HAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
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COMMENTARY
SONNET 46 XLVI
XLVI
1. Mine
eye and heart are at a mortal war, |
These two sonnets, 46 & 47, debate the respective merits of the heart's and the eyes' claim to be the sole possessor of the beloved. In 46 they are at mortal war. In 47 they have evidently signed a pact. The whole thing is an amusing mix of psychological and physiological ideas which do not really add up, but it is held together here by the terminology of the courtroom. The eye and the heart are bound over to enjoy their own appropriate portion. The quarrel between eyes and heart (or mind) for dominion in love's realm was traditional. The eye was believed to hold the image, but the heart was responsible for feeling and emotion. Compare for example sonnets 19 and 20 by Thomas Watson in the Tears of Fancie (1593). The two sonnets are printed below. |
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THE 1609 QUARTO VERSION
My heart,mine eye the freeedome of that right, My heart doth plead that thou in him dooſt lye, (A cloſet neuer pearſt with chriſtall eyes ) But the defendant doth that plea deny, And ſayes in him their faire appearance lyes. To ſide this title is impannelled A queſt of thoughts,all tennants to the heart, And by their verdict is determined The cleere eyes moyitie,and the deare hearts part. As thus,mine eyes due is their outward part, And my hearts right,their inward loue of heart. |
Two extracts from the plays give different views, but the debate was not entirely serious, despite the depth and occasional desperation of the emotions which engendered it. Love looks
not with the eyes, but with the mind;
Tell me
where is fancy bred, |
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There are two instances in this sonnet of the compositorial error of their for thy, in lines 3 and 14. |
1.Mine
eye and heart are at a mortal war,
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1. 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;
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2. 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. |
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3. Mine eye my heart thy picture's sight would bar,
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3. 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 |
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4. My heart mine eye the freedom of that right. |
4. 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, | 5.The
legal terminology continues. The heart
pleads, as in a court of law. |
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6. A closet never pierced with crystal eyes,
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6. closet
= a small private room,
often used for prayers; a chest for storing valuables. This is the
gentleman I told your ladyship Her eye seen
in the tears, tears in her eye;
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): '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. |
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7. But the
defendant doth
that plea deny, |
7. 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. |
8. 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 |
9. 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 |
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10. A quest of thoughts,
all tenants to the heart;
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10. 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, especiaaly as the final verdict does not appear to be biased. |
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11. And by their
verdict
is determined |
11. determined = decided. The -ed is pronounced, as also in impannelled. | |
12. The clear eye's moiety, and the dear heart's part: | 12. moiety = portion, entitlement. As in a judicial settlement. Ditto for part. | |
13. As thus: mine eye's due is thine outward part, | 13. 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. |
14. 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. | |
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Home | Sonnets 1 - 50 | Sonnets 51 - 100 | Sonnets 101 - 154 | A Lover's Complaint. | Sonnet no. 1 |
First line index | Title page and Thorpe's Dedication | Some Introductory Notes to the Sonnets | Sonnets as plain text 1-154 | Text facsimiles | Other related texts of the period |
Picture
Gallery |
Thomas Wyatt Poems | Other Authors | General notes for background details, general policies etc. | Map of the site | Valentine Poems |
London Bridge as it was in Shakespeare's day, circa 1600. | Views of London as it was in 1616. | Views of Cheapside London, from a print of 1639. | The Carrier's Cosmography. A guide to all the Carriers in London. As given by John Taylor in 1637. | Oxquarry Books Ltd | |
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THE TEARS OF FANCIE | or Love Disdained. | |
SONNET 19 My Hart impos'd this
penance on mine eies, |
SONNET 20 My hart accused mine
eies and was offended, |
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From T. Watson, Tears of Fancie, 1593. |