154 Captivating Shakespeare Sonnets

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.

Themes: Procreation, Beauty, Selfishness

Explanation: Sonnet 1 is like a gentle nudge from Shakespeare, reminding us of the importance of sharing our gifts and beauty with the world. He talks about how beautiful things in nature are meant to reproduce so that beauty can continue to live on, even when the original source fades away...

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 tatter’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.

Themes: Aging, Legacy, Procreation

Explanation: Sonnet 2 by Shakespeare focuses on the inevitability of aging and the importance of leaving a legacy through children. Shakespeare paints a vivid picture of youth fading away, with “forty winters” leaving their mark on the person’s appearance, transforming their once-prized youthful beauty into something worn and of little value...

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.

Themes: Procreation, Legacy, Self-Reflection

Explanation: Sonnet 3 is a call to action from Shakespeare, urging the young man to consider his legacy and the continuation of his beauty through offspring. By looking into the mirror, the young man is reminded that he should pass on his beauty and virtues to the next generation...

Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend
Upon thyself 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 thyself alone,
Thou of thyself 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.

Themes: Beauty, Selfishness, Legacy

Explanation: In Sonnet 4, Shakespeare criticizes the young man for being selfish with his beauty, likening it to a squandered inheritance. He argues that beauty is meant to be shared and passed on, rather than hoarded and wasted...

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 everywhere.
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.

Themes: Time, Beauty, Preservation

Explanation: Sonnet 5 delves into the theme of the passage of time and its effect on beauty. Shakespeare compares the cycle of seasons to the stages of human life, suggesting that beauty can be preserved through various means, much like the essence of summer is captured in perfume...

Then let not winter’s ragged hand deface,
In thee thy summer, ere thou be distill’d:
Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place
With beauty’s treasure ere it be self-kill’d.
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 refigur’d thee:
Then what could death do if thou shouldst depart,
Leaving thee living in posterity?
Be not self-will’d, for thou art much too fair
To be death’s conquest and make worms thine heir.

Themes: Legacy, Procreation, Selflessness

Explanation: In Sonnet 6, Shakespeare continues his persuasive discourse on the importance of legacy and procreation, urging the addressee to not let their beauty be wasted by time’s decay...

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 climb’d 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:
Unlook’d, on diest unless thou get a son.

Themes: Aging, Legacy, Admiration

Explanation: Sonnet 7 explores the cycle of life and the quest for a lasting legacy, using the sun’s journey across the sky as a powerful metaphor...

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.’

Themes: Harmony, Relationships, Fulfilment

Explanation: Sonnet 8 delves into the themes of harmony in music and relationships, using the metaphor of musical concord to explore the idea of unity and its importance in life...

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.

Themes: Legacy, Selfishness, Loss

Explanation: Sonnet 9 addresses the theme of legacy and the perceived selfishness of choosing to remain single and childless...

For shame! deny that thou bear’st love to any,
Who for thy self art so unprovident.
Grant, if thou wilt, thou art belov’d of many,
But that thou none lov’st is most evident:
For thou art so possess’d 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 lodg’d 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.

Themes: Self-Love, Legacy, Reciprocity

Explanation: Sonnet 10 implores the addressee to reconsider their stance on leading a solitary life devoid of love and offspring, highlighting the selfishness and waste inherent in such a choice...

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 endow’d, she gave thee more;
Which bounteous gift thou shouldst in bounty cherish:
She carv’d thee for her seal, and meant thereby,
Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die.

Themes: Procreation, Legacy, Natural Cycle

Explanation: Sonnet 11 continues with the theme of procreation, urging the young man to whom it’s addressed to consider his own aging process and the natural cycle of life...

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.

Themes: Transience of Beauty, Mortality, Procreation

Explanation: Sonnet 12 paints a vivid picture of the inevitable passage of time and its effects on nature, beauty, and human life...

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.

Themes: Identity, Mortality, Legacy

Explanation: Sonnet 13 deepens the exploration of themes introduced earlier in the sequence, focusing on the necessity of self-preservation through offspring and the continuity of one’s essence beyond death...

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.’

Themes: Procreation, Destiny, True Beauty

Explanation: In Sonnet 14, Shakespeare moves away from traditional astrology to claim a more personal and profound source of knowledge—the eyes of the young man to whom the sonnet is addressed...

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.

Themes: Time, Nature, Immortality through Art

Explanation: In Sonnet 15, Shakespeare contemplates the nature of existence and the inevitable decline that all living things face due to time’s passage...

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.

Themes: Legacy, Procreation, Time

Explanation: Sonnet 16 is Shakespeare’s way of pushing the conversation further on the themes of procreation and the battle against the swift passage of time...

Who will believe my verse in time to come,
If it were fill’d 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 touch’d earthly faces.’
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:
But were some child of yours alive that time,
You should live twice,–in it, and in my rhyme.

Themes: Doubt, Legacy, Immortality through Progeny and Art

Explanation: Sonnet 17 delves into Shakespeare’s worries about the believability and lasting power of his poetry in capturing the young man’s beauty and virtues...

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 dimm’d,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimm’d:
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.

Themes: Beauty, Immortality, Nature’s Transience vs. Art’s Permanence

Explanation: Sonnet 18 is one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated poems, where he deliberates on comparing the young man’s beauty to a summer’s day, only to find the young man surpasses it in both loveliness and consistency...

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-liv’d phoenix, in her blood;
Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleets,
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.

Themes: Time, Beauty, Defiance

Explanation: In Sonnet 19, Shakespeare talks directly to Time, like it’s a person who can do whatever it wants—aging lions, making the earth less beautiful, and even changing the seasons...

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.

Themes: Idealized Beauty, Gender, Love

Explanation: Sonnet 20 talks about a person who combines the best of women’s beauty and men’s strength, capturing Shakespeare’s heart...

So is it not with me as with that Muse,
Stirr’d 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 fix’d in heaven’s air:
Let them say more that like of hearsay well;
I will not praise that purpose not to sell.

Themes: Authenticity, Love, Comparison

Explanation: Sonnet 21 is Shakespeare making it clear he’s different from other poets who go over the top, comparing their loves to all sorts of grand and impossible things...

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 th;heart when mine is slain,
Thou gav’st me thine not to give back again.

Themes: Love, Aging, Mutual Care

Explanation: Sonnet 22 is Shakespeare contemplating his relationship with aging and how his connection with his beloved makes him feel timeless...

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’ercharg’d 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.

Themes: Communication, Vulnerability, Love

Explanation: Sonnet 23 compares the speaker’s struggle to express his love aloud to an actor who forgets his lines out of nervousness...

Mine eye hath play’d the painter and hath stell’d,
Thy beauty’s form in table of my heart;
My body is the frame wherein ’tis held,
And perspective it is best painter’s art.
For through the painter must you see his skill,
To find where your true image pictur’d 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.

Themes: Love, Art, Perception

Explanation: In Sonnet 24, Shakespeare describes how his eyes have become like a painter, capturing the image of the person he loves and keeping it inside his heart...

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 foil’d,
Is from the book of honour razed quite,
And all the rest forgot for which he toil’d:
Then happy I, that love and am belov’d,
Where I may not remove nor be remov’d.

Themes: Fortune, Love, Social Status

Explanation: Sonnet 25 contrasts the fleeting nature of fame and fortune with the enduring value of love...

Themes: Duty, Love, Humility

Explanation: Sonnet 26 is a heartfelt declaration of devotion, where Shakespeare casts himself as a loyal servant to the object of his affection...

Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tir’d;
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.

Themes: Love, Distance, Mental Labor

Explanation: Sonnet 27 explores the theme of love’s restlessness that continues even when the body seeks rest...

How can I then return in happy plight,
That am debarre’d the benefit of rest?
When day’s oppression is not eas’d by night,
But day by night and night by day oppress’d,
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.

Themes: Love’s Exhaustion, Day and Night, Distance

Explanation: Sonnet 28 continues the theme of the restless pursuit of love, expressing the poet’s weariness from the unending cycle of day and night that offers no respite from his sorrows...

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,
Featur’d like him, like him with friends possess’d,
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 remember’d such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Themes: Despair, Love’s Redemption, Self-Worth

Explanation: Sonnet 29 delves into a moment of deep personal despair, where Shakespeare feels abandoned by luck and shunned by society...

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 cancell’d woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish’d 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.

Themes: Nostalgia, Loss, Consolation of Friendship

Explanation: In Sonnet 30, Shakespeare reflects on the past, summoning memories of losses and unfulfilled desires that bring fresh sorrow...

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 remov’d 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 lov’d, I view in thee,
And thou–all they–hast all the all of me.

Themes: Love’s Continuity, Memory, Reconciliation

Explanation: Sonnet 31 explores the idea that the speaker’s beloved embodies the essence and love of all his past relationships...

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 outstripp’d 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’.

Themes: Legacy, Love Beyond Death, Artistic Humility

Explanation: In Sonnet 32, Shakespeare contemplates his own mortality and the fate of his poems after his death...

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.

Themes: Betrayal, Forgiveness, Natural Beauty

Explanation: Sonnet 33 opens with a vivid description of a beautiful morning, where the sun enhances the beauty of the natural world with its light, making everything it touches gleam with a heavenly glow...

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.

Themes: Disappointment, Reconciliation, Value of Sorrow

Explanation: Sonnet 34 continues the emotional narrative from Sonnet 33, delving deeper into feelings of betrayal and seeking reconciliation...

No more be griev’d 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.
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.

Themes: Forgiveness, Human Imperfection, Inner Conflict

Explanation: Sonnet 35 explores the theme of forgiveness amidst human imperfection and the inner conflict that arises from loving someone who has caused hurt...

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.

Themes: Separation, Sacrifice, Love's Integrity

Explanation: Sonnet 36 explores the necessity of separation between the speaker and the beloved, despite their undivided love. Shakespeare acknowledges that for the sake of the beloved's reputation, they must be apart. The poem delves into themes of sacrifice and the integrity of love, showing how true love sometimes requires difficult decisions to protect the other person's honor.

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 despis’d,
Whilst that this shadow doth such substance give
That I in thy abundance am suffic’d,
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!

Themes: Vicarious Joy, Value Beyond Physical Ability, Unconditional Love

Explanation: Sonnet 37 presents a touching comparison between the speaker and a father who finds joy and pride in his child’s accomplishments and virtues...

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.

Themes: Inspiration, Muse and Poet, Shared Creativity

Explanation: Sonnet 38 delves into the relationship between the poet and his muse, celebrating the beloved as the ultimate source of inspiration...

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.

Themes: Reflection, Unity in Separation, Love’s Paradox

Explanation: Sonnet 39 ponders the challenge of expressing admiration for a beloved who forms an integral part of the speaker’s identity...

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.

Themes: Generosity, Betrayal, Forgiveness

Explanation: Sonnet 40 addresses a complex scenario where the speaker confronts the beloved about taking all his love, questioning what has truly been gained when all that was taken was already freely given...

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 assail’d;
And when a woman woos, what woman’s son
Will sourly leave her till he have prevail’d?
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.

Themes: Jealousy, Temptation, Rationalization

Explanation: Sonnet 41 delves into the themes of temptation and infidelity, examining the speaker’s response to the beloved’s actions...

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.

Themes: Love Triangle, Loss, Rationalization

Explanation: Sonnet 42 addresses the complexities of a love triangle, expressing the speaker’s attempts to rationalize and cope with the emotional pain of his beloved being with another...

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.

Themes: Love’s Vision, Dreams vs. Reality, Yearning

Explanation: In Sonnet 43, Shakespeare explores the idea that love enhances perception, especially in the absence of the beloved...

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 remov’d 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.

Themes: Love and Distance, Desire for Unity, Limitations of the Physical

Explanation: Sonnet 44 delves into the pain of separation and the longing to overcome physical distances through the power of thought...

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, oppress’d with melancholy;
Until life’s composition be recur’d
By those swift messengers return’d from thee,
Who even but now come back again, assur’d,
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.

Themes: Elemental Love, Absence and Presence, Emotional Cycle

Explanation: Sonnet 45 continues the exploration of love’s power to transcend physical boundaries, using the classical elements to describe the dynamics of absence and presence in the speaker’s emotional life...

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 pierc'd with crystal eyes;
But the defendant doth that plea deny,
And says in him thy fair appearance lies.
To 'cide this title is impanelled
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 thy outward part,
And my heart's right, thy inward love of heart.

Themes: Inner Conflict, Love, Perception

Explanation: Sonnet 46 explores the conflict between the eye and the heart, each vying for the right to claim the beloved...

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,
Thyself away, are 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 eye's delight.

Themes: Harmony, Love, Inner Peace

Explanation: Sonnet 47 depicts a harmonious relationship between the eye and the heart, united in their admiration for the beloved...

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 lock'd 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.

Themes: Value, Vulnerability, Love

Explanation: Sonnet 48 reflects on the care taken to protect material possessions and laments the inability to similarly secure the beloved...

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,
Call'd 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 myself 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.

Themes: Anticipation, Insecurity, Self-awareness

Explanation: Sonnet 49 anticipates a future time when the beloved might fall out of love, preparing emotionally for that eventuality...

How heavy do I journey on the way,
When what I seek, my weary travel's end,
Doth teach that case 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.

Themes: Separation, Sorrow, Journey

Explanation: Sonnet 50 depicts the speaker's sorrowful journey away from the beloved, highlighting the emotional and physical burdens of separation...

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.

Themes: Excuses, Separation, Love’s Urgency

Explanation: Sonnet 51 continues the theme of the journey from Sonnet 50, focusing on the slow pace of the speaker’s horse and the urgency of his desire to return...

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 that 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 imprison'd pride.
Blessed are you whose worthiness gives scope,
Being had, to triumph; being lacked, to hope.

Themes: Value, Rarity, Anticipation

Explanation: Sonnet 52 compares the beloved to a treasure that is seldom enjoyed, emphasizing the special value and anticipation of rare moments together...

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.

Themes: Ideal Beauty, Uniqueness, Multiplicity

Explanation: Sonnet 53 explores the beloved’s incomparable nature, questioning what they are made of to possess so many reflections of beauty and grace...

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, by verse distills your truth.

Themes: True Beauty, Immortality, Virtue

Explanation: Sonnet 54 reflects on the difference between mere physical beauty and true beauty, which is enhanced by inner virtue...

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.

Themes: Immortality Through Verse, Time, Memory

Explanation: Sonnet 55 asserts the power of poetry to immortalize the beloved, suggesting that these verses will outlast physical monuments and preserve the memory of the beloved for all time...

Sweet love, renew thy force; be it not said
Thy edge should blunter be than appetite,
Which but to-day by feeding is allay'd,
To-morrow sharpen'd in his former might:
So, love, be thou; although to-day thou fill
Thy hungry eyes even till they wink with fullness,
To-morrow see again, and do not kill
The spirit of love with a perpetual dullness.
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;
Or call it winter, which being full of care,
Makes summer's welcome thrice more wish'd, more rare.

Themes: Renewal, Love’s Persistence, Anticipation

Explanation: Sonnet 56 urges love to renew its vigor and avoid becoming dull, comparing the need for renewal to the way appetite sharpens after being sated. Shakespeare likens the periods of absence in love to the ocean that separates two shores, suggesting that such intervals can make the return of love more cherished. The poem concludes by comparing these intervals to winter, which makes the arrival of summer more eagerly anticipated and appreciated.

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.

Themes: Devotion, Servitude, Unquestioning Love

Explanation: Sonnet 57 presents the speaker as a devoted servant to the beloved, willing to wait patiently and without complaint for their attention. The speaker’s time and thoughts are entirely consumed by the beloved, showcasing an extreme form of unconditional and unquestioning love, where the lover remains steadfast and loyal despite any uncertainties or absences.

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.

Themes: Patience, Servitude, Unconditional Love

Explanation: Sonnet 58 continues the theme of servitude from Sonnet 57, emphasizing the speaker's acceptance of their role as a patient and loyal servant. The speaker expresses a willingness to endure any absence or neglect, reinforcing the idea of unconditional love and unwavering devotion, regardless of the beloved’s actions or choices.

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 burden of a former child!
O! 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 whether better they,
Or whether revolution be the same.
O! sure I am the wits of former days
To subjects worse have given admiring praise.

Themes: Innovation, Historical Comparison, Eternal Beauty

Explanation: Sonnet 59 reflects on the idea that nothing is truly new, as everything has existed in some form before. Shakespeare contemplates the past, wishing he could see how his beloved would have been described in ancient times. He concludes that past poets have given high praise to less worthy subjects, suggesting that the beloved’s beauty transcends time and remains unmatched.

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.

Themes: Time, Mortality, Eternal Beauty

Explanation: Sonnet 60 compares the relentless passage of time to waves crashing on the shore, emphasizing the inevitable march towards mortality. Shakespeare reflects on the fleeting nature of youth and beauty, but he asserts that his poetry will endure, preserving the beloved’s worth and outlasting time’s destructive power.

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 tenure 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.

Themes: Sleeplessness, Jealousy, Love’s Vigilance

Explanation: Sonnet 61 explores the speaker’s sleepless nights, questioning whether it is the beloved’s will that keeps him awake or his own deep love. Shakespeare examines themes of jealousy and vigilance, revealing that it is his own love and concern for the beloved that disrupt his rest, while the beloved is far away, potentially with others.

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.

Themes: Self-Love, Vanity, Reflection

Explanation: Sonnet 62 addresses the theme of self-love and vanity, as the speaker reflects on his own perceived beauty and worth. However, upon seeing his true reflection, he recognizes the folly of such self-admiration. The poem concludes by suggesting that any praise of himself is actually praise of the beloved, whose youthful beauty contrasts with the speaker’s aging appearance.

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; when his youthful morn
Hath travell'd on to age's steepy night;
And all those beauties whereof now he's king
Are vanishing, or vanish'd 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.

Themes: Aging, Preservation, Immortality Through Verse

Explanation: Sonnet 63 anticipates the effects of aging on the beloved’s beauty, foreseeing a time when youth has faded. Shakespeare vows to preserve the beloved’s beauty and essence through his poetry, ensuring that even as physical beauty fades, the memory and admiration of the beloved remain eternal in his verses.

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-ras'd,
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 wat'ry 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.

Themes: Time, Decay, Fear of Loss

Explanation: Sonnet 64 reflects on the destructive power of time, observing how even the grandest structures and the strongest materials succumb to decay. This contemplation leads to the painful realization that time will also inevitably take away the beloved, causing the speaker deep sorrow and fear of loss.

Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,
But sad mortality o'er-sways 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 wreckful 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.

Themes: Mortality, Impermanence, Eternal Beauty

Explanation: Sonnet 65 addresses the transient nature of beauty and the inevitable decay brought by time. Shakespeare questions how delicate beauty can withstand time’s relentless assault when even the strongest materials cannot. The poem concludes with the hope that through his poetry, the beloved’s beauty can be preserved and shine eternally, defying time’s destructive power.

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 miscall'd 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.

Themes: Despair, Corruption, Love’s Saving Grace

Explanation: Sonnet 66 expresses the speaker’s profound despair at the corruption and injustices of the world. Shakespeare lists various societal wrongs that make him long for death as an escape. However, the sonnet concludes with the realization that leaving would mean abandoning his beloved, which keeps him from succumbing to his despair.

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 steel 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,
Beggar'd 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.

Themes: Beauty, Authenticity, Corruption

Explanation: Sonnet 67 questions why the beloved should continue to exist in a world filled with corruption and falsehood. Shakespeare criticizes the artificial imitations of true beauty and laments the degradation of natural beauty. The poem concludes with the idea that Nature preserves the beloved as a reminder of her former glory.

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.

Themes: Authenticity, Natural Beauty, Artificiality

Explanation: Sonnet 68 reflects on the authenticity of the beloved's natural beauty compared to the artificial enhancements that have become common. Shakespeare praises the beloved's genuine appearance, which serves as a reminder of true beauty in a world increasingly filled with false representations.

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.

Themes: Outer Beauty, Inner Worth, Judgment

Explanation: Sonnet 69 explores the contrast between the beloved’s outward beauty, which is universally praised, and the perception of the beloved’s inner qualities, which are judged more harshly. Shakespeare reflects on how public opinion can shift when deeper insights reveal flaws, suggesting that true beauty should be complemented by virtuous deeds.

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 woo'd 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 assail'd, or victor being charg'd;
Yet this thy praise cannot be so thy praise,
To tie up envy, evermore enlarg'd:
If some suspect of ill mask'd not thy show,
Then thou alone kingdoms of hearts shouldst owe.

Themes: Slander, Beauty, Virtue

Explanation: Sonnet 70 addresses the inevitable slander that accompanies beauty and virtue, suggesting that being the target of envy and suspicion is a testament to the beloved’s worth. Shakespeare argues that true goodness and beauty often attract false accusations, but these do not diminish the beloved’s value. Instead, they highlight the beloved's purity and strength.

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.

Themes: Mourning, Memory, Love’s Selflessness

Explanation: Sonnet 71 is a poignant reflection on death and mourning. Shakespeare requests that his beloved not mourn him excessively when he is gone. He expresses a desire for his memory to fade from the beloved’s mind to avoid causing them pain. The sonnet explores themes of selfless love and the transient nature of life and memory, urging the beloved to move on and avoid the mockery of the world.

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.

Themes: Unworthiness, Legacy, Love’s Humility

Explanation: Sonnet 72 continues the theme from Sonnet 71, where the speaker requests that his beloved forget him after his death to avoid any obligation of praising his unworthy merits. Shakespeare expresses a fear of being overly praised and suggests that it would be better for his memory to fade away, highlighting themes of humility, unworthiness, and the desire to protect the beloved from falsehood.

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 ruin'd 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,
Consum'd 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.

Themes: Aging, Mortality, Love’s Strength

Explanation: Sonnet 73 reflects on the themes of aging and mortality. Shakespeare uses the imagery of late autumn, twilight, and a dying fire to symbolize the speaker’s advancing age and impending death. The sonnet concludes with the idea that the awareness of mortality strengthens the beloved’s love, making it more profound and meaningful.

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.

Themes: Death, Legacy, Spiritual Love

Explanation: Sonnet 74 addresses the inevitability of death and the legacy left behind. Shakespeare reassures the beloved that while his physical body will be claimed by death, his spirit, represented through his poetry, will remain with them. The poem highlights the idea that the true worth lies in the spirit and the memory, rather than the physical body, emphasizing themes of spiritual love and enduring legacy.

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.

Themes: Love’s Nourishment, Possession, Longing

Explanation: Sonnet 75 compares the beloved to essential nourishment and life-giving rain, illustrating how the speaker's thoughts and feelings are sustained by their presence. Shakespeare explores the tension between the joy of possessing the beloved and the fear of losing them, reflecting on the intense longing and fulfillment that love brings. The sonnet captures the cyclical nature of desire, satisfaction, and longing.

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.

Themes: Artistic Expression, Constancy, Love’s Renewal

Explanation: Sonnet 76 explores the speaker's reflection on the seeming lack of innovation in his poetry. Shakespeare questions why his verses lack variety and newness, but he ultimately concludes that his constant theme of love is a worthy subject. He compares his poetry to the daily renewal of the sun, suggesting that true love is an eternal source of inspiration, continuously renewing itself.

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, deliver'd 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.

Themes: Time, Reflection, Immortality through Writing

Explanation: Sonnet 77 reflects on the passage of time and the importance of recording one’s thoughts and experiences. Shakespeare suggests that a mirror shows the physical effects of aging, while a sundial tracks the passage of time. He encourages the beloved to write down their thoughts, ensuring that their mind’s creations will outlast the ravages of time and provide a lasting legacy.

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.

Themes: Muse, Inspiration, Artistic Influence

Explanation: Sonnet 78 addresses the beloved as the poet’s muse, acknowledging the significant inspiration and improvement their presence brings to his poetry. Shakespeare notes that other poets also benefit from the beloved’s influence, but he takes pride in the fact that his own work is most deeply affected. The sonnet highlights the transformative power of the beloved’s inspiration on artistic creation.

Whilst I alone did call upon thy aid,
My verse alone had all thy gentle grace;
But now my gracious numbers are decay'd,
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.

Themes: Artistic Rivalry, True Virtue, Inspiration

Explanation: Sonnet 79 reflects on the competition among poets who draw inspiration from the beloved. Shakespeare acknowledges that while others may now write about the beloved, they are merely reflecting the virtues and beauty that inherently belong to the beloved. The poet emphasizes that any praise from other writers is ultimately due to the beloved’s own qualities, rather than the poets’ invention.

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 wreck'd, 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.

Themes: Artistic Insecurity, Rivalry, Love’s Risks

Explanation: Sonnet 80 explores the poet’s feelings of insecurity and competition when writing about the beloved, knowing that another poet does so with greater skill. Shakespeare uses the metaphor of ships sailing the ocean to describe his efforts compared to his rival’s. Despite feeling overshadowed, the poet continues to express his love and admiration, accepting that his devotion may lead to his downfall.

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.

Themes: Immortality through Verse, Legacy, Memory

Explanation: Sonnet 81 contemplates the idea of legacy and immortality. Shakespeare contrasts the potential fates of himself and the beloved, suggesting that while he may be forgotten, the beloved will live on through the poet’s verses. The sonnet emphasizes the enduring power of poetry to immortalize the beloved’s memory, ensuring that future generations will continue to celebrate their virtues.

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 devis'd
What strained touches rhetoric can lend,
Thou truly fair, wert truly sympathiz'd
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 abus'd.

Themes: Rivalry, True Beauty, Sincere Expression

Explanation: Sonnet 82 acknowledges that the beloved is not exclusively the poet’s muse and may inspire other writers as well. Shakespeare concedes that the beloved’s beauty and worth exceed his own poetic abilities, and thus, it is natural for them to seek other expressions of praise. However, he asserts that his own plain and truthful words capture the beloved’s true essence better than the elaborate rhetoric of others.

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.

Themes: True Beauty, Art’s Limitation, Praise

Explanation: Sonnet 83 addresses the idea that the beloved’s beauty surpasses any need for poetic embellishment. Shakespeare admits that he refrained from writing about the beloved because their natural beauty required no enhancement. He asserts that his silence is not a failure but a recognition of the beloved’s inherent worth, which speaks for itself. The poem emphasizes the limitations of art in capturing true beauty and praises the beloved’s superiority over poetic attempts to describe them.

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.

Themes: True Identity, Praise, Nature’s Artistry

Explanation: Sonnet 84 explores the concept of true identity and the limits of praise. Shakespeare argues that the greatest praise one can give the beloved is to acknowledge that they are uniquely themselves. He suggests that trying to embellish their natural beauty with poetic flourishes is unnecessary and can even detract from their true essence. The sonnet warns against being overly fond of praise, as it can diminish the genuine admiration that the beloved’s natural beauty deserves.

My tongue-tied Muse in manners holds her still,
While comments of your praise, richly compiled,
Reserve their character with golden quill,
And precious phrase by all the Muses filed.
I think good thoughts, whilst other 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.

Themes: Silent Admiration, Artistic Expression, Inner Praise

Explanation: Sonnet 85 contrasts the speaker’s silent admiration with the eloquent praises of other poets. Shakespeare’s muse is described as tongue-tied, choosing to silently appreciate the beloved while others compose elaborate verses. The poet’s thoughts and love for the beloved are profound, even if not articulated in polished words. The sonnet highlights the value of silent, heartfelt admiration over outwardly impressive but potentially superficial praise.

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.

Themes: Artistic Rivalry, Inspiration, Creative Struggle

Explanation: Sonnet 86 addresses the theme of artistic rivalry and the struggle for inspiration. Shakespeare questions whether another poet’s grand verses or supernatural inspiration caused his own creative thoughts to falter. Ultimately, he concludes that the true challenge was the beloved’s influence, which overwhelmed his ability to write, highlighting the powerful impact of the beloved on his creativity.

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 gav'st, 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.

Themes: Unworthiness, Separation, Illusion vs. Reality

Explanation: Sonnet 87 reflects on feelings of unworthiness and the end of a relationship. Shakespeare acknowledges that the beloved is too valuable for him and suggests that the beloved’s realization of their true worth has led to their separation. The poet compares his time with the beloved to a flattering dream that vanishes upon waking, emphasizing the theme of illusion versus reality and the bittersweet nature of their parting.

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 conceal'd, 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.

Themes: Self-Sacrifice, Loyalty, Unconditional Love

Explanation: Sonnet 88 explores the themes of self-sacrifice and unconditional love. Shakespeare expresses his willingness to support the beloved even if they turn against him. He is prepared to highlight his own faults to make the beloved appear more virtuous, demonstrating a deep sense of loyalty and devotion. The poet’s love is so strong that he is willing to bear all wrongs for the beloved’s sake, emphasizing the depth and selflessness of his feelings.

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 myself I'll vow debate,
For I must ne'er love him whom thou dost hate.

Themes: Loyalty, Self-Sacrifice, Unrequited Love

Explanation: Sonnet 89 highlights themes of loyalty and self-sacrifice. Shakespeare expresses a willingness to accept any faults the beloved may attribute to him, even to the point of altering his own behavior and appearance to align with those faults. He vows to distance himself completely and avoid any mention of the beloved, demonstrating the depth of his devotion and willingness to sacrifice his own well-being for the sake of the beloved’s happiness.

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 'scap'd this sorrow,
Come in the rearward of a conquer'd woe;
Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,
To linger out a purpos'd 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,
Compar'd with loss of thee, will not seem so.

Themes: Anticipation of Pain, Fortitude, Love’s Trials

Explanation: Sonnet 90 is a plea for the beloved to deliver any heartbreak swiftly and not prolong the suffering. Shakespeare asks for any impending rejection or hatred to come now, while he is already enduring other misfortunes. He argues that experiencing the worst upfront would make other sorrows more bearable. The sonnet captures the anticipation of pain and the desire to face it head-on rather than endure prolonged agony.

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.

Themes: True Value, Love vs. Worldly Goods, Vulnerability

Explanation: Sonnet 91 contrasts the various sources of pride and joy that people find in worldly possessions and attributes. Shakespeare declares that all these pale in comparison to the love of the beloved, which he values above birth, skill, wealth, and physical pleasures. However, he acknowledges a vulnerability—while possessing the beloved’s love makes him proud, losing it would render him utterly wretched, emphasizing the fragility of his happiness.

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.

Themes: Dependence, Constancy, Ignorance and Bliss

Explanation: Sonnet 92 reflects on the deep dependence the poet feels on the beloved’s love. Shakespeare declares that his life is tied to the beloved’s affection and that any withdrawal of love would end his existence. He finds a form of security in this dependence, acknowledging that as long as he believes in the beloved’s constancy, he can remain happy. The sonnet ends with the realization that ignorance of any potential infidelity allows him to live in blissful happiness, regardless of the truth.

So shall I live, supposing thou art true,
Like a deceived husband; so love's face
May still seem love to me, though alter'd 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!

Themes: Appearance vs. Reality, Trust, Deception

Explanation: Sonnet 93 explores the theme of appearance versus reality in the context of love and trust. Shakespeare reflects on the possibility of being deceived by the beloved’s outward appearance of love, even if their heart is elsewhere. He acknowledges that the beloved’s face always shows sweetness and love, making it difficult to discern any potential betrayal. The sonnet ends with a comparison to Eve’s apple, highlighting the contrast between external beauty and inner virtue, and the potential for deception that such a contrast creates.

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.

Themes: Power, Restraint, Corruption

Explanation: Sonnet 94 examines the nature of those who possess the power to harm but choose not to use it. Shakespeare praises the self-restraint of such individuals, comparing them to lords of their own faces, while others are merely stewards. The sonnet warns that even the most beautiful things can become corrupted, and when they do, their fall from grace is all the more significant. This metaphorical exploration underscores the value of integrity and the dangers of moral corruption.

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.

Themes: Beauty, Shame, Reputation

Explanation: Sonnet 95 addresses the tension between outward beauty and inner vice. Shakespeare reflects on how the beloved’s physical attractiveness makes their faults appear less severe, likening their beauty to a veil that hides imperfections. The sonnet warns that this privilege should not be abused, as even the sharpest knife loses its edge if misused. The poem emphasizes the importance of maintaining integrity despite one’s external charms.

Some say thy fault is youth, some wantonness;
Some say thy grace is youth and gentle sport;
Both grace and faults are loved 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 esteemed:
So are those errors that in thee are seen
To truths translated and for true things deemed.
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.

Themes: Perception, Influence, Integrity

Explanation: Sonnet 96 explores the dual nature of the beloved’s qualities, where faults and graces are often perceived interchangeably due to their charm. Shakespeare notes that the beloved’s errors are often seen as virtues, much like a base jewel appearing valuable on a queen’s finger. The sonnet warns of the potential for misuse of this influence, urging the beloved to maintain integrity, as their actions reflect on the speaker’s own reputation.

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 widowed 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.

Themes: Absence, Seasons, Emotional Coldness

Explanation: Sonnet 97 reflects on the speaker’s emotional state during a period of separation from the beloved, likening it to a harsh winter. Despite the physical season being summer, the speaker feels a profound sense of coldness and barrenness, as if it were December. The poem highlights the contrast between the fertile autumn and the emotional desolation experienced in the beloved’s absence, emphasizing how their presence brings warmth and life to the speaker’s world.

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 everything,
That heavy Saturn laughed and leaped 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.

Themes: Absence, Seasons, Nature's Reflection

Explanation: Sonnet 98 reflects on the poet's sense of loss during a springtime separation from the beloved. Despite the beauty and vitality of spring, the poet feels disconnected from its joys, seeing them as mere imitations of the beloved’s beauty. The natural world, with its flowers and birds, fails to inspire him as it once did, emphasizing how deeply the beloved’s absence impacts his perception and enjoyment of life.

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 dyed.
The lily I condemned for thy hand,
And buds of marjoram had stolen thy hair;
The roses fearfully on thorns did stand,
One blushing shame, another white despair;
A third, nor red nor white, had stolen of both,
And to his robbery had annexed thy breath;
But, for his theft, in pride of all his growth
A vengeful canker ate him up to death.
More flowers I noted, yet I none could see,
But sweet or colour it had stolen from thee.

Themes: Nature, Beauty, Borrowed Splendor

Explanation: Sonnet 99 accuses various flowers of stealing their beauty from the beloved. Shakespeare personifies the flowers, chiding them for their thefts of his beloved’s attributes. The violet, lily, marjoram, and roses are all seen as borrowing their colors and fragrances from the beloved. The poem underscores the idea that all natural beauty pales in comparison to the beloved’s, attributing any charm they possess to having stolen it from the beloved.

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.

Themes: Muse, Inspiration, Time

Explanation: Sonnet 100 is an appeal to the poet’s muse, questioning its long absence and urging it to return to its true purpose: singing the praises of the beloved. Shakespeare criticizes the muse for wasting its efforts on unworthy subjects and calls it back to celebrate the beloved’s beauty, which alone provides the muse with inspiration and power. The poet urges the muse to work against the ravages of time, immortalizing the beloved in verse faster than time can age them.

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.

Themes: Truth, Beauty, Eternal Praise

Explanation: Sonnet 101 chastises the muse for neglecting its duty to celebrate the beloved’s truth and beauty. Shakespeare argues that both truth and beauty are inherent in the beloved and that the muse is dignified by association with them. He anticipates the muse’s excuses, asserting that true beauty needs no embellishment but still deserves to be immortalized in poetry. The poet instructs the muse to fulfill its role, ensuring the beloved is praised for generations to come, preserving their current beauty for the future.

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 her 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.

Themes: Love’s Growth, Restraint, Expression

Explanation: Sonnet 102 explores the idea that love, though strong, may appear less vibrant over time. Shakespeare compares this mature love to the nightingale, which sings less frequently as summer progresses. He suggests that constant expression of love can diminish its value, and thus he sometimes refrains from voicing his feelings to preserve their significance. The sonnet highlights the balance between expressing love and maintaining its depth by not overburdening it with excessive declarations.

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.

Themes: Inadequacy, Beauty, Reflection

Explanation: Sonnet 103 laments the inadequacy of the poet's writing compared to the beloved’s beauty. Shakespeare expresses frustration that his Muse, despite having such a worthy subject, produces poetry that falls short. He suggests that the beloved's reflection in a mirror does more justice to their beauty than his verses ever could. The poem highlights the tension between artistic expression and the ineffable quality of true beauty, suggesting that some things are beyond the reach of words.

To me, fair friend, you never can be old,
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
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.

Themes: Timeless Beauty, Perception, Aging

Explanation: Sonnet 104 addresses the perception of the beloved's beauty over time. Shakespeare asserts that the beloved’s beauty remains unchanged to him, even as seasons have passed. Despite the passage of three years, the beloved appears as fresh as ever. The sonnet acknowledges the subtle, imperceptible changes that time brings, likening it to the slow movement of a clock’s hand. Ultimately, the poet declares that future generations will never know such beauty, as it has already reached its peak in the beloved.

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.

Themes: Consistency, Praise, Love’s Virtues

Explanation: Sonnet 105 defends the poet's consistent praise of the beloved, refuting the idea that his love is mere idolatry. Shakespeare emphasizes that his verses celebrate the beloved’s virtues of fairness, kindness, and truth, which remain constant. The sonnet highlights the unique combination of these three qualities in the beloved, arguing that such perfection has never before been found in one person. This constancy and the poet’s unwavering admiration are the central themes of his verse.

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.

Themes: Beauty, History, Prophecy

Explanation: Sonnet 106 reflects on how past poets have praised beauty in their works, seeing their descriptions as prophecies of the beloved’s current beauty. Shakespeare suggests that all historical praises of beauty were mere anticipations of the beloved, who embodies the perfection they attempted to describe. The sonnet expresses a sense of awe at the beloved’s beauty, acknowledging that even contemporary poets, despite witnessing such beauty firsthand, find themselves at a loss for adequate words to capture it fully.

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.

Themes: Love’s Endurance, Prophecy, Overcoming Fear

Explanation: Sonnet 107 celebrates the triumph of love over fear, uncertainty, and even death. Shakespeare reflects on recent events, such as eclipses and false prophecies, that have been proven wrong, reinforcing his belief in the enduring nature of his love. The sonnet declares that neither personal fears nor global predictions can alter the poet’s devotion. The beloved's beauty and the poet’s love will outlast even monumental symbols of power and history, preserved forever in verse.

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.

Themes: Eternal Love, Repetition, Timelessness

Explanation: Sonnet 108 reflects on the difficulty of finding new words to express enduring love. Shakespeare acknowledges that his expressions of love may seem repetitive, yet he compares them to daily prayers, which remain meaningful despite their repetition. The sonnet emphasizes the timeless nature of true love, which remains fresh and unaffected by the passage of time or physical changes. It highlights the enduring connection between the poet and the beloved, suggesting that genuine love transcends the effects of aging.

O! never say that I was false of heart,
Though absence seemed my flame to qualify.
As easy might I from myself 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.

Themes: Constancy, Absence, Redemption

Explanation: Sonnet 109 addresses the beloved, assuring them of the poet’s unwavering love despite periods of absence. Shakespeare declares that his heart remains true, equating separation from the beloved with separation from his own soul. He compares his return to a traveler’s homecoming, emphasizing that his love remains unchanged by time. The poet acknowledges human frailty but insists that nothing could cause him to forsake the beloved, whom he regards as his entire world.

Alas! 'tis true I have gone here and there,
And made myself a motley to the view,
Gor'd 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.

Themes: Repentance, True Love, Constancy

Explanation: Sonnet 110 is a confession of the poet’s past indiscretions and a reaffirmation of his commitment to the beloved. Shakespeare admits to having wandered and behaved foolishly, but these experiences have ultimately reinforced his love and devotion. He acknowledges past mistakes and the lessons they taught, culminating in a renewed appreciation for the beloved. The poet vows to remain faithful, regarding the beloved as a divine figure of love and seeking reconciliation and acceptance.

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.

Themes: Regret, Social Influence, Redemption

Explanation: Sonnet 111 expresses regret over the poet’s past influenced by public life and fortune. Shakespeare asks the beloved to blame Fortune, the personification of fate, for leading him into a life that tarnished his name and character. He compares his condition to that of a dyer’s hand stained by the work it does. Seeking pity and forgiveness, the poet vows to endure any remedy, no matter how bitter, to cleanse himself. He believes that the beloved’s pity and support are enough to help him overcome his past and find redemption.

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 are dead.

Themes: Redemption, Loyalty, Indifference to Public Opinion

Explanation: Sonnet 112 acknowledges the redemptive power of the beloved’s love and pity, which counteracts public scandal and judgment. Shakespeare declares that the beloved’s opinion is the only one that matters to him, dismissing the voices of critics and flatterers alike. He pledges his complete loyalty and devotion to the beloved, stating that they are his entire world. The sonnet emphasizes the poet’s indifference to public opinion, finding validation and redemption solely in the beloved’s regard.

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 untrue.

Themes: Separation, Perception, Idealization

Explanation: Sonnet 113 explores the effects of separation on the poet's perception. Since being apart from the beloved, the poet’s eye is influenced by his mind, rendering him unable to see anything without associating it with the beloved. The sonnet delves into the concept of idealization, where every sight, whether beautiful or ugly, transforms into the beloved’s image in the poet’s mind. This fusion of sight and thought emphasizes the depth of the poet’s affection, where the beloved’s presence dominates his consciousness.

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.

Themes: Perception, Flattery, Idealization

Explanation: Sonnet 114 examines whether the poet’s perception is distorted by flattery or true love. Shakespeare questions if his mind, now filled with thoughts of the beloved, is indulging in flattery by transforming all it sees into something resembling the beloved’s beauty. He debates whether this transformation is a result of love's alchemy or mere self-deception. Ultimately, the poet concludes that it is indeed flattery, but accepts it as a lesser sin, considering the joy and satisfaction it brings.

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?

Themes: Growth of Love, Time, Reflection

Explanation: Sonnet 115 reflects on the nature of love and its capacity to grow over time. Shakespeare revisits past declarations of love, admitting that they fall short of his current feelings. He acknowledges that time brings changes and uncertainties, influencing love’s expression. Despite this, the poet contemplates the paradox of crowning the present moment with the highest love while recognizing that love continues to grow. The sonnet underscores the evolving and deepening nature of true affection, even as it faces the challenges of time.

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.

Themes: True Love, Constancy, Timelessness

Explanation: Sonnet 116 is one of Shakespeare’s most famous sonnets, defining the nature of true love. The poet asserts that true love is unwavering and unchanging, even in the face of challenges and the passage of time. Love is described as a guiding star for lost ships, constant and reliable. It is not subject to time's whims, remaining strong even as physical beauty fades. The sonnet concludes with a bold declaration: if his understanding of love is proven wrong, then he has never written, and no man has ever truly 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.

Themes: Accusation, Remorse, Constancy

Explanation: Sonnet 117 is a plea for forgiveness, where the poet confesses to neglect and misdeeds. Shakespeare admits to having failed in his duties to the beloved and acknowledges having spent time with others and drifting away. He asks the beloved to note his faults but urges them not to be harsh in their judgment. The poet asserts that his actions were a test to prove the constancy and virtue of the beloved’s love, seeking understanding and reconciliation.

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.

Themes: Excess, Regret, Self-Inflicted Harm

Explanation: Sonnet 118 compares the poet’s actions in love to the practice of stimulating the appetite with bitters or purging to prevent illness. Shakespeare confesses that, despite the beloved’s sweetness, he sought out bitterness and turmoil as a way to prevent complacency. This approach backfired, causing real harm and regret. The sonnet reflects on the self-destructive nature of such actions and the realization that unnecessary measures can poison what is already good.

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 ill thrice more than I have spent.

Themes: Regret, Redemption, Transformation

Explanation: Sonnet 119 reflects on the poet's past mistakes and the destructive actions he took while under the influence of misguided emotions. Shakespeare describes drinking "Siren tears" and the turmoil it caused, leading to a cycle of hope and fear. However, he finds that these experiences, though painful, have ultimately led to a deeper understanding and a stronger, more resilient love. The sonnet highlights the paradox of growth through adversity and the possibility of redemption and transformation.

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.

Themes: Forgiveness, Empathy, Mutual Redemption

Explanation: Sonnet 120 deals with themes of forgiveness and mutual understanding. Shakespeare reflects on a past unkindness from the beloved, using it as a basis for understanding and forgiving his own transgressions. He acknowledges the pain both have caused each other and expresses a desire for mutual empathy and redemption. The poet concludes that their respective wrongs can serve as a form of ransom, balancing each other out and allowing both to move forward with a deeper sense of compassion and connection.

'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.

Themes: Perception, Integrity, Judgment

Explanation: Sonnet 121 tackles the themes of perception, integrity, and the judgment of others. Shakespeare argues that it is better to actually be vile than to be falsely accused of being so by others. He questions why others’ hypocritical judgments should affect him, asserting that people often see evil in others because of their own corrupt minds. The poet defends his own integrity, suggesting that others' opinions are often more reflective of their own vices than of his actions. The sonnet ends with a rejection of generalized evil, upholding personal truth over public perception.

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.

Themes: Memory, Eternal Love, Trust

Explanation: Sonnet 122 reflects on the theme of memory and the eternal nature of the poet’s love. Shakespeare addresses a gift of writing tables (tablets), stating that the beloved's essence is already deeply engraved in his mind and heart, far beyond the need for physical tokens. He emphasizes that true memory and love do not rely on external reminders but are kept alive within the soul. By discarding the physical tablets, he trusts in the permanence of his mental and emotional record, suggesting that keeping such a token would imply a fear of forgetting, which he does not have.

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.

Themes: Time, Change, Constancy

Explanation: Sonnet 123 confronts Time, challenging its claim to change the poet or his feelings. Shakespeare asserts that the constructs of Time, represented by pyramids and other monuments, are mere repetitions of what has already been seen. He rejects the notion that these temporal markers hold any real power over his constancy. The poet vows to remain true to himself and his love, defying Time’s attempts to alter his perception and feelings. This sonnet underscores the theme of enduring constancy in the face of Time’s relentless passage.

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-numbered 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.

Themes: Enduring Love, Stability, Resistance to Time

Explanation: Sonnet 124 explores the stability and resilience of the poet’s love, asserting that it is not dependent on fortune or time. Shakespeare claims that his love is not a product of changing circumstances or political influences but stands independently and robustly. Unlike fleeting passions that are swayed by external factors, his love remains constant and true. The poet concludes by pointing to those who have lived foolishly for transient gains and died for virtue, using them as a testament to the enduring nature of genuine love.

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.

Themes: Authenticity, Devotion, False Appearances

Explanation: Sonnet 125 reflects on the value of genuine devotion over outward displays of honour and grandeur. Shakespeare begins by dismissing the significance of bearing the canopy (a symbol of high honour) or laying grand foundations that ultimately prove transient. He criticizes those who focus on external appearances and superficial favours, losing their true essence in the process. Instead, the poet values sincere, mutual love, free from artifice. He concludes by rejecting false accusations and asserting that a true soul remains steadfast and uncontrollable by deceit.

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 show'st
Thy lovers withering, as thy sweet self grow'st.
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.
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Themes: Beauty, Time, Nature's Power

Explanation: Sonnet 126 addresses the beloved youth, acknowledging his power over time and nature. Shakespeare describes how the youth holds Time’s instruments—the hourglass and the sickle—indicating control over aging and death. The poet observes that as the youth matures, he highlights the aging of his lovers, contrasting his own growth with their decline. However, Nature, who has the ultimate power, will eventually reclaim her treasure. Despite the youth's temporary reprieve from aging, Nature’s final reckoning is inevitable. The unfinished lines at the end suggest the inescapable conclusion that even beauty and power must ultimately yield to time.

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,
Slandering creation with a false esteem:
Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe,
That every tongue says beauty should look so.

Themes: Beauty Standards, Authenticity, Change

Explanation: Sonnet 127 challenges the traditional standards of beauty, particularly the preference for fair complexions. Shakespeare argues that in the past, black was not considered beautiful, but now it is recognized as such, inheriting the title of beauty. He criticizes the artificial enhancements people use to conform to conventional beauty standards, which profane true beauty. The poet describes his mistress’s black eyes as symbols of mourning for the loss of authentic beauty, suggesting that true beauty lies in natural and unaltered features. The sonnet ultimately asserts that genuine beauty should be celebrated regardless of traditional norms.

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 blest than living lips.
Since saucy jacks so happy are in this,
Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss.

Themes: Music, Desire, Envy

Explanation: Sonnet 128 is an expression of the poet's envy and desire as he watches his beloved play music. Shakespeare compares the beloved to music itself and describes the way their fingers move over the instrument, producing beautiful sounds. He envies the “jacks” (keys of the instrument) that receive the touch of the beloved’s fingers, wishing that his own lips could be so fortunate. The poet expresses a longing for physical closeness, concluding with a request for the beloved to grant him a kiss, while the instrument receives the touch of their fingers.

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.

Themes: Lust, Regret, Human Nature

Explanation: Sonnet 129 explores the destructive and contradictory nature of lust. Shakespeare describes lust as a consuming force that leads to shame and regret once fulfilled. He portrays it as deceitful, violent, and ultimately unsatisfying, leading to a cycle of pursuit and disdain. The sonnet highlights the paradox of lust being both intensely desired and deeply regretted once attained. The final couplet reflects on the irony that, despite knowing the consequences, people are still drawn to the fleeting pleasure that ultimately leads to suffering.

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.

Themes: Realistic Love, Authenticity, Beauty

Explanation: Sonnet 130 is a humorous and realistic take on the traditional love sonnet. Shakespeare subverts the conventions of romantic poetry by presenting a candid and unidealized description of his mistress. He acknowledges that her physical attributes do not match the exaggerated comparisons often used in poetry, but this does not diminish his love for her. The sonnet celebrates authentic love, suggesting that genuine affection does not rely on false comparisons or idealized beauty. The final couplet asserts the poet’s sincere and rare love for his mistress, valuing truth over poetic flattery.

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.

Themes: Beauty, Cruelty, Judgment

Explanation: Sonnet 131 addresses the beloved's tyrannical beauty, which has a cruel impact on the poet’s heart. Shakespeare acknowledges that some might not see the beloved's face as beautiful enough to cause such deep emotions, but he insists on the truth of his own feelings. The poet describes the beloved’s dark features as the fairest in his eyes, emphasizing personal perception over societal standards. He concludes by noting that the only darkness in the beloved is in their actions, which has led to the slanderous judgments from others.

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.

Themes: Beauty, Compassion, Mourning

Explanation: Sonnet 132 focuses on the beloved’s eyes, which appear to mourn for the poet’s suffering caused by the beloved's disdain. Shakespeare praises the dark eyes, comparing them to celestial bodies, and suggests that they look most fitting on the beloved’s face when they show pity. He urges the beloved’s heart to match the compassion shown in their eyes, mourning for the poet’s pain. The sonnet concludes with a bold declaration that if the beloved’s eyes show true compassion, then true beauty must be dark, and all who lack such a complexion are inferior.

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 threefold 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 gaol:
And yet thou wilt; for I, being pent in thee,
Perforce am thine, and all that is in me.

Themes: Betrayal, Friendship, Love's Cruelty

Explanation: Sonnet 133 addresses the pain caused by the beloved's cruelty, which affects not only the poet but also his dear friend. Shakespeare curses the beloved’s heart for causing such deep wounds and questions why it is necessary to enslave his friend as well. The poet feels a profound sense of abandonment, as the beloved has taken both his own heart and his friend's. Despite this torment, the poet offers to imprison his heart with the beloved if his friend's heart can be freed. However, he acknowledges that, ultimately, he is powerless and completely at the mercy of the beloved.

So, now I have confessed that he is thine,
And I myself 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.

Themes: Debt, Ownership, Loss

Explanation: Sonnet 134 deals with the themes of debt and ownership in the context of love and friendship. Shakespeare confesses that his friend now belongs to the beloved, and he himself is bound by the beloved's will. The poet offers to forfeit himself if only the beloved would release his friend, but he knows this will not happen. The beloved is greedy, and the friend is loyal, trapped in a bond for the poet's sake. The sonnet likens this situation to a financial arrangement, with the beloved acting as a usurer who takes everything. The poet laments that he has lost both his friend and himself to the beloved's possession.

Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will,
And Will to boot, and Will in overplus;
More than enough am I that vex 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.

Themes: Desire, Identity, Wordplay

Explanation: Sonnet 135 plays with the word "Will," referring to both the poet’s name and sexual desire. Shakespeare addresses his beloved, who has her wish (Will) and more. He asks if the beloved will not accept his will among the many others. Using the metaphor of the sea, which continually receives water, he suggests that the beloved, already rich in Will, should accept his desire to further enrich her. The sonnet concludes with a plea for acceptance and to consider him as the one desired Will among many, highlighting the complex interplay of identity and desire.

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 stores' 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.

Themes: Identity, Acceptance, Love

Explanation: Sonnet 136 continues the wordplay on "Will," asking the beloved to accept him despite any hesitation. Shakespeare suggests that the beloved can justify his closeness by acknowledging his name and desire. He argues that in matters of great importance, adding one more does not make a significant difference, and thus he should be accepted among the beloved’s many desires. The poet requests to be considered, even if only as one among many, because his name, Will, aligns with the beloved’s desires. The sonnet concludes with a plea for the beloved to love him for his name.

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.

Themes: Deception, Love, Perception

Explanation: Sonnet 137 explores the theme of deception in love, questioning how Love has made the poet’s eyes see false beauty. Shakespeare criticizes Love for making his eyes unable to see true beauty, instead mistaking the worst for the best. He laments that his eyes, influenced by biased views, have led his heart to be tied to false judgments. The poet questions why his heart perceives a common place as special and why his eyes deny the truth. He concludes by acknowledging that both his heart and eyes have erred in recognizing true beauty and are now trapped in this false perception.

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.

Themes: Deception, Aging, Trust

Explanation: Sonnet 138 addresses mutual deception in a relationship, where both lovers lie to maintain the illusion of trust. Shakespeare acknowledges that when his lover claims to be truthful, he pretends to believe her, despite knowing she lies. He allows her to think he is naive to worldly deceit, and she lets him believe she considers him youthful. Both suppress the truth: her infidelity and his aging. The sonnet concludes by highlighting that in love, the appearance of trust is often more valued than honesty. Their mutual flattery through lies creates a comfort that sustains their relationship.

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'er-pressed defense 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.

Themes: Betrayal, Love, Vulnerability

Explanation: Sonnet 139 addresses the pain caused by the beloved’s unkindness and deceit. Shakespeare pleads with his lover not to justify the wrongs done to him with false kindness. He prefers to be wounded by words rather than by deceitful glances. The poet asks for honesty about her infidelity, rather than subtle, hurtful looks. He suggests that her power alone is enough to break his defenses, without the need for cunning. The poet acknowledges that her beauty has been his enemy, but he asks her to spare him further pain by being direct. The sonnet concludes with a plea for a swift end to his suffering, either through honesty or a fatal look.

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.

Themes: Cruelty, Patience, Communication

Explanation: Sonnet 140 addresses the beloved’s cruelty and the poet’s patience. Shakespeare urges the beloved to be wise in their cruelty and not push him to the brink, lest his sorrow compel him to speak out in pain. He suggests that it would be better for the beloved to be honest, even if the truth is not loving. Comparing his situation to a sick person who only wants to hear hopeful news, he warns that despair could lead to madness and damaging accusations. The poet fears the world’s tendency to believe slander, and he pleads for the beloved to maintain appearances, even if their heart is unfaithful.

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 unsway'd 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.

Themes: Perception, Love, Conflict

Explanation: Sonnet 141 explores the conflict between the poet’s senses and his heart. Shakespeare admits that his eyes do not love the beloved, noting many flaws, and his other senses are not pleased by her. Despite this, his heart continues to love her against his better judgment. The sonnet highlights the irrational nature of love, where the heart overrides the senses. The poet’s foolish heart becomes a slave to the beloved’s proud heart, enduring pain as both a punishment and a testament to his unwavering devotion. The final couplet acknowledges the paradoxical gain in suffering for love.

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 seal'd false bonds of love as oft as mine,
Robb'd 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!

Themes: Sin, Hypocrisy, Reciprocity

Explanation: Sonnet 142 addresses the themes of sin and hypocrisy in love. Shakespeare admits his love is sinful, while his beloved’s virtue is to hate his sin. He suggests that if the beloved compares her actions to his, she will find she is not blameless either. The poet accuses the beloved of sealing false bonds and committing infidelities similar to his own. He argues for the legitimacy of his love by pointing out the beloved’s similar behavior. The sonnet calls for mutual pity and understanding, suggesting that the beloved’s desire for hidden love might be denied by her own example of denying love to the poet.

Lo! as a careful housewife runs to catch
One of her feather'd 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.

Themes: Pursuit, Neglect, Hope

Explanation: Sonnet 143 uses the metaphor of a housewife chasing a runaway chicken while neglecting her child to depict the beloved’s pursuit of another. Shakespeare compares himself to the neglected child chasing after the beloved, who is preoccupied with her own desires. He acknowledges her pursuit but hopes that once she achieves her goal, she will return to him with kindness and affection. The sonnet expresses the poet’s longing for the beloved’s attention and care, emphasizing the pain of neglect and the hope for eventual reconciliation and fulfillment of mutual desires.

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 colour’d 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 turn’d 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.

Themes: Duality, Temptation, Internal Conflict

Explanation: Sonnet 144 explores the poet’s internal conflict between two loves, represented as a good angel and a bad angel. The good angel is a fair man who brings comfort, while the bad angel is a dark woman who brings despair. Shakespeare describes the struggle between these two influences, with the bad angel attempting to corrupt the good one. The poet suspects the worst but cannot be certain, as both are away from him and possibly influencing each other. The sonnet concludes with the poet living in doubt, waiting to see if the bad angel will ultimately corrupt the good one, highlighting the themes of temptation and moral struggle.

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.'

Themes: Mercy, Love, Transformation

Explanation: Sonnet 145 is a playful and tender sonnet that highlights the transformative power of love and mercy. Shakespeare recounts how his beloved initially uttered the harsh words 'I hate' but quickly softened them when she saw his distressed reaction. Her heart was moved to mercy, and she changed her statement to 'I hate not you,' thus saving him from despair. This change is likened to the transition from night to day, illustrating how love and kindness can dispel darkness and bring light.

Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,
[Thrall to] 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 shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,
And, Death once dead, there's no more dying then.

Themes: Mortality, Inner Life, Spiritual Wealth

Explanation: Sonnet 146 is a reflective poem that addresses the soul, questioning why it focuses on outward appearances and material wealth rather than inner spiritual health. Shakespeare criticizes the soul for investing in the temporary and decaying body instead of seeking eternal spiritual riches. He urges the soul to live off the body's suffering and invest in divine rewards, suggesting that true wealth is found within. The sonnet concludes with a paradoxical statement that by nourishing the soul and disregarding the body, one can conquer death.

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.

Themes: Destructive Love, Madness, Deception

Explanation: Sonnet 147 explores the theme of love as a destructive and consuming force. Shakespeare compares his love to a fever that worsens the more it is indulged. His reason, acting as a physician, has abandoned him because he ignored its advice. The poet recognizes that his desire leads to death, and he is now beyond cure, driven to madness by his unrelenting longing. The sonnet concludes with a stark revelation that the beloved, whom he swore was fair and bright, is actually as dark as hell, highlighting the deceptive and damaging nature of his obsession.

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.

Themes: Love, Perception, Deception

Explanation: Sonnet 148 addresses the theme of love’s impact on perception. Shakespeare laments that love has distorted his vision, making him see falsely and impairing his judgment. He questions how his eyes can deem something fair that the world does not recognize as such. The poet acknowledges that love's eye cannot be true because it is clouded by tears and sorrow. This distorted vision prevents him from seeing clearly, much like the sun obscured by clouds. The sonnet concludes with the idea that love keeps him blind with tears to prevent him from recognizing its faults.

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.

Themes: Unrequited Love, Self-Sacrifice, Blindness

Explanation: Sonnet 149 explores the theme of unrequited love and self-sacrifice. Shakespeare questions how the beloved can deny his love when he constantly sides with her, even against himself. He describes how he neglects his own well-being and becomes a tyrant to himself for her sake. The poet acknowledges that he aligns himself with those the beloved dislikes and punishes himself when she is displeased with him. He recognizes that he values her flaws above his own merits, driven by her slightest glance. The sonnet concludes with a resigned acceptance of her cruelty, noting that she loves those who can see, while he remains blindly devoted.

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.

Themes: Paradox, Love’s Power, Unworthiness

Explanation: Sonnet 150 delves into the paradoxical nature of love’s power. Shakespeare marvels at the beloved’s ability to sway his heart despite her flaws. He questions how she makes him deny his own perceptions and believe that her worst qualities surpass the best in others. The poet acknowledges that he loves her more as she gives him more reasons to hate her. This contradiction highlights the irrationality and intensity of his feelings. The sonnet concludes with a plea for mutual love, suggesting that if her unworthiness can inspire such devotion in him, he deserves to be loved by her in return.

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.

Themes: Lust, Conscience, Conflict

Explanation: Sonnet 151 explores the tension between physical desire and moral conscience. Shakespeare personifies Love as too young to understand conscience but acknowledges that conscience arises from love. He appeals to his beloved not to accuse him of faults, as she herself may be guilty. The poet's body betrays his higher nature by succumbing to lust, justifying his physical desire as a form of love. The sonnet concludes with the acceptance that he rises and falls for the beloved, driven by both love and desire, and that conscience should not condemn this.

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 I,
To swear against the truth so foul a lie!

Themes: Betrayal, Oaths, Hypocrisy

Explanation: Sonnet 152 delves into themes of betrayal and hypocrisy in love. Shakespeare admits to being forsworn in his love for the beloved, who is equally guilty of breaking vows. The poet reflects on the mutual breaches of faith, noting that his transgressions are more numerous. He confesses to making false vows about the beloved's virtues and constancy, and in doing so, he has betrayed his own honesty. The sonnet concludes with the acknowledgment that he has lied about the beloved's fairness, recognizing the falsehoods in their relationship.

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.

Themes: Love, Healing, Mythology

Explanation: Sonnet 153 uses mythological imagery to explore themes of love and healing. Shakespeare describes how Cupid, the god of love, left his burning torch and fell asleep. A maiden of Diana, the goddess of chastity, extinguished the torch in a cold fountain, which then became a hot bath known for its healing properties. The poet, struck by love's fire kindled anew by his mistress's eyes, sought relief in this bath but found no cure. He concludes that the true remedy for his love-sickness lies in his mistress's eyes, symbolizing the enduring and powerful nature of his love.

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.

Themes: Love, Healing, Mythology

Explanation: Sonnet 154 continues the mythological theme of the previous sonnet. Shakespeare recounts how Cupid, the god of love, was disarmed of his flaming torch by a chaste nymph. She quenched the torch in a cool well, which then became a hot bath with healing properties. The poet, suffering from love's wounds inflicted by his mistress, sought healing in this bath but found that the water, though heated by love's fire, could not cool his passion. The sonnet concludes with the observation that love's fire is enduring and cannot be quenched, highlighting the poet's acceptance of his unrelenting love.