Lust will not usually out of the soul...till it be fired out with confession. There is an echo of various proverbs, such as One nail drives out another; One love drives out another etc. And the metaphor of venereal disease, fire, is once again invoked, with the bad angel setting her sexual partner on fire by infecting him.

1. Those lips that Love's own hand did make,

Love's own hand = Venus's hand, which fashioned all of you, but especially lips, eyes and heart. It was traditional to consider the beloved as being entirely composed of parts that Love had assimilated to herself or himself, be it Venus or Cupid. Possession of the eyes by Cupid was the most common conceit, for from the beloved's eyes he could shoot his darts. But he was also known to hover around or upon the beloved's lips.

2. Breathed forth the sound that said 'I hate',

The mistress traditionally, on occasion, hated her lover. See for example the sonnet by Sidney below, which describes how
Now since her chaste mind hates this love in me,
With chastened mind, I straight must show that she
Shall quickly me from what she hates remove. A&S.61.
The pronouncement of hate was enough to kill the lover, who nevertheless usually survived to speak of the experience, and begged for future pity and mercy. Sidney also speaks of 'breathing forth words':
While tears pour out his ink, and sighs breathe out his words A&S.6.

3. To me that languished for her sake:

Languishing was also a condition of being in love, according to the sonneteers. In the following, Sidney languishes while the hated lap dog is treated to kisses from Stella's sugared lips:
Yet while I languish, him that bosom clips,
That lap doth lap, nay lets in spite of spite
This sour-breathed mate taste of those sugared lips.
A&S.59.

4. But when she saw my woeful state,

The woeful state is the lover's piteous condition through pining for the mistress's love, and languishing over its unfulfilment. Sidney frequently mentions it:
Stella oft sees the very face of woe
Painted in my beclouded stormy face: A&S.45

5. Straight in her heart did mercy come,

Straight = straightaway, immediately. Used also in Sidney's sonnets 61 and 62, printed below.
mercy = kindness, pity of my languishing state. Mercy and pity were the qualities which the lover frequently requested from his beloved. It could be taken to mean anything from a less harsh and cold disdain, to a kiss, or even the bliss of sexual congress. But rarely did a beloved pity her lover to that extent, and mostly the convention required that the love be physically unfulfilled. Sidney does not use the word 'mercy' but 'pity' is frequently encountered. E.g.:
Her heart, sweet heart, is of no tiger's kind:
And yet she hears, yet I no pity find;
But more I cry, less grace she doth impart, A&S.44.
more I cry = the more I cry, suffer.

6. Chiding that tongue that ever sweet

Chiding that tongue - her heart, which had been softened by mercy, rebukes her tongue, which normally only pronounces gentle dooms, but in this case was threatening to utter hatred.
ever sweet - always sweetly. The main meaning of this seems to be an adverbial usage, 'she spoke sweetly to me', rather than the adjectival sense of a sugary tongue. Compare the usage with Sidney's in his sonnet 62, given below in full at the bottom of the page, and in 61 also:
She in whose eyes Love, though unfelt, doth shine,
Sweet said that I true love in her should find. 62.

7. Was used in giving gentle doom;

Was used = was accustomed to, was in the habit of.
in giving = to pronouncing, to administering.
gentle = not unkind, not harsh, moderate, soft.
doom = sentence, fate. The mistress was expected or requested to pronounce the fate of her suppliant, whether it was to be eternal bliss in her arms, or to be an outcast from her sight. Sidney complains that his mistress threatens to use harsh looks from her eyes as his punishment, but since her eyes were also his heaven, he is threatened with the worst of fates and implores her to change her mind:
No doom should make one's heav'n become his hell. A&S86.
Note the heaven/hell imagery which shows that Shakespeare's use of it in line 12, and in the previous sonnet the saint/angel/hell imagery, is not original.
I guess one angel in another's hell: 144.12.
See for example:
When my good angel guides me to the place,
Where all my good I do in Stella see,
That heav'n of joys throws only down on me
Thundered disdains and lightnings of disgrace: A&S.60.
and the use of saint in Sidney's sonnet 62 below.

8. And taught it thus anew to greet;

it = her tongue (of line 6).
anew = newly, in a new way.
to greet = to greet, salute, speak to. Compare also, from Sidney:
My Muse and I must you of duty greet A&S.84.

9. 'I hate' she altered with an end,

an end = an ending (to the sentence). She altered the meaning by changing the end of the sentence.

10. That followed it as gentle day,

Sidney uses the day and night imagery:
I might, unhappy word, oh me, I might,
And then would not, or could not see my bliss;
Till now, wrapt in a most infernal night,
I find how heav'nly day, wretch, I did miss.
Heart, rend thyself, thou dost thyself but right; A&S.33.
Day is happiness and night is misery in lover's metaphors. The epithet gentle suggests soothing caresses, as of the sun flattering the mountain tops (sonnet 33). But it was not an uncommon description of day. Compare this from Much Ado about Nothing:
Good morrow, masters; put your torches out:
The wolves have preyed; and look, the gentle day,
Before the wheels of Phoebus, round about
Dapples the drowsy east with spots of grey. MA.V.3.24-7.

11. Doth follow night, who like a fiend

who = which (i.e. night).
a fiend = a devil. Devils were creatures of darkness and the night. Satan was known as the arch-fiend, perhaps by derivation from the days when he was an archangel, although the word is not recorded by OED earlier than 1667, in Milton.

12. From heaven to hell is flown away.

is flown away = has fled. The imagery of these two lines recalls that of the previous sonnet, with the fiend departing to hell. flown suggests the flight of a winged evil spirit.

13. 'I hate', from hate away she threw,

Her declaration of hate she threw away from the actuality of hate (by changing the meaning at the last minute). Gurr suggests that there is a pun on hate away - Hathaway. See the introductory note for a discussion on this.

14. And saved my life, saying 'not you'.

And saved my life - Booth suggests a pun - Anne saved my life. The pronunciation of 'and' was probably close to 'an'. That the beloved could save the lover's life with a friendly glance was almost a commonplace in the literature. Compare from the fifth song of Astrophel and Stella:
Who may and will not save, murder in truth committeth.
i.e. the beloved who is able to save her lover with a friendly glance, and yet refuses to do so, is effectively killing him and committing murder.

1. Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,

Poor soul - usually taken as the poet addressing his own soul in its wretchedness. Hence the poem becomes a meditation on mortality, and is one of the most famous contemptus mundi (disgust with the world) poems ever written. See for example Sidney's poem above 'Leave me o love, which reachest but to dust'.
the centre of my sinful earth = the core of my being. The centre was the point to which all heavy objects tended to gravitate, and was thus a sort of guiding principle of the universe. The poet is metaphorically comparing his soul to this. The soul is that which rules and directs his body, his little earth. Compare also:
If circumstances lead me, I will find
Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeed
Within the centre. Ham.II.2.156-8.
For the soul as the ruler of the body, compare
............................I do betray
My nobler part to my gross body's treason;
My soul doth tell my body that he may
Triumph in love; 151.
But as the following lines show, the relationship between body and soul, and between these two and passion, emotion and reason is not at all clear.

 

As mentioned in the introductory note, it is possible to interpret these lines in a different sense, for the beloved could be the poor soul addressed, as she was and is the centre of the poet's sinful earth, just as she was the centre of his sinful loving in sonnet 142
Love is my sin and thy dear virtue hate,
Hate of my sin, grounded on sinful loving:
Poor soul can be used of any being whom one pities, indeed of any wretched creature, as in the 'Willow' song in Othello:
The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree,
Sing all a green willow: Oth.IV.3.39-40.
The poet here pities his love, because he sees her mortality, and realises that he must eventually leave her.

 

2. ... ... ... these rebel powers that thee array

(???) - Q repeats my sinful earth from the previous line, a fairly obvious error. Many emendations have been proposed, such as Foiled by these, Fenced by these, Rebuke these, Fool'd by those, Starv'd by the. Any choice is partially irrational, but I marginally prefer Feeding these which is adopted by KDJ and HV, since it reflects the later imagery of death eating men, and also echoes Harrison's How long time is asked in decking up of the first, and how little space left wherein to feed the latter!............. (See above).
rebel powers - there is some uncertainty as to what these are, possibly the passions, possibly the body and its parts, possibly the glitter and showiness of clothing and riches, possibly the love of these things. But it seems that, whatever they are, they are besieging the soul, and also, paradoxically, adorning it.
array = clothe, cover; disfigure, dirty, defile, (OED.10.c); marshal (for battle). The latter meaning is somewhat awkward, but seems to be demanded by the context. The soul is betrayed by rebel powers which, hiding within the body, undermine it (the soul), seek to do battle with it and at the same time adorn it with the gaiety of cosmetics and clothing.

3. Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,

pine = languish, waste away.
within = within the body, within the citadel.
suffer dearth = endure famine and starvation. The soul remains unfed because all the efforts of reason and passion are devoted to satisfying the body.

4. Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?

Painting = decorating. The walls of a town were often decorated with flags, bunting and other material hangings. In time of siege it might have been used as a ploy to show that there were no shortages, so as to dismay the enemy. However the imagery here merges into that of cosmetic adornment of the face and limbs, and sumptuous clothing. (See the extract from Nashe above, which also contains the following: Scandalous and shameful is it, that not any in thee [i.e. England] (fishermen and husbandmen set aside) but live above their ability and birth; that the outward habit (which in other countries is the only distinction of honour) should yield in thee no distinction of persons....) Compare also the passage from Harrison, which emphasises the cost. The outward walls of a person are figuratively their skin, face and limbs, but the word is used to make the contrast between outer show and inner worth, as in Sonnet 16:
Which this, Time's pencil, or my pupil pen,
Neither in inward worth nor outward fair,
Can make you live yourself in eyes of men. 16.
and in 46:
As thus; mine eye's due is thy outward part,
And my heart's right thy inward love of heart. 46
where the contrast is between the outward beauty, plus the riches that the clothing and outer decoration of the body can show, and the inner worth of the person.
Compare also:
....................................I do not think
So fair an outward and such stuff within
Endows a man but he. Cym.I.1.22-4.
The praise is of Posthumus Leonatus, who is both handsome and of a fine character. Sidney also uses outward when describing Cupid residing in his mistress:
Playing and shining in each outward part:
But, fool, seekst not to get into her heart. A&S.11.


so costly gay = so bright and cheerful, at so great a cost.

5. Why so large cost, having so short a lease,

so large cost = such vast expense (on clothing etc.)
having so short a lease - the body was leased from Nature by the soul, but the leasehold was short. As in :
So should that beauty which you hold in lease
Find no determination: 13
See also the Nashe extract above, but especially
All the leases which dust let out to life, at the day of death shall be returned into his hands. (i.e. into God's hands).
The uncertainty of life was much more of a factor in determining one's thoughts than it is in the modern Western world. Life expectancy was about half what it is today. At any time the plague, or smallpox, or other incurable diseases could take one off. Mostly the reasons were unknown and certainly beyond anyone's control. Shakespeare himself lost his son Hamnet, and his brother Edmund died while he was in London. Stories of sudden death were common, and wealth did not necessarily improve one's chances of survival. The wife of Philip of Spain, Maria, was reported to have died as a result of imprudently eating a lemon shortly after childbirth. Perhaps it was because of the uncertainties of life, rather than in despite of them, that extravagances and rich attire were so apparent, since it was considered important to have a good time while one could, and tomorrow might be too late.

6. Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?

thy fading mansion = your body, which houses the soul. It is fading because it is growing old, as a building ages and goes gradually to rack and ruin. Compare:
Her house is sacked, her quiet interrupted,
Her mansion battered by the enemy,
Her sacred temple spotted, spoiled, corrupted. Luc.1170-2. describing Lucrece's soul and body after the rape.

7. Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,

worms, inheritors - the worms which ate up the buried corpses in the churchyards. A similar usage in:
Be not self-will'd, for thou art much too fair
To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir. Sonn.6.
The worms inherited the corpse and all its finery, since they had sole use of it in the grave. Compare from Nashe (see above):
It (i.e. beauty) is the food of cloying concupiscence, living; and the substance of the most noisome infection, being dead.

this excess = this extravagance, this excessive expenditure on your body.

8. Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body's end?

thy charge = your (the soul's) cost; the thing which is put in your charge, i.e. your body; your burden (the thing you are laden (charged) with).

9. Then soul, live thou upon thy servant's loss,

Then soul = If that is the case, my soul, (or thy soul), that the body is to be eaten by worms, then etc.
thy servant's loss = whatever the body (the soul's servant) is deprived of. I.e. take revenue from the body and give it to the soul. Do not waste your money on material things, food and clothing, but spend it on divine things, prayers, masses etc.

10. And let that pine to aggravate thy store;

let that pine = allow your body (that) to waste away, long for food, desire.
to = in order to.
aggravate = aggrandise, make heavier, more substantial. From the Latin gravare, to make heavy, with the prefix ad (to). Possibly with suggestions of 'aggrieve' (see the sonnet from Fidessa above), or 'the grave'. But the line could be interpreted in a number of different ways, especially as the application of aggravate in this context could suggest that the store is being damaged, or burdened, rather than being advantageously added to.

11. Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross;

terms divine = what we might nowadays call 'futures', but in this case bought on the heavenly market. There is possibly a reference to the selling of indulgences, one of the practices of the 15th century Church which provoked the Reformation. For certain sums of money dispensations stamped with a holy seal could be bought which gave absolution from sins, and redemption from the pains of purgatory. Forgiveness was only granted on certain terms and conditions, of which the chief one was actually paying the required money. One could even buy indulgences for the dead, to free them from their suffering in purgatory. Belief in their efficacy was widespread. The papacy had more or less taken to itself alone the right to grant indulgences, since the fiscal implications were enormous, but it would grant to other clerics permission to sell them to raise money for specific purposes. The scheme was used by the Church to bring in revenue.
However it must be admitted that OED does not support this meaning of the word. The usual interpretation of the phrase divine terms is that it refers to 'heavenly time', 'ages spent in contemplation of the divine', based on the meaning of term as duration, length of time (OED.4.a.). Shakespeare most frequently uses terms to mean 'conditions of an agreement', as in:
What treason were it to the ransack'd queen,
Disgrace to your great worths and shame to me,
Now to deliver her possession up
On terms of base compulsion! TC.II.2.15--3.
or 'expressions, words', as in :
Taffeta phrases, silken terms precise LLL.V.2.405.
The implied meaning of terms divine is therefore 'agreements with god' or 'promises from god', which presumably are bought with prayer, penance and meditation on divine beauty.
hours of dross = hours spent in unworthy pursuits. dross was technically an impure scum scraped off from the surface in the smelting of metals, but was generally used of any impure or worthless matter. As in :
A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross;
I'll then nor give nor hazard aught for lead. MV.II.7.20-1.

12. Within be fed, without be rich no more:

Feed your inner self, and do not waste spiritual effort on enriching the body with trash.

13. So shall thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,

So = by doing this, i.e. by following a rule of life which pays attention to spiritual rather than bodily needs.
feed on Death which feeds on men - Death was the great devourer of all things, and had no pity. The poet claims that by adopting spiritual values the tables are turned, and the soul will thereby feed on Death, whereas, before, Death was destroying it. Technically however the soul was supposed to be immortal, but Death here probably stands in place of eternal damnation, and in any case the line echoes many passages from the Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments. E.g.
Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah. Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. Ps.49.15-17.

14. And Death once dead, there's no more dying then.

Again many biblical passages and religious ideas are invoked:
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 1Corr.15.52-5.
It is noticeable that the sonnet, for all its religious connotations, does not in fact give much practical advice of what to do in the face of death, other than to buy terms divine, and to 'be fed within', which are such vague directives as to be almost useless. In many ways the poem is more easily read as a tirade against rich clothing and extravagance and against his mistress who is enslaved to them, offering her advice about her eternal salvation and enjoining her to change her ways. (See the introductory note) .

1. My love is as a fever longing still,

My love = my passion for you, my infatuation.
longing still = constantly desiring, incessantly eager.
fever - A term often associated with love which Shakespeare has already used in connection with his aberrant behaviour when he appeared to have deserted the youth and distracted himself with other loves:
How have mine eyes out of their spheres been fitted
In the distraction of this madding fever! 119.
Medically a fever was 'an vnnaturall heate grounded in the hearte and lyuer'. (OED cites this from 1547). Given the uncertain knowledge of the time, it could be applied to almost any illness. The usual treatment would be blood letting, which was supposed to reduce the inner pressures and temperature:
DUM. I would forget her; but a fever she
Reigns in my blood and will remembered be.
BIR. A fever in your blood! why, then incision
Would let her out in saucers: sweet misprision! LLL.IV.3.91-4.
Since fever brought on ravings, there was a widespread belief that the sick persons always irrationally desired the thing which was no good for them. They might wish for fruit or drinks for example, which the physician would consider to be unsuitable and damaging to the health. Hence the prescription (line 6) could be, as well as medicine, a prohibition against the consumption of these supposedly undesirable foods. Compare :
...................and your affections are
A sick man's appetite, who desires most that
Which would increase his evil. COR.I.1.173-5.

2. For that which longer nurseth the disease;

longer = for a longer time. The proximity of longing and longer makes it seem as if the patient longs to prolong his illness.
that which etc. = the unsuitable food or drink which caused the disease initially.
nurseth = nurses. The word is ambiguous, for it suggests two opposites, 'brings back to health', and 'tends carefully, so that it (the illness) stays'.

3. Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,

Feeding on - i.e. his love is feeding on the forbidden fruit.
which doth preserve the ill = which causes the illness to remain.

4. The uncertain sickly appetite to please.

(In order to) satisfy my wavering, distempered desires.
appetite = desire for food. But, in the context of a diseased love, it signifies lust, carnal desire. OED.3 gives: 'one of those instinctive cravings which secure the preservation of the individual and the race'. Shakespeare's use of the word is often rather stronger and more specific than OED indicates, as the following three extracts show:

Behold yond simpering dame,
Whose face between her forks presages snow;
That minces virtue, and does shake the head
To hear of pleasure's name;
The fitchew, nor the soiled horse, goes to 't
With a more riotous appetite. KL.IV.6.118-23.

Moreover, urge his hateful luxury
And bestial appetite in change of lust; R3.III.5.80-1.

There is no woman's sides
Can bide the beating of so strong a passion
As love doth give my heart; no woman's heart
So big, to hold so much; they lack retention
Alas, their love may be called appetite,
No motion of the liver, but the palate,
That suffer surfeit, cloyment and revolt; TN.II.4.92-8.

The subject of the line is 'my love, which is like a fever' (line 1). Note that the word order is inverted - 'in order to please the sickly appetite'.

5. My reason, the physician to my love,

My reason - one of the faculties of the soul. Its presence here, as also the feeding metaphors, help to tie this poem in with the previous one.
the physician = the doctor. The two words were used by Shakespeare without distinction. Shakespeare's daughter Susanna married the physician John Hall in 1607.

6. Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,

prescriptions = rules of good health, the regimen given as a means of curing a disease, proscriptions (i.e. orders to avoid certain things). In more recent use the word came to mean 'the medicine (which had been written down by the doctor)'.
kept = observed, obeyed. As in 'to keep one's promise'.

7. Hath left me, and I desperate now approve

Hath left me - i.e. my reason has left me.
I desperate = I, having become desperate; in desperation, I etc.
approve = demonstrate, show by my experience, give proof that.

8. Desire is death, which physic did except.

A line of uncertain meaning which is variously glossed. 'Desire, such as I experience it, will bring my death, although the appropriate medicine would have averted it'. 'Any desire which militates against good medical practice brings death to the patient'. 'Sexual desire shortens life, but medicine can allay the effects of it'. 'Sexual desire under certain conditions which would cause physicians to forbid it, will prove fatal'. The difficulty is partly in the word 'except', but also in the compression of 'desire is death'. except probably means here 'took exception to'. (See SB.p.518-9). There was a belief that every orgasm shortened one's life by a day. There may also be a reference to venereal disease in 'desire is death'. It was widespread and often fatal. See the note below to line 13.

9. Past cure I am, now Reason is past care,

An echo of the proverb 'Past cure past care', meaning that when curative remedies have been exhausted to no effect, there is no point in worrying any further, but also equivalent to the more humdrum 'Don't cry over spilt milk'. Shakespeare has inverted it by saying 'Reason is past care i.e. beyond hope, therefore I am past cure'.

10. And frantic-mad with evermore unrest;

And frantic mad = and I am frantically mad; I have become frantic. Note that Q's spelling of 'mad' as 'madde' allows a confusion with made. Thus 'I have been made frantic by my love for you'. The spelling of 'mad' in the following line is conventional.
evermore unrest = unrest which is incessant and endless. Evermore seems here to have an adverbial force, but if taken as two words, 'ever more', it could mean unrest, disquiet, which is continually increasing.

11. My thoughts and my discourse as madmen's are,

There is a feverish quality to these two lines, in keeping with the theme of fever introduced at the start. He no longer knows what he is saying or if his thoughts have any meaning.
my discourse = my speech; my reasoning, my faculty of reasoned speech. As in:
O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,
Would have mourned longer Ham.I.2.150-1.
where wants = lacks.
as madmen's are - i.e. my speech is like madmen's speech.

12. At random from the truth vainly expressed;

random - Q's randon was a variant of the time, based on the French word meaning 'headlong, in a violent rush'.
at random from the truth = wide of the truth, straying erratically and irrationally from the truth, furiously rushing from the truth.
vainly expressed = spoken to no purpose, spoken with foolhardiness.

13. For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,

The couplet explains how he has strayed at random from the truth, for he has sworn that his beloved is something which she is not, that she is fair and beautiful, when she in fact is dark and benighted. The most disturbing aspect of these concluding lines is that they are so brutal and unforgiving. The epithets have both physical and moral significance, for he seems determined to prove that she was not beautiful either in soul or body. There was indeed a tradition within the sonneteering world at the time that the beloved was not always as fair as Petrarch's fairest Laura. But it was essentially a playful tradition, in that there was a determination to find something different to look at. Robert Tofte, for example, in 1597, declares
"My mistress seems but brown", say you to me.
'Tis very true, and I confess the same.
..................
This is the cause: for brown and pitiful
I left a fair, but yet a faithless Trull. Laura III.31.
But Shakespeare's sonnet breaks off from that tradition, for it heaps vilification on the beloved as if she were a tart. For Tofte the faithless Trull was the one he had left, not the one he was busy praising at the moment. Whereas here the poet loves, or pretends to love, what he finds dark, black, bestial, and morally unfathomable. It is tempting to ask whether or not this is his madness speaking, whether or not he is as guiltless as we might assume, whether or not the man who left to his wife the second best bed night not have been a swine with women. For it is not impossible that the writer who gave the world some of the finest women ever created in fiction should be unable to form a satisfactory relationship with them in his life. The harsh judgement which here he levies upon his mistress, as he does also, but less vitriolically, in 131,137 and 152, does not seem to have caused too much disturbance, even among female critics, who, one would expect, might be more sensitive to these possibilities. (KDJ and HV for example both comment on this sonnet unecstatically and with little sense of discomfort at its content, except perhaps by excusing it as mad ravings). Yet it is surely appropriate to ask for whom the sonnet was intended. Was it one of the sugared sonnets among his private friends, was it intended for his mistress, or was it for the wider world, the public who might read eventually the full sequence? All these possibilities fill one with a sense of unease, and however much one might wish to praise the poem for its unfailing honesty, one wonders whether that is really a sufficient justification for its cruelty.
Alternatively we could perhaps look for a mundane explanation, and see this as the meanderings of someone who is suffering from a bad dose of the pox. The closing line, with its suggestions of hell and darkness, is, as always, suggestive of the female hell, the vagina, which burns with the flame of venereal disease, as in Timon of Athen's outburst:
...............................................be whores still;
And he whose pious breath seeks to convert you,
Be strong in whore, allure him, burn him up;
Let your close fire predominate his smoke,
And be no turncoats: Tim.IV.3.139-43.
The essential condition for cure of the illness was obviously abstention from intercourse, which the poet does not seem to be able to manage, and the physician despairs of him. Apart from that, treatment was possible by 'suffumigation with cinnabar in a meat-pickling vat', an experience not likely to be very pleasant. The patient was at the same time kept on a low diet. After such a cure anyone might well feel dejected and low and be capable of writing a sour sonnet or two about his mistress.

14. Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.

See note above. The blackness of hell and the darkness of night, and vice versa, were proverbial attributes.

 

Bacchante (Lady Hamilton) after George Romney.  Published 1797. 

1. O me! what eyes hath Love put in my head,

O me! - an exclamation of despair or sadness, equivalent to 'Alas!', as in 41 which deals with the youth taking the poet's lover, probably the same dark lady as the one described here:
Ay me! but yet thou might'st my seat forbear,
And chide thy beauty and thy straying youth, 41.
Love = Venus or Cupid, usually the latter, who was often portrayed as a mischievous babe. In Astrophel and Stella Cupid takes up residence in Stella's eyes, her hair, her lips etc. :
Cupid, because thou shin'st in Stella's eyes,
That from her locks, thy day-nets, none scapes free,
That those lips swell, so full of thee they be,
That her sweet breath makes oft thy flames to rise,
That in her breast thy pap well sugared lies, A&S.12.
But also Love here refers to 'the emotional experience of loving' and to 'the act of love'. In many ways the poem reads more easily if one takes the latter meaning at the outset and sees it as a meditation on sex, sexual intercourse, and sexual infatuation. The bawdy puns in 8-10 then become more relevant, and even the commonly held view of all men (all men's no) that 'Love's eye is not true' acquires the additional meaning that 'the cunt is a betrayer', a crude sort of folk wisdom among men from time immemorial. Overlaying all this is the classical myth that Cupid is blind and therefore obviously cannot see truly. The poem is operating on many levels at once, and no commentary can keep all these concurrent meanings active simultaneously, as one can do in reading it.
1-6. The poem opens with a succession of questions which may be also read as exclamations. The poet is both puzzled and amazed by what Love can do.

2. Which have no correspondence with true sight;

correspondence = agreement, concordance, matching relationship. Also communication, contact with (OED.5.a.).
true sight = that which the eyes would truly see if they were seeing correctly (if they had not been hijacked by love).

3. Or, if they have, where is my judgment fled,

if they have = if my eyes have true sight.
judgement = reason, good sense. As in the previous sonnet, where reason abandons him.

4. That censures falsely what they see aright?

censures = passes judgement on, evaluates (in this case falsely, erroneously). The modern meaning of 'condemn' was not in use at the time. Compare:
Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. JC.III.2.16-17.
Note that this Julius Caesar example puns on the similar sounds of 'sense' and 'censure'.
what they see aright = what my eyes see correctly. As in the other sonnets about eyes and heart or eyes and judgement such as 113-4, the psychology is uncertain. The dispute is set up between the eyes which claim to see the truth, and the heart, which claims otherwise, a poetic conceit which does not necessarily have to conform to any pre-ordained ideas of mental functioning.

5. If that be fair whereon my false eyes dote,

fair - as in the previous sonnet, fair has its usual meanings of 'blonde, bright, good, just, beautiful'. The eyes can only pick out what is external and physically fair, but they do no see into the heart.
dote - the word most commonly used to describe a besotted infatuation. Compare 113 on a similar theme
Who in despite of view is pleased to dote;

6. What means the world to say it is not so?

it is not so = i.e that you are not as fair as my eyes or my mind indicate.

7. If it be not, then love doth well denote

If it be not = if it is not so; if it is not as I believe it to be. The phrase simply takes up the ending of the previous line.
love doth well denote = (my) love for you amply demonstrates. However these two lines, 7-8, may be read in a number of ways. This depends partly on punctuation, but the meanings are more seriously affected by the loose syntax, the fact that 'love' occurs twice, possibly with the same meaning, possibly not, and by the floating 'no' at the end of line 8. denote probably means 'shows, demonstrates', and the approximate meaning of the two lines would be 'Love, the experience and passion of love, amply demonstrates that lovers' ways of seeing are not the same as all men's. Clearly not.' An alternative meaning is '.........Cupid shows that his way of seeing things is not the same as men's'. Finally, taking no as being the exclamation that men make to contradict his (the poet's) judgement, it could be 'my experience of love shows that Love compels me to see things opposite to all men's denial of her beauty'.

8. Love's eye is not so true as all men's: no,

Love's eye - see the note above for the meaning of this line. The phrase 'love's eye also had a bawdy meaning of 'vulva' or 'female genitalia'. See Partridge p.109, under 'eye'. The idea is probably developed further in lines 13-14, when the poet hints that he is blinded by his sexual infatuation. Also one can perhaps see a connection with the previous sonnet and the possible references to venereal disease, which might well produce watching as a result of pain, and tears in the form of fluxes and discharges (line 10). A pun may also be intended on aye, 'love's yes', a consent or non-consent to have sex. Compare Wyatts poem asking the lady to answer yea or nay, given with sonnet 137.
all men's: no, - the punctuation given is that of Q. See the note to the line above for interpretations. It could be read as "All men's 'No!'", i.e. the general repudiation of her fairness, or her truth. Or it could be an exclamation standing more or less alone and linking to the following line, 'No! How can it?!' The punctuation cannot be taken as decisive, and various meanings were doubtless intended to be conveyed. all men's no is probably a slang expression for the penis.

9. How can it? O! how can Love's eye be true,

O! - this may be a deliberate echo of all men's no and invites one to think of women's O as in the folk poem
Childrens Ahs and Womens Ohs
Doe a wondrous griefe disclose;
which is given in full with sonnet 135. Partridge links eye to O in his gloss of the bawdy meaning of eye. See Partridge p.109 and SB. p.521.

10. That is so vexed with watching and with tears?

vexed with watching and with tears = disturbed, aggravated by staying awake and by weeping. Watching and weeping were traditional attributes of the besotted lover. The idea is used in 41, when the poet tells of his love weariness:
It is my love that keeps mine eye awake;
Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,
To play the watchman ever for thy sake: 41.
The marks of a lover are given by Speed, the clown servant, in Two Gentlemen of Verona:
Val. Why, how know you that I am in love?
Speed. Marry, by these special marks: first, you have
learned, like Sir Proteus, to wreathe your arms,
like a malcontent; to relish a love-song, like a
robin-redbreast; to walk alone, like one that had
the pestilence; to sigh, like a school-boy that had
lost his A B C; to weep, like a young wench that had
buried her grandam; to fast, like one that takes
diet; to watch like one that fears robbing; to
speak puling, like a beggar at Hallowmas. TGV.II.1.16-25.
Weeping and watching were evidently part of the ritual of loving, or at least part of the way in which it was described. See also the note above to line 8. The tears may also hint at less pleasant experiences, as for example mentioned in 119:
What potions have I drunk of Siren tears,
Distill'd from limbecks foul as hell within, 119.
Or possibly sexual pleasure is hinted at and the hunger for more. Despite the description given by Speed above, weeping does not feature all that often in sonnets of the period, perhaps because it was considered too unmanly. William Smith describes oceans of weeping:
But my love's sea, which never limit keepeth,
Which never ebbs, but always ever floweth,
In liquid salt unto my Chloris weepeth; Chl.30.(1596).
Barnabe Barnes (1593) amongst his almost interminable plaints to his mistress speaks more often of weeping. One of his Elegies begins:
Behold these tears, my love's true tribute payment! P&P.El.6.
In another he is blinded with tears:
Ah then! even then, in spirit crucified,
Mine eyes with tears, mine heart with sighs and throbs;
Those almost blind! that, hard swollen, almost burst! P&P.El.14.
And Griffin in Fidessa (1596) enjoins himself to weep no more:
Weep now no more mine eyes, but be you drowned
In your own tears, so many years distilled! Fid.30.
Sidney mostly speaks of Cupid weeping, or Stella, rarely himself, although he does occasionally mention his own tears:
Oft with true sighs, oft with uncalled tears,
Now with slow words, now with dumb eloquence
I Stella's eyes assail, invade her ears; A&S.61.
We cannot know for certain therefore whether Shakespeare is parodying these probably earlier poems, or using the convention for its own sake, or introducing the idea of weeping and tears to cast dark hints on his mistress's sexual proclivities and her possibly diseased state.

11. No marvel then, though I mistake my view;

No marvel then = it is then no wonder
though I mistake my view = that I misinterpret, that I am mistaken in what I think I see. though in this context implies 'even though'.

12. The sun itself sees not, till heaven clears.

Perhaps a nostalgic echo of
Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth;
Suns of the world may stain when heaven's sun staineth.  33.

13. O cunning Love! with tears thou keep'st me blind,

O cunning Love! - a complex bawdy pun, using O (women's Ohs), cunning (skilful in love, cunt-knowing, cunt-chasing), and Love (making love) to react with the surface meaning of 'all-knowing, ingenious Cupid'. However the meaning of Love also merges into that of 'love itself (Cupid, Venus, abstract love)', 'my love for you', and 'you, the beloved', the poet's mistress, since she is the one accused of being 'foul' in the next line. The fact that Cupid was blind meant that he desired others to be the same, but he himself was gifted with a second sight, and was a God.

14. Lest eyes well-seeing thy foul faults should find.

eyes well-seeing = healthy eyes seeing without fault and impediment. thy foul faults = your crimes, your foul diseases. Evidently Love in the line above is no longer Cupid, or the passion of love, but the dark lady herself. foul could possibly be a noun, meaning 'foulness', and the line would then be read as 'Lest eyes seeing your foulness would then inevitably find faults in you'.

1. Canst thou, O cruel! say I love thee not,

Canst thou = are you really capable of (saying).
O cruel - the cruelty is traditional, in that the beloved was always considered so because of her refusal to yield to the lover's demands. Compare Sidney:
Yet since my death-wound is already got,
Dear killer, spare not thy sweet cruel shot: A&S.48
and
Now will I teach her that she,
When she wakes, is too, too cruel. A&S.2nd.song. The poet here seems to be responding to an antecedent complaint of the beloved, namely, that he did not love her, but was merely making a show of it. This corresponds to various other 'reply' sonnets, such as
I grant thou wert not married to my muse 82
O never say that I was false of heart 109
Accuse me thus: that I have scanted all 117
O call not me to justify the wrong 139
However it may owe as much to the conventions which dictated how sonnets were to be written as to any specific situation or prior words exchanged between the poet and his mistress.

2. When I against myself with thee partake?

When = since, if. I.e. You are not justified in saying I do not love you when it is obvious that etc. when here does not have a temporal significance, for he is not so much citing occasions on which he takes her part against himself, but rather drawing attention to the general disposition that he has to behave in that way. The following when in line 3 does however refer more to specific occasions.
against myself with thee partake - the use of partake meaning to take part in some sort of action against someone or something in conjunction with another, either legally or militarily, is not a common usage. OED gives only this example, presumably seeing it as a nonce usage (OED.5). However it is close in thought to a sonnet written to the beloved youth:
Thy adverse party is thy advocate--
And 'gainst myself a lawful plea commence: 35
Note that part(y), part(ake) and against myself is common to both sonnets, and the meaning is similar. It may be significant that sonnet 35 excuses the youth's unfaithfulness perhaps with this same woman, so the verbal relation between the two poems creates an additional tension between them.

3. Do I not think on thee, when I forgot

Do I not think on thee = (Can you not see that) I think about you, think of you. Compare:
..............Think on me,
That am with Phoebus amorous pinches black,
And wrinkled deep in time. A&C.I.4.27-9.
When I forgot / Am of myself = when I am neglectful of myself, when I am bewildered, when I ignore my own interests. The bold construction, with an unexpected inversion of words split by a line ending, gives the sense of having lost one's way, a physical demonstration of the state of mind he is in. The sophistication and density of meaning in these two lines suggests that this is not an early poem.

4. Am of my self, all tyrant, for thy sake?

Am of myself - see the note above.
all tyrant for thy sake = being entirely a tyrant against myself because of you, on your behalf. tyrant however could be a vocative addressed to the beloved, 'You tyrant!, I have neglected myself, and all for your sake'. The syntax allows various meanings to make themselves felt, all of which may be intended. The beloved as tyrant was proverbial. Compare:
Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel; 131
which also uses the epithet cruel. Sidney uses tyrants to describe his mistress's eyes:
Oh eyes, whose humble looks most glorious prove,
Only loved tyrants, just in cruelty,
Do not, oh do not from poor me remove, A&S.41.

And rather more harshly in the fifth song:

I lay then to thy charge unjustest tyranny,
If rule by force without all claim a tyrant showeth;
For thou dost lord my heart, who am not born thy slave,
And, which is worse, makes me, most guiltless, torments have;
A rightful prince by unright deeds a tyrant groweth.
Lo, you grow proud with this, for tyrants make folk bow:
Of foul rebellion then I do appeach thee now; A&S.5th song.

5. Who hateth thee that I do call my friend,

I.e. I hate all those whom you hate, I frown on all those whom you frown upon, and I lour upon those etc. Probably an echo of the Psalms:
Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? 139.121.
friend - this could apply to male or female friends.

6. On whom frown'st thou that I do fawn upon,

frown'st thou = do you frown? Also, as line 2, reminiscent of a sonnet to the beloved youth:
Bring me within the level of your frown,
But shoot not at me in your wakened hate; 117.
fawn = To affect a servile fondness; to court favour or notice by an abject demeanour. (OED.3.).

7. Nay, if thou lour'st on me, do I not spend

Nay - an interjection which intensifies what follows, as in 71
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it; for I love you so 71
lour'st = look threateningly upon. The word lour is still current, but nowadays not often used, except perhaps in connection with skies and clouds. It is not common even in Shakespeare, but this instance from Richard III shows it also being used in the same breath as 'frown':
The sun will not be seen to-day;
The sky doth frown and lour upon our army. R3.V.3.282-3.

8. Revenge upon myself with present moan?

spend / Revenge upon myself = take revengeful action against myself. As SB points out, the phrase is unidiomatic and odd, but perhaps the word spend helps partly to suggest wasteful and useless prodigality, as in
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,
Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend? 136

present = immediate.
moan = sorrow, suffering, lamentation. As in the well known song from Cymbeline:
Fear no more the lightning flash,
Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan:
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust. Cym.IV.2.271-6.
Besides its general sense, moaning was also a particular affectation of the courtly lover. Sidney uses 'to (be)moan' to describe the lover's condition half a dozen times, the following example being typical:
Because I breathe not love to every one,
Nor do not use set colors for to wear,
Nor nourish special locks of vowed hair,
Nor give each speech the full point of a groan,
The courtly nymphs, acquainted with the moan
Of them, who in their lips Love's standard bear;
"What he?" say they of me. "Now I dare swear,
He cannot love. No, no, let him alone." A&S.54.

9. What merit do I in my self respect,

What merit = what desert, what worthwhile qualities. This also recalls an earlier sonnet:
O, lest the world should task you to recite
What merit lived in me, ............... 72.
respect = value, look up to. OED.4.b. This and despise in the next line are related etymologically. The Latin roots are respicere and despicere, 'to look (back) upon', and 'to look down upon'. respect echoes several lines in previous sonnets to the youth, perhaps most notably the two following:

When as thy love hath cast his utmost sum,
Call'd to that audit by advised respects; 49

Then others for the breath of words respect,
Me for my dumb thoughts, speaking in effect. 85

10. That is so proud thy service to despise,

thy service = service and duty to you. The lover considered himself bound to serve his mistress. Compare to the youth:
Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage
Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit, 26.
Sidney also speaks of service to his mistress, as do other sonnet writers.
to despise - see the note above. In sonnet 129, the meditation against lust, he speaks of the object of passion being very rapidly despised:
Enjoy'd no sooner but despised straight, 129
It may be that he is hinting here that the service he offers is something innately to be despised. Service could have a bawdy meaning, (i.e. fulfilling the service of sexual demands) as also do potentially many of the words in this sonnet - partake, lour'st (lowerest), spend, proud, defect, motion.

11. When all my best doth worship thy defect,

all my best - the best part of me, my best talents. An echo here of
So all my best is dressing old words new,
Spending again what is already spent: 76.
and also perhaps of :
All these I better in one general best.
Thy love is better than high birth to me, 91.
and also
And worse essays proved thee my best of love.
Now all is done, have what shall have no end: 110.

Note the use of spend in this sonnet also (line 7), echoed in the extract from 76 above.
defect = faults. The use of the singular noun perhaps suggests that the whole of the woman is a defect of nature. However it is parallelled in
That thou art blamed shall not be thy defect, 70
and there is also an echo in
Against that time, if ever that time come,
When I shall see thee frown on my defects, 49
defect is possibly a reference to the female pudenda, based on the understanding that a woman was a defective man, lacking various parts. Partridge does not document it, but there may be a hint of the meaning in
....................................I saw her once
Hop forty paces through the public street;
And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted,
That she did make defect perfection,
And, breathless, power breathe forth. AC.II.2.232-6.
and also in Midsummer Night's Dream, when Snout mixes up words:
Nay, you must name his name, and half his face must
be seen through the lion's neck: and he himself
must speak through, saying thus, or to the same
defect,--'Ladies,'--or 'Fair-ladies--I would wish
You,'--or 'I would request you,'--or 'I would
entreat you,--not to fear, not to tremble: my life
for yours. MND.III.1.33-9.

12. Commanded by the motion of thine eyes?

Told by you what to do, by your eyes imperious movements. Eyes and motion seem to be linked in sonneteers minds:
Those looks, whose beams be joy, whose motion is delight,
That face, whose lecture shows what perfect beauty is: A&S.77.

13. But, love, hate on, for now I know thy mind,

love = my beloved (the dark lady).
hate on = continue to hate me, go on hating me.
for now I know thy mind = for now I understand how your mind works, for now I know what your true intentions are.

14. Those that can see thou lov'st, and I am blind.

Those that can see thou lov'st = you love only those who have sight, who are not blind. 13-14.

There does not seem to be an obvious connection between the thought of the couplet and what has preceded it. The blindness that the poet now invokes is not evident in his behaviour, described in the rest of the sonnet, so one is forced to conclude that he imagines it to be symptomatic of his general debility, servitude, failure and inability to wrench himself away from the woman whom he thinks he should despise. One has to add mentally some additional explanation as to why the mistress loves those who can see in preference to those who can't. The hatred which he enjoins her to continue in line 13 is conventional, (see for example the commentary to Sonnet 145.) It was expected of a mistress, and therefore not difficult to find. The poet therefore concludes that, since he is hated, others must be loved, and since he has blinded himself with his adoring vassalage, and still not secured her favours, she must love those who behave differently and are perhaps less devoted to her, because they see her clearly and know how to evaluate her faults.
On the other hand it is ahistorical to assume that the reasons for loving or not loving given in any sonnet sequence bear any resemblance to reality or have psychological verisimilitude. It is quite possible, indeed probable, that the situation depicted here, if it is based on fact, attempts to resolve a question for the speaker, but does not touch at all upon the feelings of the woman, or offer any insight into how she views the affair. The concluding couplet seems more like a desperate throwing in of the towel, a recognition that there is no explanation of her cooling love, or none that could satisfy him, and so he casts around for an answer in mythological terms, which has to suffice for the time being, until the next bout of self-questioning comes to haunt him.

1. O! from what power hast thou this powerful might,

from what power = from what innate gifts, from what divine or infernal power. Perhaps a reminiscence of
O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power
Dost hold Time's fickle glass, his sickle, hour; 126
which is the farewell sonnet to the youth. The power exercised by the woman is more oppressive and the suggestion here that it derives from some independent source makes the reader think more in terms of the powers of darkness than any beneficent divine dispensation. It also echoes the more immediate :
Use power with power and slay me not by art. 139
which highlights the deadly power she has over him (although the killing power of the beloved was more of a poetic fiction than an actuality).

2. With insufficiency my heart to sway?

insufficiency = defects, inadequate qualities, both moral and physical.
my heart to sway = to exercise control over my heart, to domineer, rule my heart.
sway is a word signifying power, often regal or princely power. The verb to sway implies the use of that power. Sidney refers to Stella's wisdom's heavenly sway (A&S.51), but here it is the opposite of wisdom, and some sort of raw sexuality is being hinted at.

3. To make me give the lie to my true sight,

to give the lie to = to contradict, to refute, to overcome. Compare the following from Macbeth, where the Gate Porter tells how he gave the lie to drink :
Therefore, much drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery: it makes him, and it mars him; it sets him on, and it takes him off; it persuades him, and disheartens him; makes him stand to, and not stand to; in conclusion, equivocates him in a sleep, and, giving him the lie, leaves him.
MACD. I believe drink gave thee the lie last night.
POR. That it did, sir, i' the very throat on me: but I requited him for his lie; and, I think, being too strong for him, though he took up my legs sometime, yet I made a shift to cast him. Mac.II.3.30-9.

to my true sight - the implication is that the poet denies (gives the lie to) what he truly sees, viz. her foulness. It links in with the various eye/heart sonnets such as 137, 141 which explore the contradiction between seeing and believing.

4. And swear that brightness doth not grace the day?

Because, presumably, she is not bright or fair, yet, for him, she graces the day with her foulness more than brightness graces it.

5. Whence hast thou this becoming of things ill,

Whence hast thou this = from where do you derive this etc. Similar to the first question O from what power, with the identical suggestion that the source might be occult, or irreligious.
becoming = fitness, becomingness, beauty.

of things ill = of evil qualities, of evil actions. OED gives as the primary meaning of ill 'Morally evil; wicked, iniquitous, depraved, vicious, immoral, blameworthy, reprehensible' (OED.1). The application to health, as in 'ill health', or simply 'being ill', is used in more specific circumstances and when the context makes its meaning clear. Here the sense is quite clearly defined by the setting, and by the former knowledge we have of the person addressed, who art as black as hell, as dark as night. 147.

6. That in the very refuse of thy deeds

the very refuse = the absolute dregs and leavings, all the stuff which is cast away. refuse is a noun, its meaning as in the modern use in the phrase refuse collection. Hence the very refuse of thy deeds approximates to 'the worst and most reprehensible of your deeds'. The description of attractiveness in bad qualities is thought to bear some resemblance to Enobarbus' description of Cleopatra:
.................other women cloy
The appetites they feed: but she makes hungry
Where most she satisfies; for vilest things
Become themselves in her: that the holy priests
Bless her when she is riggish. AC.II.2.241-5

7. There is such strength and warrantise of skill,

warrantise of skill = guarantee, proof of skill and ability (to dominate me)

8. That, in my mind, thy worst all best exceeds?

in my mind = to my way of thinking, to me.
thy worst = your worst actions, characteristics, thoughts, words.
all best exceeds = is better than all things which are considered to be best. The contradictory nature of the assertion, with the worst being better than the best, underlines the diseased and warped frame of mind into which the poet finds himself thrown by the power the woman has over him.
Note that the question mark refers back to Whence hast thou of line 5.

9. Who taught thee how to make me love thee more,

A further question, again suggesting supernatural inteference, or perhaps Cupid. Familiar spirits were known to instruct witches how to control others. The poet (perhaps jokingly) refers to the power of spirits in an earlier sonnet on the rival poet:
Was it his spirit, by spirits taught to write
Above a mortal pitch, that struck me dead? 86
Apart from that, love is a powerful force in teaching:

Thine eyes that taught the dumb on high to sing
And heavy ignorance aloft to fly 78

Or whether shall I say, mine eye saith true,
And that your love taught it this alchemy, 114

Sidney, in Sonnet 72, wonders how he can live without desire, since Venus is taught with Dian's wings to fly A&S.72. The insoluble problem for the speaker here is that, no matter what his beloved does, no matter how foul she becomes, he ends up loving her even more, and therefore he suspects supernatural powers.

10. The more I hear and see just cause of hate?

just cause of hate - the phrase just cause is a legal one, and also relevant in the marriage service, as it occurs in the Book of Common Prayer (1559 Version) in the address of the priest to the congregation:
Therefore, if any man can show any just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else here after forever hold his peace. The connection here with the just cause preventing true union of souls is obviously as relevant as the reference to impediments is in sonnet 116, although most commentators have ignored it:
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments.
The reference to just cause occurs just before the reference to impediment.  The difference is that in 116 the poet refuses to admit any impedimenta, whereas here he acknowledges at the outset that there are more and more just causes to prevent his love, and that he ought to be paying heed to them, but cannot do so. So that strangely the case is the same both here and in that of true love, the impediments count for nothing and cannot prevent the union. (See the introductory note above).

 

 

11. O! though I love what others do abhor,

O! though I love - Probably a bawdy innuendo 'Though I love O'. See the note to lines 8-9 of sonnet 148. A recognition that his love is sexually driven.
abhor = loathe, detest. A passage in Othello indicates that abhor, repeated in the following line, is meant to bring to mind whore. Thus
..........................I cannot say "whore".
It doth abhor me now I speak the word. Oth.IV.2.162-3.
There is also a character called Abhorson, an executioner, in Measure for Measure, implying 'son of a whore', or 'son of a son of a whore' if one wishes to attach significance to the Latin prefix ab.

12. With others thou shouldst not abhor my state:

With others = joining with others.
my state = my present (abject) condition. Perhaps an echo of 29:
When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state.
The use of abhor and outcast suggests a biblical setting and Job immediately springs to mind. I give two instances of the word below:
Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes
shall abhor me. Job.9.31.
Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job.42.6.
But even more relevant is the following from Paul's Epistle to the Romans:
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil;
cleave to that which is good. Rom..12.9.

13. If thy unworthiness raised love in me,

thy unworthiness = your foul qualities, (which I have mentioned here and in other sonnets). Unworthiness is not a common word in Shakespeare, used only four times in the plays, (although unworthily is more frequent), twice of those uses being descriptive of a woman:
Every night he comes
With musics of all sorts and songs composed
To her unworthiness: AWW.II.7.39-41. Ferd. Wherefore weep you?
Mir. At mine unworthiness that dare not offer
What I desire to give, and much less take
What I shall die to want. Tem.III.1.76-8.
One suspects a biblical echo, but unworthiness does not occur in the KJ, Geneva or Bishop's bible.  The following may however be relevant:
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 1Cor.11.29.

raised love in me = caused me to love you. The oddness of the phrase is no doubt useful in indicating the basis of his love, i.e. sexual arousal, a topic explored with ingenuity in the next sonnet.

14. More worthy I to be beloved of thee.

Then I am, or should be, more worthy of your love. The thought of the couplet seems to be 'Since I have loved you, even though you are unworthy, my love deserves the recompense of you loving me in return'.

1. Love is too young to know what conscience is,

Love = Cupid, usually depicted as a naked boy, the son of Venus. He was unaware of the pain his arrows caused. See sonnets 153 and 154. Also love in general terms, the experience of loving.
conscience - probably, in this line, an innate knowledge of right and wrong. Different meanings are established as the poem develops. KDJ suggests a hidden pun based on 'the prick of conscience' and 'the prick which has no conscience', from the Latin proverb penis erectus non habet conscientiam, 'a standing prick has no conscience', which may have been current at the time. (KDJ.p.418). Since the poem is mostly about male erection the hidden pun is probably intended, but I suspect it relies as much on 'the prick of conscience' and 'the prick of love' rather than the Latin proverb. Love was thought to be thorny and prickly because it caused so much pain, as well as bliss. Compare :
ROMEO Is love a tender thing? it is too rough,
Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.
MERCUTIO If love be rough with you, be rough with love;
Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down. RJ.I.4.25-8.

2. Yet who knows not conscience is born of love?

who knows not = who is unaware of the fact that, who does not know. The phrase has a hint of the opposite meaning, because of its similarity to who knows? = perhaps. It is possible that everyone is unaware, (since Cupid himself and those in love are blind).
conscience is born of love = love gives birth to conscience. Conscience comes into being because of the experience of love. A lot depends here on the interpretation of the word conscience. The locus classicus for its hallowed Christian meaning of an inner moral guide, as Shakespeare often seems to use it, is in the Tempest:
.............................But, for your conscience?
ANT. Ay, sir; where lies that? if 'twere a kibe,
'Twould put me to my slipper: but I feel not
This deity in my bosom: twenty consciences,
That stand 'twixt me and Milan, candied be they
And melt ere they molest! Tem.II.1.266-71.
Note: kibe = chilblain.
And also in :
Put thy sword up, traitor;
Who mak'st a show but dar'st not strike, thy conscience
Is so possessed with guilt: Tem.I.2.469-71.
The word occurs over 120 times in the plays, and its usual meaning is, as in the above extracts, the recognition of moral good and evil. But on other occasions it slips over into a more general sense, akin to the meaning of consciousness or awareness, as in this example from Hamlet.
Thus Conscience does make cowards of us all. Ham.III.1.83.

Nevertheless it seems that Shakespeare is deliberately punning in this sonnet on another sense based on a bawdy interpretation of con- as cunt, which allows the word to have the slang meaning of cuntscience, or knowledge of cunts. (An early spelling is given by OED as cunscience). Instances of punning on con- are found in the plays, and one gets the impression that Elizabethan audiences would have enjoyed the jokes, which were no doubt accompanied by obscene gestures. Examples are given below. In the first, from AWW, the clown offers to supply an answer that will fit any occasion. Below your duke to beneath your constable would be made to sound like 'below your dick to beneath your cunts-table', and would be accompanied by crude gestures. The Countess then shows that she is not above a bawdy joke herself, by suggesting that the answer is a monstrous penis. (The clown's clever answer for all occasions is O Lord, sir!). In the next example, which is in French, the English audience were expected to understand the puns. Katherine receives an English lesson in which the word for gown is pronounced as coun by Alice, which sounded probably like the French for 'cunt'. The word for pied, foot, probably sounded to Katherine like the French foutre 'to fuck', hence her exclamation that she would not pronounce such bad words before French gentlemen.Because of the more obvious sexual innuendoes in the rest of this sonnet, it is clear that conscience in this line, and in line 13 has an additional bawdy meaning which contributes more to the poem than the traditional meaning of 'this deity in my bosom'.  See the article by Dr. T. Merriam referred to above. Merriam.

COUNTESS. Have you, I say, an answer of such fitness for all questions?
CLOWN. From below your duke to beneath your constable, it will fit any question.
COUNTESS. It must be an answer of most monstrous size that must fit all demands.
CLOWN. But a trifle neither, in good faith, if the learned should speak truth of it: AWW.II.2.27-33.

KATHERINE. Ainsi dis-je; de elbow, de nick, et de sin. Commet appelez-vous le pied et la robe?
ALICE. De foot, madame; et de coun.
KATHERINE. De foot et de coun! O Seigneur Dieu! ce sont mots de son mauvais, corruptible, gros, et impudique, et non pour les dames d'honneur d'user: je ne voudrais prononcer ces mots devant les seigneurs de France pour tout le monde. Foh! le foot et le coun! H5.III.4.44-51.

3. Then, gentle cheater, urge not my amiss,

cheater - as the examples below show, the word was used in a sense which is now obsolete, a manager of the king's escheats, (OED.1) but it also has the more recognisable sense of one who swindles. An escheator was a sort of accountant and collector of dues, a financial manager, which is what is implied in the examples from Henry IV, although neither Falstaff nor Mistress Quickly, certainly not the latter, seem to have a clear idea of what is intended. In the final MWW example Falstaff deliberately chooses the financial meaning and then puns on it to suggest that he will work the post to his advantage. As Onions says (p.43), the word plays on the meaning of 'swindler, one who deals fraudulently'.
gentle cheater could therefore be 'one who manages me gently', or 'one who defrauds me but puts a pleasant gloss on it'. In the context of the playfulness of the poem the phrase has a tender ring to it, rather than accusatory, rather like tender churl in sonnet 12. So, given that Cupid was considered to be a mischievous cheat, it could be simply an expression of endearment and mean no more than 'dearest love'.
urge not = do not accuse me of being guilty of, do not press me about, do not incite me (with).
my amiss = my sin, error, failing, crime. There is much debate about what the sin might be, and opinions swing between two opposites. It could be the fault of being too randy and too demanding sexually, alternatively it could be that of being too cautious and shy, unable to satisfy his mistress's libidinous demands. The poem may be read with either sense, but lines 7-12 seem to lean more to the interpretation that the poet is accused of being too sexually demanding, especially as he is contented to be her drudge. It is impossible to know precisely what the fault was, and even if we were alive at the time and knew the participants it is doubtful if we could have access to the intimate knowledge that they shared and thereby answer the query.

There is a further difficulty with this line, in that the introductory Then which is equivalent to 'so, therefore,' implies that these two lines (3-4) are logically a continuation of the thought expressed in the previous line. Since we all know that conscience is born of love, he is saying, the beloved clearly has no right to accuse him of his amiss, whatever it might be. Yet even if we accept the bawdy meaning of conscience, it is unclear why the acquisition of it should free him from the charge of being too demanding, or not demanding enough, and why he can therefore say that his beloved is guilty of his fault, or of the self same fault.

FALSTAFF He's no swaggerer, hostess; a tame cheater, i' faith; you may stroke him as gently as a puppy greyhound: he'll not swagger with a Barbary hen, if her feathers turn back in any show of resistance.
Call him up, drawer.
[Exit First Drawer]
MISTRESS QUICKLY Cheater, call you him? I will bar no honest man my house, nor no cheater: but I do not love swaggering, by my troth; I am the worse, when one says swagger: feel, masters, how I shake; look you, I warrant you.
DOLL TEARSHEET So you do, hostess. 2H4.II.4.92-101.

MISTRESS QUICKLY No, Good Captain Pistol; not here, sweet captain.
DOLL TEARSHEET Captain! thou abominable damned cheater, art thou not ashamed to be called captain? 2H4.II.4.130-2.

FALSTAFF O, she did so course o'er my exteriors with such a greedy intention, that the appetite of her eye did seem to scorch me up like a burning-glass! Here's another letter to her: she bears the purse too; she is a region in Guiana, all gold and bounty. I will be cheater to them both, and they shall be exchequers to me; MWW.I.3.62-9.

4. Lest guilty of my faults thy sweet self prove:

You may turn out to be guilty of the very same faults you charge me with; or, you may turn out to be guilty of inciting me to commit the fault you accuse me of. prove = turn out to be.

5. For, thou betraying me, I do betray

For, thou betraying me = because your seduction of me causes me to etc. For betray as catch, entice, seduce, compare:
.........................................I will betray
Tawny finned fishes; my bended hook shall pierce
Their slimy jaws. AC.II.5.11-13.
These two lines (5-6) are explanatory of why she will turn out to be guilty of his 'amiss'. Taking betray in its normal sense of 'be a traitor to' the sense seems to be 'your example of betrayal of me sets the pattern for my body to be a traitor to my soul, handing it over to the physical dominion of lust'. betraying me may also refer to the mistress taking another lover, and it has been suggested that the poem implies that the speaker finds this sexually titillating. The tone of the other sonnets, where his pain over her refusal to love him is amply documented, seems to rule this out. betray is used in one other sonnet:
How many lambs might the stern wolf betray,
If like a lamb he could his looks translate!
How many gazers mightst thou lead away,
If thou wouldst use the strength of all thy state! 96
It deals with the youth's unfaithfulness and his 'amiss' of taking another love, possibly this same woman.

6. My nobler part to my gross body's treason;

My nobler part = my soul, the better part of me.
my gross body = my body, which is made of earth, and is heavy in comparison with the soul. Shakespeare uses gross to describe Falstaff:
One of them is well known, my gracious Lord, a gross fat man. 1H4.II.4.559. OED.8.c. also cites the word as descriptive of material things in comparison with the spiritual and ethereal, with this example:
1530 Rastell Bk. Purgat. ii. vi, The soule of man may use hys operacyon & properte wythout occupyenge of the grosse bodye.

7. My soul doth tell my body that he may

The line is either an amplification of I do betray my nobler part to my gross body's treason, or, which is more likely, it is descriptive of a continuation of the process. Thus: 1. You betray me (l.5). 2. I betray my soul by using the body's treasonable temptings (l.5,6). 3. My soul responds by giving my body the go ahead (l.7,8). 4. My body does not wait any longer, but rises to do you service (l.8,9).

8. Triumph in love; flesh stays no farther reason,

Triumph in love = be a conqueror in love. The imagery from here on is ostensibly military. Triumph, rising, triumphant, proud, pride, stand, and affairs could all be given meanings in connection with military service. However it does not disguise the fact that the metaphors, in so far as they are metaphors at all, are predominantly sexual.
flesh = the body, mentioned in the previous line, but evidently with special reference to the penis, from what follows.
stays no further reason = does not wait for any further argument or justification. reason puns on raising or rising.

9. But rising at thy name doth point out thee,

at thy name = at the mere mention of you.
doth point out thee = points to you, indicates you. 'Point' is often used in connection with the hand of a clock or watch, or a gnomon, which points out the hour, as in:
O gentlemen, the time of life is short!
To spend that shortness basely were too long,
If life did ride upon a dial's point,
Still ending at the arrival of an hour. 1H4.V.2.82-5.

My thoughts are minutes; and with sighs they jar
Their watches on unto mine eyes, the outward watch,
Whereto my finger, like a dial's point,
Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears. R2.V.5.51-4.

Mercutio jokes on the apparent sexual imagery of a clock (or sundial):
'Tis no less, I tell you, for the bawdy hand of the
dial is now upon the prick of noon. RJ.II.4.108-9.
No doubt this line of the sonnet hints also at the similarity of point and prick.

10. As his triumphant prize. Proud of this pride,

triumphant prize = the reward of his conquest.
Proud of this pride = swollen with the thrill of his victory. The imagery is still military, but with heavy insinuations of sexual performance. 

11. He is contented thy poor drudge to be,

He = the body, flesh, the penis, your serving soldier.
thy poor drudge = your menial servant who performs tedious duties.

12. To stand in thy affairs, fall by thy side.

To stand in thy affairs = to stand to attention like a serving soldier when your needs demand it. With obvious bawdy innuendo, since affairs in this context can be stretched to mean 'sexual affairs', 'vagina'. Compare from Antony and Cleopatra:
Ant. The business she hath broached in the state cannot endure my absence.
Eno. And the business you have broached here cannot be without you; especially that of Cleopatra's, which wholly depends on your abode. AC.I.2.165-9.
'Business' in this extract is equivalent to 'affairs' in the sonnet, and Enobarbus puns additionally on 'whole' and 'hole'. (broach = begin, as in broaching or opening a barrel).
fall by thy side = fall in for duty at your side, in your army. But the image is still predominantly sexual, with 'fall' meaning 'lose my erection (after making love)', or 'flop into bed beside you'.

13. No want of conscience hold it that I call

No want = no lack, no absence of.
hold it = consider it, think it, hold it as your opinion.
that I call / Her love = that I address her as 'My love'; that I consider her to be my love.

14. Her love, for whose dear love I rise and fall.

The conclusion seems to be that love has taught him duty, the duty of service to his mistress, in that he obeys her every command (rises and falls), therefore he cannot be accused of lacking a conscience since he is so assiduous in his devotion, and so sexually active on her behalf.

1. In loving thee thou know'st I am forsworn,

In loving thee = by loving you, through the mere fact of loving you, when I make love to you.
forsworn = perjured, guilty of breaking a promise. One automatically asks how she is to know that he is forsworn by loving her. Is it because a.) she knows he is married; b.) she knows he loves other women; c.) she knows he has pledged his heart to the fair youth; d.) she knows he does not love her; e.) she knows he lies to her, as sonnet 138 indicates (therefore I lie with her and she with me etc.)? Presumably she counts him forsworn for any one or more of these reasons. In line 6 he confesses to breaking 20 vows, probably only a wild number plucked from the air, but it still remains uncertain in what particular she is to know that he is forsworn. (See the note to line 6). An attentive reader of the sonnets would no doubt pick out reasons d and e above from the sonnets which precede, but would not be expected to know that the writer was married. Nor would it necessarily follow that the woman would know that the poet's heart was committed to the fair youth, nor that he did not love her, for in fact it seems that he does, and the poem starts by asserting the fact (In loving thee). This really only leaves a.) and e.) as possibilities, namely that she knows him to be married, therefore not entirely committed to her, and she knows also that he is not telling the truth. But there may be additional unspecified reasons for his being forsworn.

2. But thou art twice forsworn, to me love swearing;

twice forsworn = the two instances are given in lines 3-4, although they are not easy to isolate. (See the note). forsworn is frequently used in the context of lovers' vows, as in sonnet 88:
Upon thy side against myself I'll fight,
And prove thee virtuous, though thou art forsworn. 88
Its most frequent use in Shakespeare is in Love's Labours Lost, 17 times, compared with four in the sonnets. It does have a general application in connection with any promise breaking, and can be used to describe cases of political treachery or treason; since treason involves breach of promise to the monarch.

to me love swearing = by swearing your love to me. I.e. the act of swearing love to me involved you in breaking two oaths, details of which are given in what follows.

3. In act thy bed-vow broke, and new faith torn,

In act = by your action; by the act of sex; in the enactment of your bed vow (you broke it), i.e. you broke it even while making it. The syntax is awkward, for one expects either You, by your act, broke your bed vow, or By your act your bed vow is broken. And similarly one expects, your new faith is torn, or, you tore up your new (bond of) faith. The compression of the line suggests both these meanings, which amount to more or less the same thing. For act as referring to the sexual act there are several instances in the plays. E.g.
I cannot say 'whore:'
It does abhor me now I speak the word;
To do the act that might the addition earn
Not the world's mass of vanity could make me. Oth.IV.2.162-4.
See also the note to line 9.

bed-vow = marriage vow; promise made in bed. One assumes a vow of eternal fidelity, but it might be a vow of less import, for example to tell no one else of the relationship. The speaker may be suggesting that sleeping together implies fidelity and trust, a vow sanctioned by the act of love.
new faith torn = your new faith is torn up and destroyed, as one tears up a written bond. It seems that this is the second instance of forswearing, the particularities amplified in the following line. The beloved broke her bed-vow (perhaps to her husband) and, in addition, she betrayed the new lover, (the speaker), by vowing to hate him almost as soon as she had gratified him with her love.

4. In vowing new hate after new love bearing:

In vowing = by taking a vow.
new hate = hate which replaces the old love. A fresh onset of hatred. Note that hate in the beloved can range from anything to indifference, a refusal to satisfy one's lover, criticism of his insistence, a frown or cold word. In this instance it seems to imply a turning away to a new lover. But hatred in the context of the sonneteer and his beloved does not imply anything that a normal person would consider to be excessively virulent.
new love bearing = taking a new lover; finding a new love; taking the weight of a new lover in bed. The twofold breach of faith seems to be breaking a marriage vow (or a lover's vow) by making a vow to one's illicit lover; and then breaking the vow to that lover by taking on yet another, and neglecting the one to whom the vow has already been made. Or it could simply be a breach of faith to the husband, by taking on a lover shortly after marriage, and thereby implying hatred of the husband she professed to love.

 

5. But why of two oaths' breach do I accuse thee,

two oaths' breach = the breaking of two vows. See note to the previous line.

6. When I break twenty? I am perjured most;

When I break twenty - the exact number is not important, and presumably twenty is used in the same vague way as 'score' might be, as for example in the Tempest:
Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,
And I would call it, fair play. Tem.V.1.174-5
Compare also Venus and Adonis:
Ay me!' she cries, and twenty times 'Woe, woe!'
And twenty echoes twenty times cry so. VA.833-4.
'Twenty' is used 160 times in Shakespeare, far more than the necessity of reporting precise numbers ever requires. Nevertheless, in the context of numbered sonnets, one suspects that the use of the number does have some cryptic significance. It may be worth pointing out that this sonnet, like sonnet 20, has a preponderance of feminine rhymes, and perhaps we are being invited to make a comparison between the two loves. This one alternates masculine and feminine rhymes, perhaps in reference to the act of love, whereas 20 is the only sonnet with exclusively feminine rhymes.

7. For all my vows are oaths but to misuse thee,

but to = only to, merely to.
misuse = misreport, slander, demean. Abuse you sexually. The first meanings seem more probable because of lines 10 and 13. It is not clear in what circumstances an oath to misuse his mistress might be taken. The confusion is no doubt deliberate, and indicates that he does not know what he swears to, but discovers subsequently that the oaths he has sworn he does not believe in or adhere to.

8. And all my honest faith in thee is lost:

All my natural integrity is destroyed because of you. I.e. I have given myself up as lost, because I have committed myself to you, even though I know it is an unworthy love. Seeing the truth, and yet unable to act according to it, has destroyed my faith in myself as a reasonable, honest and trusting person.

9. For I have sworn deep oaths of thy deep kindness,

deep oaths = oaths of great import; solemn oaths.
deep kindness = the repetition of deep suggests mimicry and undermines the solemnity of the reported oaths. There may also be a bawdy innuendo, equivalent to 'deep vagina', in that her kindness is that of woman kind, she is like a woman and her sexuality is that of a woman, and she does the deed of kind. Compare for example:
..........................the ewes, being rank,
In the end of autumn turned to the rams,
And, when the work of generation was
Between these woolly breeders in the act,
The skilful shepherd peel'd me certain wands,
And, in the doing of the deed of kind,
He stuck them up before the fulsome ewes,
Who then conceiving did in eaning time
Fall parti-colour'd lambs, and those were Jacob's. MV.I.3.77-85.
The passage, with its use of 'in the act', also reflects line 3 'in act thy bed vow broke'.

10. Oaths of thy love, thy truth, thy constancy;

Oaths of thy love = vows that I believe your love, truth etc.? The word oaths is used four times in this sonnet, and not at all in any of the others. The language of the law courts is perhaps being summoned to play its part, with oaths, swearing, vows, and perjury being continually brought into the foreground. It appears that the poet is putting on trial, in the court of his own conscience, his love for this woman, and he finds that all his best efforts to reach a fair verdict are hampered by his willingness to swear false oaths and to corrupt the truth. Oaths also are being cited because of the repetition of the O sound, 'the O of thy love' having a sexual meaning. (See note to sonnets 148 line 9 and 150 line 11).

11. And, to enlighten thee, gave eyes to blindness,

to enlighten thee = to make you appear bright.
gave eyes to blindness = made myself blind (by giving my eyes over to blindness). Or, made my eyes, which were blinded with love, see with love's false sight and distorted vision.

12. Or made them swear against the thing they see;

them = my eyes. Compare sonnets 141 & 148, where the eyes both see and do not see.
swear against = deny that they had seen (what they had in reality seen).

13. For I have sworn thee fair; more perjured eye,

This is a repetition of the opening of the final couplet of sonnet 147
For I have sworn thee fair and thought thee bright,
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.
The conclusion here is not much different, although GBE, for example, sees a change of emphasis, with the poet here noting his own moral culpabitility, rather than that of his mistress. HV also finds the sonnet more self-accusatory than the preceding ones.
more perjured = more forsworn than you are; more untruthful than if I had simply sworn my love for you (and admitted that you were not fair).
eye - since Malone this has usually been emended to I, but editors of modern editions think that the emendation is unnecessary. The word puns on I and ay and probably also includes the innuendo of female genitalia, as in sonnet 148.

14. To swear against the truth so foul a lie!

Foul and fair have been the themes of most of the sonnets addressed to the dark lady. To bring the sequence to a conclusion with these two words seems appropriate. Note also the three uses of swear, sworn, swear in these last three lines. Presumably they are some of the examples of being forsworn with which the sonnet opened. Swearing against the truth is the ultimate sin, a denial of the truth of the Holy Spirit, a crime for which, in Christain theology, there is no redemption. The sonnet ends with the witness perjuring himself again in the witness box.

1. Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep:

laid by = put aside. With a suggestion also of 'laid down beside'.
his brand = his torch. Cupid sometimes was depicted carrying a torch, with which he set lovers' hearts on fire. His more usual attributes were a bow and a quiver full of arrows, but in this case the poet is using the original idea in the poem from the Greek Anthology.

2. A maid of Dian's this advantage found,

A maid of Dian's - Diana was the goddess of the hunt, a virgin goddess who was traditionally accompanied by many maidens. These were also expected to be chaste. Being vowed to chastity they would be keen on emasculating Cupid of his powers. They hoped to do so by dipping his brand in the fountain.
this advantage found = stumbled upon this opportunity.

3. And his love-kindling fire did quickly steep

his love-kindling fire = his brand, which set hearts aflame with love (see line 1). Throughout the poem, and 154, there is a hint that brand = penis, the ardour of which supposedly can be cooled by immersion in a well or fountain (of pleasure or coolness), the female vagina. (See the note to line 4). The imagery then shifts slightly to include the possibility that the hot fire is that of syphilis with which the lover becomes infected, and possibly re-infects his beloved. The hot fountain then suggests the sweating tubs or vats into which the sufferer was immersed as a cure for the disease. (Suffumigation with cinnabar in a meat pickling vat is a remedy quoted by A.H.B. Doran in a chapter on medicine in Shakespeare's England, Vol 1., Oxford 1916, p.493).
steep = plunge into, soak in.

4. In a cold valley-fountain of that ground;

a cold valley-fountain - see the note above. For the sexual imagery compare the extract from Venus and Adonis below, where Venus fondles Adonis in her arms:
'Fondling','she saith, 'since I have hemm'd thee here
Within the circuit of this ivory pale,
I'll be a park, and thou shalt be my deer;
Feed where thou wilt, on mountain or in dale:
Graze on my lips; and if those hills be dry,
Stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.
Within this limit is relief enough,
Sweet bottom-grass and high delightful plain,
Round rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough,
To shelter thee from tempest and from rain. VA.229-238.

of this ground = in the vicinity, in that area.

5. Which borrowed from this holy fire of Love,

which = the fountain.
borrowed = acquired, assumed, derived the quality of.
this holy fire of Love = the brand of line 1, but also, figuratively, the passion of love. Possibly a Spoonerish pun on 'fiery hole' of love. The 'fountain' became hot with love's power when the brand was plunged in it.

6. A dateless lively heat, still to endure,

dateless = timeless, without end.
lively = full of life, spirited, vigorous.
still to endure = which would last for ever.

7. And grew a seething bath, which yet men prove

grew = became, transformed itself into.
a seething bath = a bubbling bath. The description suggests one of the medicinal hot springs.
which yet men prove = which even to this day men find by experience is etc.

8. Against strange maladies a sovereign cure.

Against = for, to combat.
strange maladies = exotic and inexplicable diseases, foreign diseases. Syphilis was known as the French malady, in the belief that it came from France. Some authorities thought that it originated from Italy.
sovereign = all powerful, supremely potent. OED.II.3. gives examples of the word used in connection with remedies and medicines, including Telling me, the Soueraign'st thing on earth Was Parmacity, for an inward bruise. 1.H4.I.3.57.

9. But at my mistress' eye Love's brand new-fired,

my mistress' eye - see the note to 148 line 9. Cupid often took up residence in the beloved's eyes, face, breast, heart. Here the conceit is that the brand is recharged at her eyes. This and the remaining 5 lines link the sonnet to the dark lady sequence, in that the poet talks of his mistress and the experience of loving her, rather than expanding the general conceit of the properties of Love's brand with which the poem started.

10. The boy for trial needs would touch my breast;

The boy = Cupid.
for trial = to test it (the brand).
needs would = insists that he must.
touch my breast - i.e. with the brand.

11. I, sick withal, the help of bath desired,

sick withal = ill as a result of this.
the help of bath desired = desired the help of the seething bath. The absence of a definite article suggests that it is the bath mentioned in line 7, as if he were saying 'I required the aid of the said bath'. Some have suggested that the spa at Bath is intended, which was known for its healing properties in Elizabethan times.

12. And thither hied, a sad distempered guest,

thither = to that place.
hied = hastened, sped.
sad = gloomy, depressed.
distempered = out of sorts, out of temper, diseased. The word is usually applied to mental state, but occasionally has a more bodily application. Compare:
Then you perceive the body of our kingdom
How foul it is; what rank diseases grow
And with what danger, near the heart of it.
WARWICK It is but as a body yet distempered;
Which to his former strength may be restored
With good advice and little medicine: 2H4.III.1.38-43.

13. But found no cure, the bath for my help lies

the bath for my help = the only bath which would help me.
lies = is to be found, is situated.

14. Where Cupid got new fire; my mistress' eyes.

Where Cupid got new fire - The idea that Cupid recharged himself, or discovered himself, in the body of the beloved, is common among the sonnet writers. Sidney describes how Cupid hoped to obtain fire from Stella:
At length he perched himself in Stella's joyful face,
Whose fair skin, beamy eyes, like morning sun on snow,
Deceived the quaking boy, who thought from so pure light
Effects of lively heat must needs in nature grow.
But she most fair, most cold, made him thence take his flight
To my close heart, where while some firebrands he did lay,
He burnt un'wares his wings, and cannot fly away. A&S.8

Samuel Daniel uses a similar idea to that used in this sonnet in 'The Complaint of Rosamond'.
..................................O myracle of loue,
That kindles fire in water, heate in teares, Ros.394-5.

1. The little Love-god lying once asleep,

The little Love-god = Cupid, who was usually depicted as a babe, or a young boy.

2. Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand,

Laid = had laid, having laid.
heart-inflaming brand = torch which inflames hearts with the passion of love.

3. Whilst many nymphs that vowed chaste life to keep

nymphs - in 153 they were maidens who accompanied Diana as she hunted wild animals. The same is probably intended here, especially as they had vowed to be chaste, one of the requirements of belonging to Diana's band. A nymph was strictly speaking a minor goddess who inhabited woodland and countryside.
chaste life to keep = to observe, to honour a vow of chastity.

4. Came tripping by; but in her maiden hand

Came tripping by = came past walking lightly, with carefree steps. Compare Milton's
Come and trip it as ye go,
On the light fantastic toe. Milton. L' Allegro.33-4.

5. The fairest votary took up that fire

votary = maiden who was dedicated (vowed) to a life of purity. A votary is one who has taken a vow to observe a religious or otherwise special style of life. Compare:
Who are the Votaries my loving Lords,
That are vow-fellowes with this vertuous Duke? LLL.II.1.37-8.
took up = picked up.
that fire = Cupid's torch.

6. Which many legions of true hearts had warmed;

many legions = many multitudes. 'Legions' was often used of angels or devils, meaning vast armies of the spirits of either region. The phrase 'their name is Legion' means 'they are innumerable'. The image is a military one, implying armies, a metaphor continued in the next line with 'General'.

7. And so the General of hot desire

general - Q gives a capital G which I have retained since it is a form of military title, General Cupid, or Generalissimo of Passion etc.
hot desire = erotic passion. The phrase could be taken as descriptive of the General, or part of his title, or it could be the object of disarmed in the next line, thus 'The General was disarmed of his weapon, hot desire, while he slept'.

8. Was, sleeping, by a virgin hand disarmed.

a virgin hand = the hand of a virgin votaress. A mild bawdy innuendo is probably intended, such as 'she slept beside him and laid his spirit'. (See note to 129 line 1).

9. This brand she quenched in a cool well by,

This brand = Cupid's torch.
well - see the note on fountain, line 4 of the previous sonnet.
by = nearby

10. Which from Love's fire took heat perpetual,

Which - i.e. the well, which became heated.
Love's fire = Cupid's brand; symbolically, the passion of love.
heat perpeual = everlasting heat. As in 153, A dateless lively heat, still to endure.

11. Growing a bath and healthful remedy,

Growing a bath = becoming a bath, being converted into a bath etc. As in 153, grew a seething bath.

12. For men diseased; but I, my mistress' thrall,

For men diseased = for men who have love sickness; for men who have syphilis.
my mistress' thrall = a slave to my mistress.

13. Came there for cure and this by that I prove,

there = to the bath, the well.
this by that I prove = my experience at the bath (this) shows that etc.
I prove = I demonstrate by experience.

14. Love's fire heats water, water cools not love.

Love's fire - see line 10.

1. Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws,

'Time devours all things' is a recorded proverb of the age. Here Time is shown destroying the fiercest as well as the mildest things.

2. And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;

The earth devours her own children in the sense that they all return to the dust and ashes of which they were made. In Greek mythology, Saturn, the old earth God, was supposed to have eaten all of his children as soon as they were born. (See the painting by Goya).

3. Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger's jaws,

Rotten teeth were a sign of age. Even the tiger, almost a fabulous animal in Shakespeare's time, was subject to decay. His fierceness was abated by the passage of time.

4. And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood;

The phoenix was a bird of legend, said to live for 500 years, at the end of which time it burnt itself on its own funeral pyre, from the ashes of which it would subsequently arise. It was thus a symbol of immortality.

5. Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleet'st,

Winter was a gloomy and miserable season. Spring and summer were happy, autumn also, but with a hint of the coming end, and of slightly ambiguous beauty. The adjective sorry is mostly used in Shakespeare in the phrase 'to be sorry'. The concordance lists it in 93 occurrences, but only in four other instances is it found in its purely adjectival use, as here.

Thither go these news, as fast as horse can carry them:
A sorry breakfast for my Lord Protector. 2H6.I.4.75-6.

.....the Duke himself in person
Comes this way to the melancholy vale,
The place of death and sorry execution,
Behind the ditches of the abbey here. CE.V.1.119-122

The meaning is evidently 'gloomy, such as would cause misery and sorrow'.
as thou fleet'st = as you swiftly pass by. OED 10c gives 'Of time: To pass rapidly and imperceptibly; to slip away'.

6. And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,

The poet no longer thinks he can hold back Time, and therefore rhetorically allows him (it) to do whatever he wishes.

7. To the wide world and all her fading sweets;

her fading sweets = beautiful things of the world which are doomed to fade and die.

8. But I forbid thee one most heinous crime:

One most heinous crime - the crime described in the following two lines.

9. O! carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow,

Note the open declaration of my love's fair brow, echoed in the final line My love shall in my verse etc. The youth is now unambiguously addressed as my love. The furrows, (lines and wrinkles, as in a ploughed field), made by time in love's fair brow, are symbolic of the ageing process.

10. Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen;

The use of draw here and carve in the line above almost imply that Time is a sculptor or artist. Perhaps this is a suggestion of duplicity on the part of Time - the only results of Time's artistry are death and destruction. antique pen - all of times artefacts, sickle, scythe, hourglass, clothing, could be described as antique, since they are as old as time itself. But the pen here, as well as being antique, also has the effect of making people antique. The word antique was indistinguishable from antic at the time, so it had the residual meaning of 'insane', hence the suggestion here could also be that Time's antique pen is furiously and insanely destructive. (See OED 'antique'- etym.).

11. Him in thy course untainted do allow

As you (Time) pass by on your course of destruction, leave him, the lovely youth, untouched and unharmed...

12. For beauty's pattern to succeeding men.

So that he remains as a template (pattern) from which future generations may know how beauty was constructed. The idea of a pattern or form or ideal by which material bodies were derived is Neo-Platonic.
succeeding men = people of future generations. to succeed is 'to follow on from'.

13. Yet, do thy worst old Time: despite thy wrong,

An abandonment of the prohibition made above. Time cannot be stopped, whatever we do. Therefore to succumb is the only remedy. Immortality may be sought in other ways.

14. My love shall in my verse ever live young.

Immortal youth can be achieved for my love (the young man) through my verse. My love could also refer to 'my love for him', which would remain therefore forever fresh and green. This latter meaning is perhaps the predominant one, since the youth's eventual decay is underscored by the description of time's swift foot in this and other sonnets.

Spring, from a 16th. Century tapestry.

1. A woman's face with nature's own hand painted,

Nature is depicted as the artist painting, or creating, the young man's face. The point being made is that the face is as beautiful as that of a woman, but better in that it has none of the defects associated with female beauty. Also implied is that the face is natural, not disfigured by cosmetics, giving it superiority over a female face, which was so often false and artificial.

2. Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion;

the master mistress - probably intended to be enigmatic, implying that the young man evokes the adoration and devotion which would be due to a mistress, but that he is also masterly in controlling his devotees. It could conceivably suggest that the young man was an androgynous type, having the sexual characteristics of male and female. Some therefore interpret it as meaning 'you, the object of my homosexual desire'. However the word passion does not usually in Shakespeare have the meaning of sexual desire or infatuation. Its more frequent use is that derived from Christ's passion on the cross, and it means suffering, or affliction. It can also mean mental derangement, or an attack of frenzy as a result of such. It was also used at the time to describe a heartfelt speech, and could be extended to cover the production of a series of sonnets, such as these. One could therefore paraphrase it as 'You, whose face was created by nature herself, inspire in me these deeply felt verses. You master my soul, but you also make me adore you as I would a mistress'.

3. A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted

272-3. Indeed one would be hard put to imagine Cordelia subjected to the vices of fickleness and duplicity here described. Heroines of the later plays also are unusually close to perfection - Hermione and Perdita in A Winter's Tale, Imogen in Cymbeline, and Miranda in The Tempest. This may indicate a relatively early date for this sonnet. On the other hand one may take this part of the sonnet as a comparatively conventional description of the worse side of female character, brought in to point up by contrast the excellence of the youth who is the inspiration of the sonnets.

but not acquainted can also mean 'not having a quaint', a slang word for cunt in Elizabethan times. See KDJ Sonn. p.150, n3-4. Reinforced by the secondary meaning of l.4. (See below).

4. With shifting change, as is false women's fashion:

Proverbial characterisation of women in general. With shifting change implies continually changing one's mind. Shakespeare would have known Virgil's comment Varium, et mutabile semper femina - A woman is ever a fickle and changeable thing. Aeneid IV.569. shifting change could also refer to changing of clothing, which women would require to do more often owing to menstruation. Hence the youth was even superior to them in that respect. (Cf. Sir, I would advise you to shift a shirt... If my shirt were bloody, then to shift it. Cymb I.2.1).

5. An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,

less false in rolling - the rolling eye was perhaps productive of the strange oeilliads and most speaking looks referred to in Lear, IV.5.25, where Regan is describing her sister's amorous advances to Edmund. It suggests flirtatiousness and duplicity.

6. Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth;

Gilding = giving a golden sheen to. Cf. Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy. XXXIII l.4. whereupon = upon which. The eye was thought to send out rays which touched the objects it saw.

7. A man in hue all hues in his controlling,

hue = appearance, aspect of the face; complexion, colour. (But see the note on hews, the Quarto spelling, in the Introduction above.) his can either be taken with man or with controlling. The general sense is that the youth is a man in appearance, embracing all manly features in himself; or that his appearance is so sublimely that of a man that all who surround him are dominated by him and take their cue (as to appearance, behaviour etc.) from him. A few commentators have seen in this line a reference to a man called Hughes, based on Q's italicisation of Hews, but there is no supporting evidence for this, other than the line's undoubted opacity. It may be that there is a meaning buried in it that was obvious to the original circle of readers, but it is unlikely that we will ever recover it. (See above).

8. Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth.

Which refers to hue, possibly also to A man in the previous line. steals = takes possession of, overwhelms. Similar to the sense of steal in to steal the scene.

9. And for a woman wert thou first created;

And you were first created as a woman. for = as.

10. Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting,

Nature, as she was making you, fell hopelessly in love with you.

11. And by addition me of thee defeated,

 There is a passage in Plato's Charmides which might have given rise to the humour of these lines. Chaerophon and the others are admiring Charmides, and praising him to Socrates. 'Then Chaerophon called me and said 'What do you think of the young man, Socrates? Has he not a handsome face?' 'Exceedingly so' I replied. 'But,' he said, 'if you were to unclothe him, he would appear to you to have no face at all; for his form and shape is so perfect'. The others all agreed with Chaerophon, and assured me of the same thing. So I said 'Good Heavens! you would declare him to be completely incomparable if there were one other thing, some small addition, which could by chance be made to him'. 'What is that?' said Critias. 'If his soul also were as well made as his body'. etc. (Charmides. 154D.) It is unlikely that Shakespeare looked at the original Greek, but in the circles in which he moved such passages might well have been discussed, and the general ambience of Plato's world of young men, with their older admirers, might not have been too far removed from that of the small coterie of men surrounding the beautiful youth of the sonnets. All Plato's works had been translated into Latin not later than 1499, by Marcilio Ficino of Florence. No doubt these translations would have been available in English libraries, to some of which Shakespeare and his circle would have had access.

by addition me of thee defeated = by the addition (of a penis) Nature deprived me of you. Nature, being female, would require the one she loved to be male.

12. By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.

By adding is tautological, since by addition occurs in the previous line. However it reads fairly easily, and perhaps emphasises the superfluous nature of the addition from the poet's viewpoint. one thing to my purpose nothing = one thing (a penis) which is irrelevant. The sense of this could be that he loves the youth as a man loves a woman, and therefore his love having a penis is nothing to the purpose, for he would prefer him to have a woman's body.

13. But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure,

she = Nature; prick'd thee out = made a mark on the tally sheet (that you were to be a man); gave you a prick. See 2H4III.2.152etc., where Falstaff enrols soldiers by 'pricking' them on his list. OED 17a. gives 1592 as the earliest recorded date of the use of prick = penis, recording it as coarse slang. But, as with all coarse terms, its use, though unrecorded, is probably much earlier.

14. Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure.

'The merely physical love of which you are capable may be set aside for women's use. But love substantive, that which the soul delights in, may be reserved for me.' There clearly is an opposition set up here between two aspects of love, aided by the use of puns and references to genitalia, and the fact that one can love even though deprived of the enjoyment of the latter.

1. My glass shall not persuade me I am old,

My glass = my mirror. The mirror reflecting back an ageing face should tell the person who looks into it that he is old, as in 62, quoted below. Looking glasses are mentioned in the following sonnets: Look in thy glass and tell the face thou viewest 3; My glass shall not persuade me I am old, 22; But when my glass shows me myself indeed,/ Beated and chopp'd with tann'd antiquity, 62; Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear, 77; Look in your glass, and there appears a face/ That over-goes my blunt invention quite, 103; I have not included double references where the word occurs twice in a single sonnet. glass in 5 refers to a glass vial. In 126 I believe it refers to an hour glass.

2. So long as youth and thou are of one date;

are of one date = are both of the same age. youth here must be construed as an abstraction which remains permanently youthful. Each person for a short time is of the same age as youth, until he/she grows on, leaving youth behind.

3. But when in thee time's furrows I behold,

time's furrows = the wrinkles which time creates in the forehead as one ages. They are like the parallel lines or furrows created by the plough in a ploughed field. Cf. 63:
When hours have drain'd his blood and fill'd his brow
With lines and wrinkles
Compare also
O, carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow,
Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen; 19

4. Then look I death my days should expiate.

Then look I = Then I anticipate that.
should expiate = will bring to an end, to the time when it expires. expiate can also have the meaning of redeem, or do penance for sins. It probably has that secondary meaning here, in the sense of paying one's debt 'to time and mortal custom'.

5. For all that beauty that doth cover thee,

All your beauty. It covers him in the sense that he is entirely beautiful. Or as clothing covers the body. Hence it becomes the raiment of the next line.

6. Is but the seemly raiment of my heart,

seemly raiment = decorous garments, clothing, adornment.
Seemly = suitable, restrained, decorous, in that nothing appertaining to the youth is unfitting.

7. Which in thy breast doth live, as thine in me:

Which - the antecedent is my heart, with a backward look at seemly raiment and all that beauty.
as thine in me = as your heart lives in my breast. Although by now I think it becomes unclear (intentionally so) as to the whereabouts of either's heart or breast.

8. How can I then be elder than thou art?

elder = older. Or perhaps an elder person.

9. O! therefore, love, be of thyself so wary

be of thyself so wary = treat yourself with the like care and concern as I etc.

10. As I, not for myself, but for thee will;

The intermingling of hearts and minds continues. for thee will = will look after myself, for you, since I and you are one.

11. Bearing thy heart, which I will keep so chary

which I will keep so chary = which I will treat with as much care and caution (fearing lest I hurt or damage it). chary is used adverbially. OED.8. gives, alongside this example, one from Marlowe:
Thanks, Mephistophilis, for this sweet book, This will I keep as chary as my life. Faust.vi.175.

12. As tender nurse her babe from faring ill.

This comparison defines wary and chary above.
faring ill = coming to harm. As in the parallel contrary expression to fare well, meaning to come to no harm, which became so common as to be used as a formula at parting.

13. Presume not on thy heart when mine is slain,

Do not assume that when my heart dies, yours will survive. In slain there is a suggestion of the harm that a lover can do.

Kill me with spites, yet we must not be foes. 40
Use power with power, and slay me not by art,139.

14. Thou gav'st me thine not to give back again.

This anticipates 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments,
and other sonnets. The giving of love is not a conditional gift.

1. As an unperfect actor on the stage,

unperfect = not knowing his lines perfectly, inadequately rehearsed. Perhaps also a poor actor.

2. Who with his fear is put beside his part,

with his fear = out of fear; accompanied by fear.
put beside his part = distracted so that he does not remember his part. To be beside oneself is to be in a state of mental turmoil.

3. Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,

some fierce thing = some wild animal;
replete with too much rage = being overfull of rage.

4. Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;

The excess of rage gives the wild animal an abundance of strength, but it lacks control or direction, so that effectively it weakens the animal. The image is that of futility in defence.
heart = courage, determination.

5. So I, for fear of trust, forget to say

for fear of trust = fearing to trust myself, or, afraid of the trust you have placed in me.

6. The perfect ceremony of love's rite,

perfect - echoes unperfect from l.1.
ceremony of love's rite = the celebration of our love with typical interchange of loving words. There is of course more than a hint here of the marriage ceremony and its declarations. Possibly also a hint of sexual hesitancy, traditional between new lovers, even though the focus is on the inability to speak. Q gives the spelling right, adding the suggestion of marital rights or rites. There could be a humorous side to this confession.

7. And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,

The comparison with the over-angry beast continues. Possibly also a reference to impotence.

8. O'ercharged with burthen of mine own love's might.

O'ercharged with = overladen with; to charge an animal (a pack horse for example) is to load it.
burthen = burden. An alternative spelling.
mine own love's might = the violence, power, strength of my love. Alternatively, it could be read as a reference to the domineering (sexual?) power of his lover, if one takes mine own love as the youth, rather than as 'the love I have for you'.

9. O! let my looks be then the eloquence

looks - Q gives books, which is retained by many editors. See GBE p.136.n.9 for arguments contra Q's reading. It is not decisive either way, but I find this reading slightly more emotive than the more bookish books. The fact that looks can plead more eloquently than the glib tongue of line 12 is more in tune with the spirit of the sonnets than to suggest that those same sonnets, which elsewhere the poet denigrates, and humbly confesses that they cannot match the rhetoric of those 'happier men', should here suddenly be elevated and declared superior to them. Not only that but they appear also to have achieved the status of published works. Lovers are noted for their exchanging of looks.

10. And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,

presagers = prophets, seers. Possibly portents. The contrast is set up between dumb and speaking. Note that the speaking breast actually says nothing, for it is tongue-tied. although it wishes to speak. It is therefore as dumb as the presagers. Probably the modern expression 'dumb blonde', with its connotations of sexuality, links back to this older tradition of being tongue-tied in love.

11. Who plead for love, and look for recompense,

Who = which. The antecedent is my looks l.9, or dumb presagers.

look for recompense - loving looks expect the reciprocation of a look in response.

12. More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.

The dumb presagers expect more in return than the speaker (tongue) who has eloquently expressed the fulness of his love. The repetition of more perhaps helps to lodge in us a suspicion that such expressions of love are too easily come by, too readily enriched to be believed, and that they must somehow be false and treacherous. The line also suggests, by its boldness, that the poet who wrote it, the one who speaks silently these lines (with his looks or books) is far more worthy, a far better poet, far more impassioned in his love than those glib tonguesters who so readily have everything to hand. It is tempting to look for an individual in this line, rather than an army of poets, or rivals in love. It is unlikely that we will ever know what could have given rise to it. Was it a situation in which one of the circle of friends played the game of love with ease and sophistication, where the others stumbled? Or is the reference to a poet, such as the ones alluded to in 78-86, who have more facility in verse than Shakespeare, or who are more highly regarded? Or perhaps the whole thing is a clever fiction designed to throw us off the scent. I am inclined to accept a more literal meaning of this line, and to see in it a direct reference to someone in the group who enjoyed the young man's favour, perhaps his love. But it must be admitted that in the nature of things, the details of such a link are never likely to be uncovered by us, however diligently we search.

13. O! learn to read what silent love hath writ:

Learn to read my looks, which are silently expressive of my love, and write with their thoughts volumes for you to read.

14. To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.

To hear with eyes = to hear with your eyes what my heart is silently speaking;
belongs to = is a characteristic of. Cupid was traditionally blind but he could compensate for blindness by hearing with his eyes.

1. Let those who are in favour with their stars

To be in favour with one's stars = to enjoy success and good fortune. There was a widespread belief in the influence of the stars on human fortunes. Nevertheless others preferrred a more humanist and rational approach. Compare for example Cassius' words to Brutus in Julius Caesar:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves that we are underlings. JC.I.2.140-1.

2. Of public honour and proud titles boast,

proud titles = titles which engender pride in the holders; aristocratic titles; high government posts.
boast = exult in, derive glory from.

3. Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars

triumph is equivalent to glory, and has a military connotation, derived from Roman triumphal processions led by successful generals in the Republican era of Rome. There is presumably also a suggestion that humble birth bars the poet from taking on high public office. See also 111.

4. Unlook'd for joy in that I honour most.

Unlook'd for = unseen, unnoticed; In contrast to those in the public eye; perhaps also unexpectedly;
joy in = take delight in, enjoy;
that I honour most = that to which I attach most value and respect, viz my love for you.

5. Great princes' favourites their fair leaves spread

Great princes - the reference is to potentates in general, ancient and modern, male and female. The fate of the favourites of such was proverbial - they were all subject to the wheel of fortune. Here Shakespeare describes them as flowers enjoying a few brief days of sunshine. A few years later he wrote of Wolsey's downfall under Henry VIII. (See the full text below). There are a number of verbal parallels between it and this sonnet.

6. But as the marigold at the sun's eye,

As if they were marigolds in the sunlight. The sun's eye is the sun itself, but of course with a glance at kingly authority. Cf.: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines 18.5 and 7.1-8.

7. And in themselves their pride lies buried,

pride = glory, vanity. The marigold, which was thought of as an ephemeral flower, lives only for itself, just as prince's favourites do. Hence their pride is buried within them.

8. For at a frown they in their glory die.

A frown from a prince could mean the end of all honour and preferment. Compare the song from Cymbeline:
Fear no more the frown o' the great,
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke... Cym.IV.2.265-6.

9. The painful warrior famoused for fight,

painful = subject to pain, bruised, wounded.
famoused = famous, renowned; made famous.
fight: Q gives worth which some editors retain. If the rhyme scheme is to be maintained there is a misprint, either here or in line11.

10. After a thousand victories once foiled,

A thousand victories seems unlikely in modern warfare. Ajax and other Greek and Trojan warriors might have boasted of as many. It probably just stands here for a large number.

11. Is from the book of honour razed quite,

razed quite = completely erased, obliterated. With a suggestion of total destruction, as in razing a city to the ground. The book of honour is a metaphor which encompasses all those who throughout history have earned fame for brave deeds and accomplishments in war, their names therefore being recorded in the halls of fame.

12. And all the rest forgot for which he toiled:

forgot = forgotten.

13. Then happy I, that love and am beloved,

The contrast is between the fortunate poet, who loves and is beloved (the mutual status of their love is here stated in an unadorned manner for the first time), and the prince's favourite whose life depends on fortune's wheel.

14.   Where I may not remove nor be removed.

From where I may not absent myself, or be removed by others. An echo of the more famous:

..............Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove: 116

1. When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes

To be in disgrace with fortune is presumably to be not favoured by her (taking fortune to be the goddess of 111).
O! for my sake do you with Fortune chide,
The guilty goddess of my harmful deeds,
That did not better for my life provide
Than public means which public manners breeds.
Disgrace is a term which would more usually be applied to a demotion or removal from office. Or to a final humiliation and loss of status. Antony on being defeated by Augustus envisages
The inevitable prosecution of
Disgrace and horror, AC.IV.13.65-6.
In this sonnet the word seems to relate more to a failure to achieve status in the first instance, rather than to a subsequent deprivation.

To be in disgrace (in) men's eyes - this possibly refers to some form of public disapprobation, either real or imaginary. What the disgrace was we cannot say. It could be the mere fact of being associated with the theatre, which by many preachers of the day, and by all Puritans, was considered to be a great den of iniquity and a source of many evils. See the passage at the bottom of this page illustrative of Puritan distrust.

2. I all alone beweep my outcast state,

beweep = weep for, bewail; Like bewail and beseem, the word has an archaic and biblical flavour.
my outcast state = my condition of being a social outcast. The condition is probably exaggerated for the sake of effect, and to emphahsise that the speaker sees everything in a gloomy light. Fortune has turned against him and he feels that he does not belong any more to society.

3. And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,

deaf heaven - Heaven (God) turns a deaf ear to his complaints and laments. The parallel is drawn with Job in the Old Testament, who was cast out on a dung heap and bewept his mournful state.
bootless = to no avail, achieving nothing.

4. And look upon myself, and curse my fate,

And look upon myself - as the outcast contemplates his own fallen state.
curse my fate - another echo from the Book of Job in the Bible:
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. And Job spake and said: Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, 'There is a man child conceived'. Let that day be darkness, let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. etc. Job.III.1-4.

5. Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,

Wishing myself to be like one who is more richly endowed with all manner of blessings, including wealth.

6. Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,

Featured like him, like him = with features like this person, like this second person having friends, like this third, desiring his skills (line 7) etc.

7. Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,

this man's art = the skill that one particular person has; that man's scope = the capability, range, mental ability that another particular person has.

8. With what I most enjoy contented least;

It is unspecified what he most enjoys, but evidently, in his despondency, things which ought to give him enjoyment do not do so. The implication is that he no longer enjoys the love of his beloved, although that idea is countermanded by the final couplet.

9. Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,

in these thoughts = while I am engaged in these thoughts
myself almost despising - and almost considering myself to be despicable for being so cast down.

10. Haply I think on thee, and then my state,

Haply = by chance, by a happy stroke of luck;
my state = my mental state, with a suggestion also that his fortune, or the state of affairs in which he finds himself, improves.

11. Like to the lark at break of day arising

There is an echo of this in Cym.II.iii.20-1
Hark! hark the lark at heaven's gate sings,
And Phoebus 'gins arise...

12. From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;

sullen = gloomy, dark, miserable;
From sullen earth - the phrase may be taken both with this and with the preceding line. The lark rises from sullen earth, and it also sings hymns which rise up from the earth to the gate of heaven, or, as it sings, it rises from earth towards heaven.
sings - the subject is the lark, but also the poet's soul, which has been liberated by his thinking of his beloved.

13. For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings

thy sweet love remembered = when I have called to mind your love, when your sweet love springs up again in my memory.

14. That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Although the primary meaning is that 'I am happier than a king could be, and therefore have no wish to swap places with him' there is a hint of the political meaning of state, i.e. nation state, as in 64:
When I have seen such interchange of state,
Or state itself confounded to decay;
Hence, 'even though I were to have a kingdom, I would not exchange it for the the happiness of knowing you'.

 

1. Thy bosom is endeared with all hearts,

Thy bosom = Your heart. The seat of emotions was variously considered to be the heart, breast, bosom. Mind was usually reserved for intellectual concerns, and the liver was sometimes thought to be the seat of passion.
endeared = made dear, made precious; is dear to, is loved by all hearts.

2. Which I by lacking have supposed dead;

by lacking = since I no longer have them. The idea is that these former friends and loves, are effectively, or in reality, dead, since he no longer sees them or has contact with them.

3. And there reigns Love, and all Love's loving parts,

Love - Cupid, the god of love (or Eros). Q gives a capital L for the two loves of this line, though it is not retained by all editors. The meaning of 'love in the abstract', and 'my love for you' is also probably intended. all Love's loving parts = all the attributes of love, all the things love shares in. If this line were included in the procreation sonnets, I think we would be compelled to assume a sexual meaning in addition to the more prosaic one. I cannot claim that I really know what is intended by this phrase, and the glosses of 'aspects, attributes, qualities etc.' which GBE, KDJ and JK give all seem rather anodyne. The attributes of Love as Cupid are blindness, softness of limbs, charm, fickleness, innocence, desire, passion, sportiveness, as well as the traditional bow, quiver and arrows. Love as Venus has more serious qualities, but often devastating, where passion overspills the boundaries of mere human control. (See Euripides' Hippolytus for the classic example). So it becomes difficult entirely to dispel the suggestion that Love's loving parts refers, obliquely at least, to physical love and genitalia. It is only because of the tone of the remainder of the sonnet, I think, that we bury this suggestion, as it treats of dear religious love, holy and obsequious tears, the grave of buried love, and it would be sacriligeous to bring such matters of bodily parts into the sanctity of the temple. Yet the phrase occurs again in l.11, and we find ourselves asking 'What is it that the poet is trying to say to the young man, or to us, the readers?' I think that there is a slightly cheeky suggestion which deliberately undermines the seriousness of the sonnet, implying that 'You have indeed all my love, all love past and present, and all parts of it besides, so beware, for you might not know what all those parts really are, and you might get more than you bargained for'. Shakespeare does sometimes use the word with the meaning 'private parts', as in the following:
HAM. Then you live about her waist, or in the middle of her favours?
GUILD. Faith, her privates we.
HAM. In the secret parts of Fortune? O most true! She is a strumpet. Ham II.2.238-9.
None our parts so poor, but was a race of heaven. AC.I.3.36-7.
As also in some of the comedies.

4. And all those friends which I thought buried.

which = whom; buried - this has the fianl -ed pronounced, as do endeared and supposed.

5. How many a holy and obsequious tear

holy and obsequious tear = a tear shed in prayers and devotions, or at the funeral rites (obsequies).

6. Hath dear religious love stol'n from mine eye,

dear religious love = love which is precious, and scrupulous in its observance of duty.
stolen - the idea of theft may arise from the thought that the tears are involuntary, therefore love has caused them to flow without the owner's consent. Or it may be that the tears are stolen as being obtained on false pretences, since all those friends for whom tears were shed continue to live hidden in thee.

7. As interest of the dead, which now appear

interest of the dead = interest payable to the dead. Sorrow is owed to precious friends who are dead. This sorrow is the capital, on which interest is payable in the form of tears.

8. But things removed that hidden in thee lie!

But = only, merely;
things = all those friends from line 4 above. things in Shakespeare's day did not only refer to inanimate objects.
removed = that have moved away.

9. Thou art the grave where buried love doth live,

grave = grave and monument. The familiarity with graves, headstones, tombs, and monuments which widespread mortality ensured for most of the population would have made this almost a commonplace image, and not as gloomy as we tend to think it.

10. Hung with the trophies of my lovers gone,

Graves of the nobility would be decked with banners of their coats of arms, and other paraphernalia commemorating their exploits. See the illustration below.
trophies might have a sexual connotation, (my conquests), as it frequently does in Horace. There seems also to be a link to A Lover's Complaint l.218,where the youth is talking of past conquests: 

'Lo! all these trophies of affections hot,
Of pensived and subdued desires the tender,
Nature hath charged me that I hoard them not,
But yield them up where I myself must render,
That is, to you, my origin and ender:
For these, of force, must your oblations be,
Since I their altar, you enpatron me.   LC 218-224. 

See the introductory note above.

11. Who all their parts of me to thee did give,

See the note to line 3 above.

12. That due of many now is thine alone:

So that that love which is (and was) due to many, now belongs only to you.

13. Their images I loved, I view in thee,

Their images I loved = The images of them, which I loved.

14. And thou (all they) hast all the all of me.

And thou (all they) = and you, who have become all of my former lovers in one;  hast all the all of me = have every part of me that is inmost and precious. GBE quotes for comparison Robert Chester, Love's Martyr (1601), p.147:  Thou art that All-in-all that I love best. Compare also For thou art all, and all things else are thine.   LC 266.  This sonnet has many close links with the seductive arguments advanced by the youth in A Lover's Complaint. 

 

1. If thou survive my well-contented day,

well-contented day - the day of my death. Uncertain meaning. It could imply 'fully paid up', referring to death as the act of settling one's accounts with Nature. Or perhaps well-contented in that I have enjoyed your love.

2. When that churl Death my bones with dust shall cover

that churl Death - Death is depicted by Shakespeare as boorish and brutish because he destroys what is beautiful, like an ignoramus wrecking a fine palace. A churl was a boorish ignorant fellow...
A churl's courtesy rarely comes, but either for gain or falsehood. Sidney.
my bones with dust shall cover - an echo perhaps from the funeral service - 'ashes to ashes, dust to dust'. Bones and charnel houses were the standard accompaniment to depictions of death at the time.

3. And shalt by fortune once more re-survey

by fortune = by chance, perhaps;

4. These poor rude lines of thy deceased lover,

poor rude lines = inadequate, crude lines of verse. The tradition of the lover belittling himself before the beloved was a long one in the history of sonneteering.
lover was used often in today's sense of 'friend', but in a sequence of love sonnets it clearly means 'he who adores you'. Sidney for example refers to himself as Stella's lover, or as one who belongs to the traditional class of those, like Petrarch, who were passionately devoted to a chosen woman:
Dumb swans, not chatt'ring pies, do lovers prove;
They love indeed, who quake to say they love. A&S.54.
It does not follow that their love was physically consummated. In fact, if Petrarch and the other sonneteeers are to be believed, this never happened, and the most Sidney achieved was a stolen kiss from Stella on an occasion when she was asleep.

5. Compare them with the bett'ring of the time,

Compare them = compare my verses;
the bettering of the time = the improved literary skills of the time.

6. And though they be outstripped by every pen,

outstripped by every pen = outclassed by every poet then living;
pen = author, one who writes.

7. Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme,

Reserve = preserve, keep, store, set aside;
not for their rhyme = not for their poetic quality.

8. Exceeded by the height of happier men.

Exceeded = surpassed.
the height of happier men = the lofty achievements of men who are more fortunate than I, and more blessed in their versifying abilities.

9. O! then vouchsafe me but this loving thought:

vouchsafe me = grant me, be so kind as to permit me to have. Vouchsafe is a word much used in the bible and Book of Common Prayer, and it is suggestive of prayer, humility, and a respectful attitude to things divine.

10. 'Had my friend's Muse grown with this growing age,

Muse = poetic gift, inspiration;
this growing age = the present time, which is continually growing, therefore improving.

11. A dearer birth than this his love had brought,

A dearer birth = a more valuable, more precious output, creation, child. Poems were considered to be the poet's children.

12. To march in ranks of better equipage:

The image is a military one, equipage being the equipment and furnishings of a military unit. We can take birth, Muse or friend to be the subject of to march. Hence 'My friend, or his verse, could well have grown more worthy, so as to march in column with a more richly armoured and bedecked company (of soldiers, of rhymes)'.

13. But since he died and poets better prove,

poets better prove = poets have emerged who are better than he was. Poets nowadays turn out to be better.

14. Theirs for their style I'll read, his for his love'.

I will read their poetry for its excellent style, but his (your's) I'll read because of its expressions of love for me, and the love it contains.

1. How can my muse want subject to invent,

my muse = my poetic gifts, my inspiration. The nine Muses were goddesses of poetry in ancient Greece, each one dedicated to a specific branch of the art. The term is often used to imply that each poet has a personal Muse who looks after him/her.
want subject to invent = lack material for writing, show barrenness of inspiration.

2. While thou dost breathe, that pour'st into my verse

While thou dost breathe = while you are alive. To breathe and to inspire have approximately the same meaning, the latter being a Latinate word. (See OED.1. for inspire). It is basedon the Latin inspirare meaning to breathe upon or into. Hence the youth, while breathing, also breathes inspiration into the poet.

3. Thine own sweet argument, too excellent

Thine own sweet argument = thyself. argument is equivalent to 'subject' or 'theme'. We could therefore paraphrase 2-3 as 'While you are alive, who pour yourself as subject matter into my my verse.
too excellent - the suggestion is that the youth is too superior, too lofty to be the general subject of common writing.

4. For every vulgar paper to rehearse?

vulgar paper = common and cheap piece of writing. vulgar is derived from the Latin vulgus - the masses, the multitude, the crowd. With a somewhat pejorative flavour, and it retained much of that meaning in Shakespeare's day. One is reminded of a modern description of one of the 'royals' by someone attached to the aristocracy who rather disliked her - 'Vulgar, vulgar, vulgar. A vulgarian.'
paper stands for the writing which is on it. Similar to modern usage, as when a speaker delivers 'a paper' at a conference.
rehearse = repeat, go over (as one would do at a rehearsal).

5. O! give thy self the thanks, if aught in me

aught = anything (written by me).

6. Worthy perusal stand against thy sight;

Worthy perusal = that is worth looking at, or reading.
stand against thy sight = is strong enough, or worthy enough to be looked at by you. The conflation of idioms such as 'stand up to', 'stand in front of' (i.e. obscure), 'stand against an opponent', helps to contrast the poet's unworthiness and the youth's excellence, at the same time preventing us from believing absolutely in either.

7. For who's so dumb that cannot write to thee,

This is perhaps an echo of No. 46 of the series of the 'Delia' sonnets, by Samuel Daniel, published in 1592.
But I must sing of thee and those faire eyes,
Autentique shall my verse in time to come,
When yet th'vnborne shall say, loe where she lyes,
Whose beautie made him speake that els was dombe.
See the full text of Delia

dumb - dual meaning, as in the modern sense of 'unable to speak', or 'thick, unintelligent'.

8. When thou thy self dost give invention light?

invention = creativity. As in line1 above.
to give light to = to inspire, to lead the way.

9. Be thou the tenth Muse, ten times more in worth

It is interesting to see that Shakespeare has contrived to have the tenth Muse on line 9, (as if the youth were equivalent to all the previous nine), and the old nine he relegates to line 10, where they are out of place and useless.

10. Than those old nine which rhymers invocate;

those old nine = the Nine Muses of old. See the note above to line 1.
invocate = call upon. It was traditional for poets to invoke the Muses at the start of the poem. E.g. Homer at the start of The Iliad - "Sing, Oh Muse, of the wrath of Achilles'. I suspect that rhymers has a pejorative flavour to it. As in Ant & Cleo:
Nay, 'tis most certain, Iras: saucy lictors
Will catch at us, like strumpets; and scald rhymers
Ballad us out o' tune. AC.V.2.213-5.

11. And he that calls on thee, let him bring forth

calls on - Shakespeare converts invocate to its Anglo-Saxon equivalent, as if suggesting that the ancient language of the Muses is no longer necessary.
bring forth = create, write. Poems were the poet's children, hence the metaphor of child birth.

12. Eternal numbers to outlive long date.

numbers = verses.
to outlive long date = to last forever. (Literally - to live longer than a far distant (long) date.)

13. If my slight muse do please these curious days,

slight muse - powers of invention which are of no great significance.
curious = inquisitive, finicky, strange. A slight awkwardness arises from the sudden diminution of the muse, which in line 9 was to be the tenth Muse to replace all the previous nine, but now has become a slight thing barely able to raise interest from the 'curious age'. The reason is probably the need felt by the poet to emphasise in the final couplet his paucity of worth in comparison with that of the beloved.
curious = finicky, enquiring too closely into things.

14. The pain be mine, but thine shall be the praise.

the pain - the pain and labour of poetic creation.
the praise = the praise that accrues because of any worth in my poetry.

1. When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,

When most I wink = when my eyes are most shut, i.e. at night, when I sleep. wink also has the meaning of feign not to see, or to connive at, as in Mac.I.4.52-3:
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.

2. For all the day they view things unrespected;

unrespected = unregarded, unnoticed; not held in respect or regard. (OED 1,2.) which gives examples from Sidney, Griffin and Daniel.

3. But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,

they = my eyes.

4. And darkly bright, are bright in dark directed.

The subject is still mine eyes from line 1. The eyes were thought to emit rays which enabled them to see.  darkly bright = shining brightly in the darkness, shining secretly. OED quotes AW.iv. iii. 13, I will tell you a thing, but you shall let it dwell darkly with you.
bright in dark directed = send out their bright beams into the darkness.

5. Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,

Then you, whose shadow alone is sufficient to illuminate the shadowy form of others.

6. How would thy shadow's form form happy show

thy shadow's form = your substance, your reality, the form or essence of you from which the unreal, shadowy you is derived. The contrast is between shadow and substance, which in neo-Platonic doctrine corresponded roughly to the distinction between body and soul.
form form - the first form is a noun, the second a verb. Thus 'How wondrously would your form, the real you, from which your shadow is derived, how wondrously would it create (form) a blessed display (of you and of the world around you)'.

7. To the clear day with thy much clearer light,

with thy much clearer light - in contrast to the dullness of all the shadowy lifeless things surrounding you, your clear light would outshine the day.

8. When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so!

Since your shade (shadow) shines so, for that is what my eyes create when they see you in sleep. How much more brilliant would be the real you (could I but possess it).

9. How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made

The argument is re-stated, but with emphasis now on the poet himself, rather than those other shades (the rest of the world) who might be illuminated by the youth's presence.

10. By looking on thee in the living day,

In contrast to seeing you in my dreams at night.

11. When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade

thy fair imperfect shade = the dream image that I see, which is an imperfect representation of your form.

12. Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay!

on sightless eyes - even though my eyes are sightless, (owing to the darkness and because I am asleep).

13. All days are nights to see till I see thee,

The couplet reiterates the contrast between day and night, brightness and darkness, shadow and form.
are nights to see = appear to be nights, look like nights. The repetition of the related words see, unseeing, sightless, view, look is an important element of the poem.

14. And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.

show thee me - can mean either 'show you to me' or 'show me to you', the latter perhaps being read as a supressed wish.

1. If the dull substance of my flesh were thought,

If my body were made of thought (rather than heavy substances). Thought is here a noun.

2. Injurious distance should not stop my way;

Injurious (harmful) because it keeps him from his beloved.
should not stop my way = would not bar my path, would not prevent my journeying.

3. For then despite of space I would be brought,

despite = in spite of, to spite.
space = distance, separation.
I would be brought = I would be able to travel, to come. (If I wished it) I could be brought.

4. From limits far remote, where thou dost stay.

From places far off, to where you are at present.
where thou dost stay = where your present abode is.

5. No matter then although my foot did stand

It would not matter that my foot might be standing etc.

6. Upon the farthest earth removed from thee;

earth = land, country, ground, part of the earth.
removed form thee = distant from you.

7. For nimble thought can jump both sea and land

The imagery of thought jumping nimbly from place to place, travelling faster than any traveller, goes back to Homer.

8. As soon as think the place where he would be.

he = it. This refers back to thought in the previous line.
where he would be = in the place where thought wishes itself to be.

9. But ah! thought kills me that I am not thought,

The fact that I am dull substance, and not thought, is enough to kill me with despair, for thought could leap etc.

10. To leap large lengths of miles when thou art gone,

leap large lenths... miles - the repetition of the l sound and the word stress gives the impression of taking enormous strides over vast areas of country.

11. But that, so much of earth and water wrought,

But, on the contrary, (the fact) that my body is largely composed of earth and water. wrought = made out of.

12. I must attend time's leisure with my moan,

I am at the mercy of (must attend) time's whims, which causes me anguish. The image is of a servant attending an imperious master.

13. Receiving nought by elements so slow

13-14. The earth and water which make up my body do not benefit me at all. I receive nothing (naught) from them. They only produce tears, which are emblematic (badges) of the sorrow we both (either) feel as a result of our separation.

14. But heavy tears, badges of either's woe.

See note above.
heavy = solid and material, like the dull substance of my flesh. Causing the heaviness of sorrow.

1. The other two, slight air and purging fire,

The other two elements of the four (fire, air, earth, water).
slight = flimsy, insubstantial.
purging = cleansing. Fire cleans by destroying, and also by burning up anything noxious.

2. Are both with thee, wherever I abide;

wherever I abide = wherever I am

3. The first my thought, the other my desire,

The first - the first element, air, corresponds to (or is) my thoughts.
the other - Fire, which is equivalent to my desire.

4. These present-absent with swift motion slide.

They (air and fire) are both present and absent because they reside with my beloved and yet are in me also.

5. For when these quicker elements are gone

quicker = livelier, more full of life, more swift moving. Earth and water were the heavier, hence slower, elements.

6. In tender embassy of love to thee,

Bringing tender messages of love to you. The image is that of an ambassador taking a message from one monarch to another. Ambassadors were often used on embassies of love, for example Eric the King of Sweden kept up a courtship with Elizabeth across the waters for many years, through a series of ambassadors, although he never managed to meet her. Other candidates did the same. Apparently in 1559 there were ten or twelve ambassadors at Court seeking Elizabeth's hand on behalf of foreign princes.

7. My life, being made of four, with two alone

with two alone - i.e the remaining two, earth and water.

8. Sinks down to death, oppressed with melancholy;

oppress'd with melancholy = overcome with despondency. melancholy was a medical term, meaning an excess of black bile, as a result of which the patient was sullen and gloomy. (OED.1.)

9. Until life's composition be recured

Until the material substances which make up my life regain health. recured = cured, brought back to health.

10. By those swift messengers return'd from thee,

By the return of thought and desire (air and fire). See note to line 6.

11. Who even but now come back again, assured

Who = which. Referring to the two elements, which have acted as messengers.
even but now = at this very moment. Compare from Othello:
Even now, now, very now, an old black ram
Is tupping your white ewe. OTH.I.1.89-90.

12. Of thy fair health, recounting it to me:

assured / Of thy fair health = confident that you are in good health; who have sure knowledge of your good health.
recounting it to me = giving me an account of it, telling me of it.

13. This told, I joy; but then no longer glad,

This told = the account having been given to me. I joy = I rejoice.
but then no longer glad = but immediately after when I am no longer gladdened by them; immediately after I become despondent again.

14. I send them back again and straight grow sad.

 straight = straightaway, immediately.
grow sad - grow sad both as a result of your absence and the departure of the messengers once again, fire and air, the absence of which allows me to sink down to death. (Line 8).

1. Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war,

a mortal war = a fight to the death, a destructive war. divide in the next line suggests that it is a fight over a piece of land, the spoils to be divided.

2. How to divide the conquest of thy sight;

conquest - OED 4 gives: That which is acquired by force of arms; a possession or acquisition made in war; a conquered country, etc.: now restricted to territorial acquisitions, formerly also including booty.
Wherefore rejoice? What Conquest brings he home?
What Tributaries follow him to Rome? JC.I. i. 37-8.
Here the conquest acquired is the right to enjoy the sight of the beloved.

3. Mine eye my heart thy picture's sight would bar,

My eye seeks to prevent my heart from enjoying the sight of you.  thy picture = the image of you which my eye captures. In the context of the remaining lines of the sonnet, bar probably is used predominantly in its legal sense of 'to stay or arrest (an action); to exclude or prevent the advancement of (a plea, claim, right.)' OED 5.b.
A Will, that barres the title of thy sonne. John.II.1.192

4. My heart mine eye the freedom of that right.

My heart (which also holds your picture in its memory) disputes whether my eye has the right to look at it. Here bars, or would bar is understood. The heart seeks to bar the eye the right to look. The seat of love was the heart, and therefore the beloved dwelt there, rather than in the eye. This gives to the heart the right of freehold possession. (See the next line).

5. My heart doth plead that thou in him dost lie,

The legal terminology continues. The heart pleads, as in a court of law.

6. A closet never pierced with crystal eyes,

closet = a small private room, often used for prayers; a chest for storing valuables.
crystal eyes - a similar phrase is used by Shakespeare in LLL and TGV and VA.
Ay me! says one; O Jove! the other cries;
One, her hairs were gold, crystal the other's eyes LLL.IV.3.137-8.

This is the gentleman I told your ladyship
Had come along with me, but that his mistress
Did hold his eyes lock'd in her crystal looks. TGV.II.4.84-5.

Her eye seen in the tears, tears in her eye;
Both crystals, where they viewed each other's sorrow - VA.963-4.

Other sonneteers used the metaphor, which seems to have been part of the furniture of adornment given to eyes. Thus William Smith in his sonnets to Chloris (1596):
That day wherein mine eyes cannot her see,
Which is the essence of their crystal sight Sonn. 38.

'Crystal' is used as a synonym for eyes. The connection presumably is with the transparency of sight (figuratively) and of tears, as also of the eyeball itself, which could be gazed into as if it were a crystal.

7. But the defendant doth that plea deny,

the defendant = the eye. The appellant makes the claim that the eye has no claim over the image of the beloved. The defendant denies this claim, and puts forward a counter claim in the following line.

8. And says in him thy fair appearance lies.

When lovers 'look babies' in each other's eyes, the image of each in miniature appears in the other's eye. Hence the eye of the poet could claim that the image of the youth lay within him.

9. To 'cide this title is impannelled

to 'cide = to decide, to settle. This is an emendation of Q's side which is not universally adopted.
title = claim to a title, right of possession.
impanelled - from impanel, or empanel: to enrol or set up a body of jurors.OED. Compare:
A Jurie was impaneld streight. 1596 Spenser. F.Q.VI.vii. 34

10. A quest of thoughts, all tenants to the heart;

a quest = a body of jurors as for an inquest;  all tenants to the heart - As SB points out (p.209, n.10) this is very much a packed jury, since the eyes have no representatives. The eyes were not capable of thought and the decision had to be made for them. However one need not press the legal analogy too closely, especially as the final verdict does not appear to be biased.

11. And by their verdict is determined

determined = decided. The -ed is pronounced, as also in impannelled.

12. The clear eye's moiety, and the dear heart's part:

moiety = portion, entitlement. As in a judicial settlement. Ditto for part.

13.   As thus: mine eye's due is thine outward part,

thine outward part = your external appearance, your looks, your physical beauty, your bodily parts.

14.   And my heart's right, thine inward love of heart.

right = right of possession. The repetition of the rhyme part and heart from the previous quatrain is somewhat lame, except that it probably confuses the issue deliberately by constant interchange of hearts and parts. The contrast is drawn between the superficial interest of the eye, and the enduring concern of the heart for that which is 'inward', hence sincere, real, permanent. Outward affection could be forged, but truth and reality cannot be (or so the heart believes). See however 137, 138, 148.

1. Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is took,

Betwixt = between.
 a league is took = a pact, or agreement, is made. Compare:
........................I'll kiss thy hand,
 In sign of League and amity with thee. R3. I.3.281.
 took is equivalent to taken, made, effected.

2. And each doth good turns now unto the other:

Sonnet 24 has Now see what good turns eyes for eyes have done. Here it is the heart and eyes which mutually favour each other.

3. When that mine eye is famish'd for a look,

Whenever my eye is starved and eager to look on you

4. Or heart in love with sighs himself doth smother,

The most probable reading here is to take sighs with himself doth smother. Thus 'When my heart, being in love, smothers itself with sighs.' There is however a residual meaning of 'When my heart, being in love with sighs, smothers itself.' smother can mean a.) to suffocate; b.) to smoulder inwardly. OED.9.b.

5. With my love's picture then my eye doth feast,

Either an image retained in memory, or, most probably, a portrait which he looks at. (See the following line). The idea of a banquet or feast of love is not uncommon in the sonnet tradition. Shakespeare uses it here, also in 75
Sometime all full with feasting on your sight
And by and by clean starved for a look;
and also in connection with the dark lady,
Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited
To any sensual feast with thee alone: 141.

See the notes to Sonnet 141.

6. And to the painted banquet bids my heart;

painted banquet - referring to the image of the loved one, seen by the eye, from a portrait, rather than from the real thing. The adjective 'painted' is also used to suggest sumptuousness, richness and colour, perhaps with a hint that the richness could be unreal and only cosmetic.

7. Another time mine eye is my heart's guest,

When no images are available the eye relies on the heart. The imagery of entertainment and feasting is continued.

8. And in his thoughts of love doth share a part:

his = the heart's. I.e. the eye shares in the heart's thoughts of love.

9. So, either by thy picture or my love,

or my love = my love for you which is held in my heart, as distinct from your picture, which is held by my eyes.

10. Thy self away, art present still with me;

art is emended from Q's are in deference to grammar. Thou thyself art present would be the normal form in Shakespeare's time. However the construction is fluid and retaining are it could be taken to include thy picture or my love as subject of are, along with thou thyself.
still = always, constantly. As in line 12 and elsewhere in the sonnets.

11. For thou not farther than my thoughts canst move,

Q has nor which is generally emended to no or not.

12. And I am still with them, and they with thee;

still - see above, line 10. them, they = my thoughts.

13. Or, if they sleep, thy picture in my sight

if they sleep - if my thoughts sleep

14. Awakes my heart, to heart's and eyes' delight.

to heart's and eyes' delight = so that heart and eyes are equally delighted.

1. Against that time, if ever that time come,

Against that time = in preparation for that time.
if ever that time come - he leaves open the possibility that the youth might remain forever faithful.

2. When I shall see thee frown on my defects,

defects = failings (physical, spiritual, social, moral); taints; inadequacies. It is worth noting that a frown from the beloved beauty (usually a woman) was often the source of great agony to the lover. He frequently thought that it would be enough to kill him. For example Daniel's 19th sonnet to Delia:
If Beautie thus be clouded with a frowne,
That pittie shines no comfort to my blis:
And vapors of disdaine so ouergrowne,
That my liues light thus wholy darkned is.
Why should I more molest the world with cryes?
There is doubtless an element of parody in this lover's language.

3. When as thy love hath cast his utmost sum,

When as = At the time when, when the time comes that;
hath cast his utmost sum = has done its final summation of profit and loss; finally attempts to balance the account on both sides. utmost suggests an effort to extend the limit of his love beyond its natural termination date. The imagery is of accounting, and hard nosed business realism, confirmed by audit in the next line. There is therefore an implied criticism of the youth's mercenary and calculating love, as opposed to that of the poet, which is boundless and free. The word cast also has the association of the biblical casting pearls before swine, implying here that the poet is not worthy of so great a love (he is the swine, the youth the pearl), or exactly the opposite, the youth being unworthy.

4. Called to that audit by advis'd respects;

 

 

 

 audit = an examination of accounts. In 4 and 126, in Q, the word is italicised and capitalised, in the latter case being spelt Audite, as here. This spelling emphasises the root meaning of the word, as a summons to a hearing in which the accounts were presented and examined by officials. advised respects = considerations of one's position in society. The word advised suggests the listening to advice given by others about the danger of friendship with unsuitable persons, for example, the damage to one's social standing, etc. etc. Shakespeare uses the phrase in John.IV.2.

 It is the curse of kings to be attended
By slaves that take their humours for a warrant
To break within the bloody house of life,
And on the winking of authority
To understand a law; to know the meaning
Of dangerous majesty, when perchance it frowns
More upon humour than advised respect. John.IV.2.214

5. Against that time when thou shalt strangely pass,

strangely = as a stranger; awkwardly.
pass = walk past, pass by.

6. And scarcely greet me with that sun, thine eye,

that sun, thine eye - this recalls the imagery of 7, 18, 33. in which the sun is an eye which looks upon the world, or is associated with eyes in some way. In fact, contrary to first impressions, the word 'sun' is not used very often in the sonnets, only eight times (including one plural), whereas 'eye' occurs much more frequently. (eye = 28, eyes = 36). The idea conveyed here is that of the majesty of the sun which the eye of the beloved recalls. It gilds all objects upon which it looks.

7. When love, converted from the thing it was,

converted = turned away. The basic meaning is to turn or revolve, from the Latin convertere. Used thus here and in Sonn.7:
The eyes, 'fore duteous, now converted are
From his low tract and look another way:
But the figurative meaning of to cause to change a belief or religion is also present, and was used elsewhere by Shakespeare. Cf. MV:
In converting Jews to Christians, you raise the price of pork. MV. III..5.37.
the thing it was - as HV points out, it is as if he cannot find adequate words to express what the love of the youth was towards him.

8. Shall reasons find of settled gravity;

reasons = reasons to justify desertion;
settled gravity = well-established, or staid sobriety. The basic meaning of gravity derives from the term gravitas applied to men of high standing in ancient Rome, the patricians (or optimates). It denoted seriousness of purpose and behaviour. The nearest modern equivalents are sobriety, dignity,  decorum, seriousness. Cf.
I never heard a man of his place, gravity, and learning, so wide of his own respect. MW.III.1.57.

9. Against that time do I ensconce me here,

ensconce = secure myself with fortifications; figuratively - set myself up in a position ready for defence. A sconce was a minor fortification or earthwork. The poet here is however not planning to defend himself, but to defend the youth against the alleged crime of desertion.
Note the repetition of Against that time. It has been used like the tolling of a bell as the opening phrase for each of the three quatrains.

10. Within the knowledge of mine own desert,

His knowledge of his own (un)worthiness will be the basis of his defence of the youth.

11. And this my hand, against my self uprear,

As in a military encounter; or in taking an oath in the witness box. uprear = lift up.
this my hand could also apply to hand-writing, hence to the poem itself.

12. To guard the lawful reasons on thy part:

To guard - A continuation of the military metaphor. The meaning here seems to be to offer as a defence, to guard you with lawful reasons etc.
on thy part = which are your rightful claim.

13. To leave poor me thou hast the strength of laws,

poor me - a typical belittlement of his own worth, which as elsewhere has a double edged meaning. The lover is poor because he is potentially in so much danger of being abandoned by the loved one. The phraseology also suggests the behaviour of the magnate who insists on interpreting the letter of the law and stifles humanity in the process, one who would squeeze the last penny from a widow as payment of a debt. Compare Shylock's insistence on the law in MV.

14. Since why to love I can allege no cause.

I can allege no cause - the formula is a legal or ecclesiastical one, as in The Book of Common Prayer 1549. Matrimony: ...Yf no impedimente bee alleged. OED also gives 1513–14 Act 5 Hen. VIII, c. 1 If the same persons...obiecte or allege any cause why he shall not soo doo. (Under object). See also 150 line 10. 

1. How heavy do I journey on the way,

heavy = heavily, burdened with sorrow. A heavy heart was proverbial, especially in lovers and Shakespeare himself often uses the phrase. e.g.

My heart is heavy and mine age is weak;
Grief would have tears, and sorrow bids me speak. AWW.III.4.41-2.
'O heart,' as the goodly saying is, --O heart, heavy heart,
Why sigh'st thou without breaking? TRO.IV.4.14-15.

 

2. When what I seek, my weary travel's end,

travel - travel and travail were used indiscriminately. See 27, 34, in which Q gives the spelling trauaile or trauaill.

3. Doth teach that ease and that repose to say,

that ease and that repose - the ease and rest one would expect at the end of a journey. The construction however forces one to respond mentally to the 'doth teach that' clause, as if my weary travel's end were teaching the poet a lesson.

4. 'Thus far the miles are measured from thy friend!'

Instead of ease and repose, the two conspire to remind him of the distance that now separates him from his friend.

5. The beast that bears me, tired with my woe,

tired - can also have the meaning 'attired', as though the beast had been clothed with the sorrow that afflicts the rider.

6. Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me,

dully - Q gives duly which OED records as an old spelling for dully. There may not have been much difference in the pronunciation. duly suggests the mechanical performance of a tedious obligation. to bear that weight in me - because it was bearing the extra weight of the rider's sorrow; because he (the horse) was also weighed down with my sorrow.

7. As if by some instinct the wretch did know

instinct = innate knowledge, or intuition. (The modern usage is much the same. OED 3.)

8. His rider lov'd not speed being made from thee.

speed being made from thee - any speed which results in my travelling farther away from you. The 'speed being made' construction is related to the phrase 'make haste' which Shakespeare frequently uses, or 'making a journey', so that the primary meaning is 'he (the horse) knew that his rider delighted not in speed, as it only hasted him away from you'. The other evident meaning is that the rider (the poet) is made from the beloved, because the two are one, so each inhabits the other.

9. The bloody spur cannot provoke him on,

spur - a small metal wheel with pointed projections which fits round the heel of a rider's boot. It is jabbed into the horse's side to provoke it to move faster, and could on occasion draw blood.

10. That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide,

anger - because of the horse's tardiness.

11. Which heavily he answers with a groan,

heavily - the horse shares the writer's despondency.
 groan - groans were the traditional accompaniment to the lover's pain. Compare for example:
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, 131.

12. More sharp to me than spurring to his side;

More sharp to me - the antecedent is 'groan' in the previous line. The reason for its sharpness is given in the couplet.

13. For that same groan doth put this in my mind,

14. My grief lies onward, and my joy behind.

As he proceeds onwards, he goes farther from his friend, so that he is, as it were, hasting towards sorrow, and leaving behind the joy of his friend's company.

 

 

1. Thus can my love excuse the slow offence

Thus - referring to the explanation of the horse's lack of speed given in the previous sonnet. Also looking ahead to lines 3-4. my love = my love for you, (which will find reasons to excuse the horse's slowness). But a secondary meaning is the youth himself, who could be imagined as joining in the analysis of love's swiftness and time's slowness. 3-4. slow offence = offensive slowness; the sin of moving in a dull and sluggardish way. Compare swift extremity of line 6.

2. Of my dull bearer when from thee I speed:

my dull bearer - the tardy horse. Also reminiscent of 'one who bears, one who suffers'.

3. From where thou art why should I haste me thence?

Why should I speed away from you?
I haste me - modern usage would be 'I hasten', without the reflexive me. Cf: Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed, 27.
thence = from there.

4. Till I return, of posting is no need.

of posting = of using post horses, and hence travelling by the fastest possible means. Over 100 miles per day could be achieved by the determined use of post horses, which were stationed at inns on main highways, chiefly for the use of those on government business. The system enabled frequent changes of horse to be made. Hence phrases such as haste-post-haste came into the language.

OED - post. v.1. cites: 1598 Hakluyt Voy. I. 65 Riding as fast as our horses could trot (for we had fresh horses almost thrise or four times a day) we posted from morning till night.

5. O! what excuse will my poor beast then find,

O! What excuse - sc. what excuse for not running fast enough to satisfy the wish of the rider.

6. When swift extremity can seem but slow?

swift extremity = swiftness which is at the extreme of all possible speed; extreme swiftness.

7. Then should I spur, though mounted on the wind,

Then = when the time comes for me to return.
should I spur, though etc. = I would indeed use the spur, even though I were etc.

8. In winged speed no motion shall I know,

It will seem as if even winged flight is like standing still.

9. Then can no horse with my desire keep pace.

(And) no horse will be able to run as fast as I desire it to run. My desire to be with my love is so keen that it seems to leap over distance and nothing can keep pace with it. Lines 9 and 10 seem to be tacked on as additions to line 7, not so much qualifying it as as adding further thoughts which illustrate the poet's eagerness to be going and his anticipation of what he will do then when the journey begins.

The punctuation of 8-14 is problematic. Q does not help much, as it provides only commas for 5-14, implying that the whole is one long sentence. But Therefore of line 10 seems to start a sentence, and I have punctuated accordingly. I have retained the brackets also, which most editors discard. The mere fact that the poem deals with headlong motion makes punctuation of less importance, and we could perhaps abandon it entirely. But this would probably be too disturbing for a modern reader, accustomed to use punctuation as an aid to understanding. In addition, fidelity to the original edition does have some virtue, so one should retain it wherever possible if it does not violate common sense, or if the proposed change does not significantly improve our understanding, or if it is not too much at variance with modern practice.

10. Therefore desire, (of perfect'st love being made)

Qs perfects is usually emended either to perfect or perfect'st as here. The phrase in brackets seems to qualify desire as though fearing that it might be interpreted as lust, or else desiring to show that desire is of a pure and ethereal nature, made of air and fire, as in 44 and 45, and capable of phenomenal speed.

11. Shall neigh, no dull flesh, in his fiery race;

My disembodied desire shall neigh, like a spirited stallion in a turbulent race, expressing its energy and eagerness to reach the goal. It will not be like an ordinary piece of dull horse flesh.

The line is generally reckoned to be difficult, with no single meaning having predominance. But it is clear that some comparison is being made between desire and a spirited horse, the comparison being in the end detrimental to the horse. Since race has several distinct meanings (contest of speed, genus, fast current), it is obvious that several meanings could be hammered from the line, especially as his could apply to desire or to horse indifferently. Desire both is and is not a fiery steed, and in the end it discards all bestial existence in its swift flight through the ether of thought.

12. But love, for love, thus shall excuse my jade-

love, for love = my love for you, or love personified, shall, for the sake of that love, or our love, or for the sake of you, or both, or all, shall etc.
jade a tired horse; a worn out, useless horse.

13. Since from thee going, he went wilful-slow,

from thee going = when leaving you; he - my jade;
wilful-slow = deliberately slowly, obstinately slowly.

14. Towards thee I'll run, and give him leave to go.

give him leave to go = dismiss him, send him packing, let him do as he pleases. The basic meaning of 'to grant permission' in this context acquires a slighltly contemptuous tone, especially as it is applied to a horse, not to a human. Since the horse is so useless he may be turned away. Shakespeare uses the phrase 'to give leave to' more than 80 times in the plays, often at very poignant moments. It was much more common then than now. Some examples are recorded below.

FALSTAFF My lord, I beseech you, give me leave to go
Through Gloucestershire 2H4.IV.3.80-1.

Your grace shall give me leave, my Lord of York,
To be the post, in hope of his reward. 2H6.I.4.77-8.

I beseech your majesty, give me leave to go;
Sorrow would solace and mine age would ease. 2H6.II.3.20-1.

And, when thou hast done this chare, I'll give thee leave
To play till doomsday. Bring our crown and all. AC.V.2.230-1.

and if I bring thee not something to eat, I will give thee leave to die: but if thou diest before I come, thou art a mocker of my labour. Well said! AYL.II.6.12-14.

15. But sweet, or colour it had stol'n from thee.

sweet = sweetness, perfume; perfection.
stol'n - pronounced as one syllable.