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Shakespeare's sonnets.

Charles Robinson, from  The Songs and Sonnets of William Shakespeare,  color frontispiece, 1915. Folger Shakespeare Library.

Introduction to the Sonnets

Few collections of poems—indeed, few literary works in general—intrigue, challenge, tantalize, and reward as do Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Almost all of them love poems, the Sonnets philosophize, celebrate, attack, plead, and express pain, longing, and despair, all in a tone of voice that rarely rises above a reflective murmur, all spoken as if in an inner monologue or dialogue, and all within the tight structure of the English sonnet form.

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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.

— Sonnet 18, lines 1–4

When my love swears that she is made of truth I do believe her though I know she lies

— Sonnet 138, lines 1–2

Shakespeare’s Sonnets in our collection

A selection of Folger collection items related to Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Find more in our digital image collection

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Essays and resources from The Folger Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Learn more about Shakespeare, his Sonnets, their language, and their history from the experts behind our edition.

Shakespeare’s Life An essay about Shakespeare and the time in which he lived

About Shakespeare’s Sonnets An introduction to the themes and interpretations of the Sonnets

Reading Shakespeare’s Language A guide for understanding Shakespeare’s words, sentences, and poetic techniques

An Introduction to This Text A description of the publishing history of the Sonnets and our editors’ approach to this edition

Textual Notes A record of the variants in the early printings of this text

Appendix of Intertextual Material Select excerpts from other works that Shakespeare references

A Modern Perspective An essay by Lynne Magnusson

Further Reading Suggestions from our experts on where to learn more

Index of First Lines A list of the first lines of the Sonnets

Related blog posts and podcasts

Excerpt: "shakespeare without a life" by margreta de grazia.

Did Shakespeare give much thought to how his works would survive after his death? Margreta de Grazia argues that his sonnets show he did.

Billy Collins on Writing Short Poems and Reading Shakespeare's Sonnets

Poet Billy Collins talks about humanizing Shakespeare and other literary titans, delves into his own work and inspirations, and reads from his new collection, Musical Tables .

Order It: Sonnet 29

Sonnet 29 (“When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes”) is a famous example of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Try our quiz to see if you can put its lines in order.

Shakespeare's Sonnets in the Folger's Collection

Assistant Curator of Collections Elizabeth deBold shares items related to Shakespeare’s sonnets, part of a presentation preceding the October 5 poetry reading with Diane Seuss and t’ai freedom ford.

All the Sonnets of Shakespeare, with Paul Edmondson

Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 167 Over 400 years after Shakespeare’s sonnets were first published in 1609, what is left to learn? All the Sonnets of Shakespeare, a new edition of the sonnets published in 2020, takes some bold steps to help…

Order It: Sonnet 98

It’s springtime, and Sonnet 98 is a wonderful seasonal selection from Shakespeare. Take this quiz to see if you can put the sonnet’s 14 lines into their correct order.

Teaching Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Use the Folger Method to teach Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Become a Teacher Member to get exclusive access to lesson plans and professional development.

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Sonnets & Social Justice

Sonnet performances: shakespeare’s sonnets as scripts.

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Shakespeare’s Sisters and Modern Sonnets

Spenser, shakespeare, and the blazon, easing into shakespeare with edna st. vincent millay’s, “what my lips have kissed, and where and why”, shakespeare’s sonnet 138: a close reading module, the english sonnet: michael drayton, petrarch, father of the sonnet, choral reading: sonnet 18, writing a group sonnet: shakespeare’s sonnets, juicy lesson choral reading imtiaz dharker’s “the trick” and shakespeare’s sonnet 43, group scenes: shakespeare’s sonnets, choral reading with shakespeare’s sonnet 43 and imtiaz dharker’s “the trick”, shakespeare sonnets in the classroom, early printed texts.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets were first printed in 1609 in a quarto published by Thomas Thorpe. That edition is generally considered the authoritative text, and modern editors usually follow it as their source. Two of the poems in the 1609 sonnets (Sonnets 138 and 144) were published in the 1599 collection  The Passionate Pilgrim ; although the entire volume was attributed to Shakespeare, the collection is in fact a miscellany of poems by different authors. Some scholars, however, believe that the two sonnets by Shakespeare in that volume represent versions closer to Shakespeare’s manuscript than the 1609 versions. The sonnets were republished in 1640 by John Benson in a form very different from the 1609 collection, including a different order and individually titled poems. The Folger edition of the sonnets, like that of other modern editions, follows the 1609 text.

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3.3: William Shakespeare (1564–1616)—The Sonnets

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Learning Objectives

• Identify the English sonnet structure of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
• Recognize vestiges of the Italian sonnet structure in the content of some Shakespearian sonnets.
• Analyze the use of 5 key themes in Shakespeare’s sonnets: time, poetry, beauty, love, and friendship.

William Shakespeare  (1564–1616) is undoubtedly the most well-known and revered name in British literature.

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William Shakespeare

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Although entire books of speculation about Shakespeare’s personal life and history abound, little documentary evidence exists. The  Folger Shakespeare Library , the  British Library , and  BBC Historic Figures  provide basic biographical information.

His  birth, his marriage, the births of his children , and his death are recorded in the  parish records of Holy Trinity Church  in Stratford-upon-Avon. Also, a few  records of business transactions and a few government documents  provide enough information for scholars to know that he lived in several places in London, bought a large house in Stratford-upon-Avon, and was involved in some legal proceedings. Shakespeare’s  will  survives in the National Archives.

Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Shakespeare’s grave in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.

• Facsimile of The Sonnets Quarto One . The Library of the University of California, Los Angeles.  Internet Shakespeare Editions . University of Toronto.
• Sonnets .  Open Source Shakespeare: An Experiment in Literary Technology . George Mason University.
• Shakespeare’s Sonnets by William Shakespeare .  Project Gutenberg .
• Sonnets .  Electronic Text Center . University of Virginia Library.

The Sonnets

Although Shakespearian sonnets are named for Shakespeare, he was not the first, or the only, person to write sonnets in this form. And not all of his sonnets are entirely English in form. Shakespeare also used elements of the Italian form.

Shakespeare’s sonnets do not constitute a typical sonnet sequence because they do not all address a single topic. By the time Shakespeare was writing his sonnets, the sonnet sequence, usually tracing a love story, had declined in popularity. However, there are five themes that appear throughout all his sonnets: time, poetry, beauty, love, and friendship.

Statue of Shakespeare at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon Avon.

Some scholars, such  Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine , editors of the  New Folger Library Shakespeare edition of Shakespeare’s Sonnets , view Shakespeare’s sonnets as autobiographical, referring to “the story that the sequence as a whole seems to tell about Shakespeare’s love life.”

Other critics find that interpretations of Shakespeare’s sonnets often reveal as much or more about the age in which the critiques are written than about the sonnets themselves. Michael Schoenfeldt, for example, writing in  The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare’s Poetry  (Ed. Patrick Cheney. Cambridge University Press, 2007. Cambridge Collections Online.) asserts that “… the Sonnets have frequently functioned as a mirror in which cultures reveal their own critical presuppositions about the nature of poetic creation and the comparative instabilities of gender, race, and class. Although the Sonnets have proven particularly amenable to some of the central developments of late twentieth-century modes of criticism—particularly feminism and gender and gay studies—they continue to be richer and more complex than anything that can be said about them.”

Although some scholars read Shakespeare’s sonnets as autobiographical, others remind us that in literature the narrative voice should not be assumed to be the author but is instead a persona created by the author. Scholar Helen Vendler, for example, uses the term “fictive speaker” in reference to the speaker of the sonnets ( The Art of Shakespeare’s Sonnets . Harvard University Press, 1997).

Key Takeaways

• Shakespeare’s sonnets consistently develop 5 themes: time, poetry, beauty, love, and friendship.
• Shakespeare’s sonnets are English in structure although some sonnets retain elements of the Italian structure.
• Many theories of literary criticism posit that Shakespeare’s sonnets, like most literature, should not be read autobiographically.
• In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29, identify elements that belong to the Petrarchan or Italian tradition. Also locate elements that would characterize the sonnet as an English sonnet.
• In Sonnets 55 and 73, identify the topic of each of the three quatrains. What images are developed in each quatrain? How are these images related? How do the couplets function in these two sonnets?
• In Sonnet 130, how does the speaker address the Petrarchan convention? How does the couplet affect the reader’s perception of the rest of the sonnet?
• “ Excerpts from Shakespeare’s Will .” Treasures.  The National Archives .
• “ Shakespeare .”  Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon .
• “ The Shakespeare Paper Trail: The Early Years .” British History In-depth. BBC.
• “ The Shakespeare Paper Trail: The Later Years .” British History In-depth. BBC.
• “ Shakespeare’s Biography .”  Shakespeare Resource Center .
• “ Shakespeare’s Life .” Folger Shakespeare Library.
• “ Shakespeare’s Life .” Treasures in Full: Shakespeare in Quarto. British Library.
• William Shakespeare . Dr. Carol Lowe. McLennan Community College.
• “ William Shakespeare .” Historic Figures. BBC.
• Facsimile of The Sonnets Quarto One  1609 at the Library of the University of California, Los Angeles.  Internet Shakespeare Editions . University of Toronto.
• Open Source Shakespeare : An Experiment in Literary Technology . George Mason University.
• Sonnets . Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616.  Electronic Text Center . University of Virginia Library.
• Shakespeare’s Sonnets . Read by Sir John Gielgud. HarperAudio.  Internet Multicasting Service .
• Sonnets . By William Shakespeare.  LibriVox .
• Sonnet Central Listening Room .
• “ William Shakespeare .” Dr. Carol Lowe. McLennan Community College.
• “ William Shakespeare .”  Great Britons: Treasures from the National Portrait Gallery, London .

Sonnet 130 Summary & Analysis by William Shakespeare

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

"Sonnet 130" was written by the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare. Though most likely written in the 1590s, the poem wasn't published until 1609. Like many other sonnets from the same period, Shakespeare's poem wrestles with beauty, love, and desire. He tries to find a more authentic, realistic way to talk about these things in the sonnet, and gleefully dismisses the highly artificial poems of praise his peers were writing. Shakespeare's poem also departs from his contemporaries in terms of formal structure — it is a new kind of sonnet—the "Shakespearean" sonnet.

• Read the full text of “Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun”

The Full Text of “Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun”

1 My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; 

2 Coral is far more red than her lips' red; 

3 If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; 

4 If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. 

5 I have seen roses damasked, red and white, 

6 But no such roses see I in her cheeks; 

7 And in some perfumes is there more delight 

8 Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. 

9 I love to hear her speak, yet well I know 

10 That music hath a far more pleasing sound; 

11 I grant I never saw a goddess go; 

12 My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. 

13    And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare 

14    As any she belied with false compare.

“Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” Summary

“sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” themes.

Beauty and Love

• See where this theme is active in the poem.

Love, Personality, and the Superficial

Line-by-line explanation & analysis of “sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun”.

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. 

Lines 13-14

   And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare     As any she belied with false compare.

“Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” Symbols

• See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

Parallelism

End-stopped line, “sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun”

Rhyme scheme, “sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” speaker, “sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” setting, literary and historical context of “sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun”, more “sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” resources, external resources.

Harryette Mullen's "Dim Lady" — Read the full text of Harryette Mullen's "Dim Lady," a rewriting of Shakespeare's Sonnet 130.

"Sonnet 130" Glossary — A glossary and commentary on Sonnet 130 from Buckingham University.

1609 Quarto Printing of Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 — An image of Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 as it appeared in its first printing, in 1609.

Reading of "Sonnet 130" — Ian Midlane reads "Sonnet 130" for the BBC, introduced by some smooth jazz.

Blazon Lady — See an image of Charles Berger's blazon lady and read Thomas Campion's contemporaneous blazon. 

Sidney's Astrophil and Stella #9 — Read the full text of Sidney's earlier blazon, Astrophil and Stella #9.  

LitCharts on Other Poems by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Sonnet 129: Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame

Sonnet 12: When I do count the clock that tells the time

Sonnet 138: When my love swears that she is made of truth

Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes

Sonnet 147: My love is as a fever, longing still

Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Sonnet 19: Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws

Sonnet 20: A woman’s face with nature’s own hand painted

Sonnet 27: "Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed"

Sonnet 29: When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes

Sonnet 30: When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

Sonnet 33: Full many a glorious morning have I seen

Sonnet 45: The other two, slight air and purging fire

Sonnet 55: Not marble nor the gilded monuments

Sonnet 60: Like as the waves make towards the pebbl'd shore

Sonnet 65 ("Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea")

Sonnet 71: No longer mourn for me when I am dead

Sonnet 73: That time of year thou mayst in me behold

Sonnet 94: "They that have power to hurt"

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Take your pick of Shakespeare’s sonnets below, along with a modern English interpretation of each one aid understanding.

Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets published in his ‘quarto’ in 1609, covering themes such as the passage of time, mortality, love, beauty, infidelity, and jealousy. The first 126 of Shakespeare’s sonnets are addressed to a young man, and the last 28 addressed to a woman – a mysterious ‘dark lady’.

Jump to a section: Read all sonnets | Famous sonnets |  Publishing the sonnets | Sonnet dedications  

What is a Shakespearean sonnet?

Shakespeare’s sonnets are poems of expressive ideas and thoughts that are layered with multiple meanings, and always have two things in common:

1. All sonnets have fourteen lines

2. All sonnets are written in iambic pentameter

Read more about what a sonnet is , and iambic pentameter .

Read all 154 of Shakespeare’s sonnets

Take your pick from the list of Shakespeare sonnets below (or learn how to write a sonnet of your own!):

Sonnet 1: From Fairest Creatures We Desire Increase

Sonnet 2: When Forty Winters Shall Besiege Thy Brow

Sonnet 3: Look In Thy Glass, And Tell The Face Thou Viewest

Sonnet 4: Unthrifty Loveliness, Why Dost Thou Spend

Sonnet 5: Those Hours, That With Gentle Work Did Frame

Sonnet 6: Then Let Not Winter’s Ragged Hand Deface

Sonnet 7: Lo! In The Orient When The Gracious Light

Sonnet 8: Music To Hear, Why Hear’st Thou Music Sadly?

Sonnet 9: Is It For Fear To Wet A Widow’s Eye

Sonnet 10: For Shame Deny That Thou Bear’st Love To Any

Sonnet 11: As Fast As Thou Shalt Wane, So Fast Thou Grow

Sonnet 12: When I Do Count The Clock That Tells Time

Sonnet 13: O! That You Were Your Self! But, Love, You Are

Sonnet 14: Not From The Stars Do I My Judgement Pluck

Sonnet 15: When I Consider Everything That Grows

Sonnet 16: But Wherefore Do Not You A Mightier Way

Sonnet 17: Who Will Believe In My Verse In Time To Come

Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day?

Sonnet 19: Devouring Time, Blunt Thou The Lion’s Paw

Sonnet 20: A Woman’s Face With Nature’s Own Hand Painted

Sonnet 21: So It Is Not With Me As With That Muse

Sonnet 22: My Glass Shall Not Persuade Me I Am Old

Sonnet 23: As An Unperfect Actor On The Stage

Sonnet 24: Mine Eye Hath Play’d The Painter and Hath Steel’d

Sonnet 25: Let Those Who Are In Favour With Their Stars

Sonnet 26: Lord Of My Love, To Whom In Vassalage

Sonnet 27: Weary With Toil, I Haste To My Bed

Sonnet 28: How Can I Then Return In Happy Plight

Sonnet 29: When In Disgrace With Fortune and Men’s Eyes

Sonnet 30: When To The Sessions Of Sweet Silent Thought

Sonnet 31: Thy Bosom Is Endeared With All Hearts

Sonnet 32: If Thou Survive My Well-Contented Day

Sonnet 33: Full Many A Glorious Morning I Have Seen

Sonnet 34: Why Didst Thou Promise Such A Beauteous Day

Sonnet 35: No More Be Grieved At That Which Thou Hast Done

Sonnet 36: Let Me Confess That We Two Must Be Twain

Sonnet 37: As A Decrepit Father Takes Delight

Sonnet 38: How Can My Muse Want Subject To Invent

Sonnet 39: O! How Thy Worth With Manners May I Sing

Sonnet 40: Take All My Loves, My Love, Yea Take Them All

Sonnet 41: Those Pretty Wrongs That Liberty Commits

Sonnet 42: That Thou Hast It Is Not All My Grief

Sonnet 43: When Most I Wink, Then Do Mine Eyes Best See

Sonnet 44: If The Dull Substance Of My Flesh Were Thought

Sonnet 45: That Thou Hast It Is Not All My Grief

Sonnet 46: Mine Eye And Heart Are At A Mortal War

Sonnet 47: Betwixt Mine Eye And Heart A League Is Took

Sonnet 48: How Careful Was I When I Took My Way

Sonnet 49: Against That Time, If Ever That Time Come

Sonnet 50: How Heavy Do I Journey On The Way

Sonnet 51: Thus Can My Love Excuse The Slow Offence

Sonnet 52: So Am I As The Rich, Whose Blessed Key

Sonnet 53: What Is Your Substance, Whereof Are You Made

Sonnet 54: O! How Much More Doth Beauty Beauteous Seem

Sonnet 55: O! Not Marble, Nor The Gilded Monuments

Sonnet 56: Sweet Love, Renew Thy Force; Be It Not Said

Sonnet 57: Being Your Slave What Should I Do But Tend

Sonnet 58: That God Forbid, That Made Me First Your Slave

Sonnet 59: If There Be Nothing New, But That Which Is

Sonnet 60: Like As The Waves Make Towards The Pebbled Shore

Sonnet 61: Is It Thy Will, Thy Image Should Keep Open

Sonnet 62: Sin Of Self-love Possesseth All Mine Eye

Sonnet 63: Against My Love Shall Be As I Am Now

Sonnet 64: When I Have Seen By Time’s Fell Hand Defac’d

Sonnet 65: Since Brass, Nor Stone, Nor Earth, Nor Boundless Sea

Sonnet 66: Tired For All These, For Restful Death I Cry

Sonnet 67: Ah! Wherefore With Infection Should He Live

Sonnet 68: In Days Long Since, Before These Last So Bad

Sonnet 69: Those Parts Of Thee That The World’s Eye Doth View

Sonnet 70: That Thou Art Blamed Shall Not Be Thy Defect

Sonnet 71: No Longer Mourn For Me When I Am Dead

Sonnet 72: O! Lest The World Should Task You To Recite

Sonnet 73: That Time Of Year Thou Mayst In Me Behold

Sonnet 74: But Be Contented When That Fell Arrest

Sonnet 75: So Are You To My Thoughts As Food To Life

Sonnet 76: Why Is My Verse So Barren Of New Pride

Sonnet 77: Thy Glass Will Show Thee How Thy Beauties Wear

Sonnet 78: So Oft Have I Invoked Thee For My Muse

Sonnet 79: Whilst I Alone Did Call Upon Thy Aid

Sonnet 80: O! How I Faint When I Do Write Of You

Sonnet 81: Or I Shall Live Your Epitaph To Make

Sonnet 82: I Grant Thou Wert Not Married To My Muse

Sonnet 83: I Never Saw That You Did Painting Need

Sonnet 84: Who Is It That Says Most, Which Can Say More

Sonnet 85: My Tongue-Tied Muse In Manners Holds Her Still

Sonnet 86: Was It The Proud Sail Of His Great Verse

Sonnet 87: Farewell! Thou Art Too Dear For My Possessing

Sonnet 88: When Thou Shalt Be Dispos’d To Set Me Light

Sonnet 89: Say That Thou Didst Forsake Me For Some Fault

Sonnet 90: Then Hate Me When Thou Wilt; If Ever, Now

Sonnet 91: Some Glory In Ttheir Birth, Some In Their Skill

Sonnet 92: But Do Thy Worst To Steal Thyself Away

Sonnet 93: So Shall I Live, Supposing Thou Art True

Sonnet 94: They That Have Power To Hurt, And Will Do None

Sonnet 95: How Sweet And Lovely Dost Thou Make The Shame

Sonnet 96: Some Say Thy Fault Is Youth, Some Wantonness

Sonnet 97: How Like A Winter Hath My Absence Been

Sonnet 98: From You Have I Been Absent In The Spring

Sonnet 99: The Forward Violet Thus Did I Chide

Sonnet 100: Where Art Thou, Muse, That Thou Forget’st So Long

Sonnet 101: O Truant Muse, What Shall Be Thy Amends

Sonnet 102: My Love Is Strengthen’d, Though More Weak In Seeming

Sonnet 103: Alack, What Poverty My Muse Brings Forth

Sonnet 104: To Me, Fair Friend, You Never Can Be Old

Sonnet 105: Let Not My Love Be Called Idolatry

Sonnet 106: When In The Chronicle Of Wasted Time

Sonnet 107: Not Mine Own Fears, Nor The Prophetic Soul

Sonnet 108: What’s In The Brain That Ink May Character

Sonnet 109: O! Never Say That I Was False Of Heart

Sonnet 110: Alas! ‘Tis True, I Have Gone Here And There

Sonnet 111: O For My Sake Do You With Fortune Chide

Sonnet 112: Your Love And Pity Doth Th’ Impression Fill

Sonnet 113: Since I Left You, Mine Eye Is In My Mind

Sonnet 114: Or Whether Doth My Mind, Being Crowned With You

Sonnet 115: Those Lines That I Before Have Writ Do Lie

Sonnet 116: Let Me Not To The Marriage Of True Minds

Sonnet 117: Accuse Me Thus: That I Have Scanted All

Sonnet 118: Like As To Make Our Appetites More Keen

Sonnet 119: What Potions Have I Drunk Of Siren Tears

Sonnet 120: That You Were Once Unkind Befriends Me Now

Sonnet 121: ‘Tis Better To Be Vile Than Vile Esteemed

Sonnet 122: Thy Gift, Thy Tables, Are Within My Brain

Sonnet 123: Thy Pyramids Built Up With Newer Might

Sonnet 124: If My Dear Love Were But The Child Of State

Sonnet 125: Were’t Ought To Me I Bore The Canopy

Sonnet 126: O Thou, My Lovely Boy, Who In Thy Pow’r

Sonnet 127: In The Old Age Black Was Not Counted Fair

Sonnet 128: How Oft When Thou, My Music, Music Play’st

Sonnet 129: Th’ Expense Of Spirit In A Waste Of Shame

Sonnet 130: My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun

Sonnet 131: Thou Art As Tyrannous, So As Thou Art

Sonnet 132: Thine Eyes I Love, And They, As Pitying Me

Sonnet 133: Beshrew That Heart That Makes My Heart To Groan

Sonnet 134: So Now I Have Confessed That He Is Thine

Sonnet 135: Whoever Hath Her Wish, Thou Hast Thy Will

Sonnet 136: If Thy Soul Check Thee That I Come So Near

Sonnet 137: Thou Blind Fool, Love, What Dost Thou To Mine Eyes

Sonnet 138: When My Love Swears That She Is Made Of Truth

Sonnet 139: O! Call Not Me To Justify The Wrong

Sonnet 140: Be Wise As Thou Art Cruel

Sonnet 141: In Faith I Do Not Love You With Mine Eyes

Sonnet 142: Love Is My Sin, And Thy Dear Virtue Hate

Sonnet 143: Lo, As A Careful Housewife Runs To Catch

Sonnet 144: Two Loves I Have Of Comfort And Despair

Sonnet 145: Those Lips That Love’s Own Hand Did Make

Sonnet 146: Poor Soul, The Centre Of My Sinful Earth

Sonnet 147: My Love Is As A Fever Longing Still

Sonnet 148: O Me! What Eyes Hath Love Put In My Head

Sonnet 149: Canst Thou, O Cruel! Say I Love Thee Not

Sonnet 150: O! From What Power Hast Thou This Powerful Might

Sonnet 151: Love Is Too Young To Know What Conscience Is

Sonnet 152: In Loving Thee Thou Kow’st I Am Forsworn

Sonnet 153: Cupid Laid By His Brand And Fell Asleep

Sonnet 154: The Little Love-God Lying Once Asleep

This complete collection of 154 sonnets with explanations is available in an ebook to download now .

Picture of the famous Shakespeare sonnets folio

Famous Sonnets By Shakespeare

Shakespeare published 154 sonnets , and although they are all poems of the highest quality, there are some that have entered deeply into the consciousness of our culture to become the most famous Shakespeare sonnets . This handful of sonnets are quoted regularly by people at all levels of modern western life – sometimes without even realizing that they are quoting a line from Shakespeare.

In our humble opinion the 8 sonnets below represent Shakespeare’s most famous words in the sonnet form:

Sonnet 18:  Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Perhaps the most famous of all the sonnets is Sonnet 18, where Shakespeare addresses a young man to whom he is very close. It would be impossible to say whether Shakespeare was an arrogant man because we don’t know what he was like. We also don’t know whether he thought he was the ‘great,’ immortal writer that we regard him as today. However, after describing the young man’s great beauty, he suggests that his poetry is ‘eternal’ and ends by stating that as long as there are people who can still read, the sonnet, and therefore the description of the young man’s beauty, will still be there.

Sonnet 30:  When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

An interesting take on aging and love. The narrator describes the things that people agonize over as they descend into old age – all the regrets and the pain of reliving the mistakes he has made. It’s full of agony but when he thinks about his beloved all the regrets and pain evaporate.

Sonnet 33:  Full many a glorious morning have I seen

This is a poem about loss; the loss of a loved one. Shakespeare approaches it by expressing the contrast in the way we feel when the morning sun is shining brightly and when it’s obscured by clouds, making the world a forlorn place. When he was loved by the beloved it was like the glorious morning, but now, having lost the beloved, it feels like an overcast and gloomy morning. He concludes that he doesn’t condemn the beloved because human frailty, even among the best of humanity, is just as much a part of nature as the obscuring clouds are.

Sonnet 73:  That time of year thou mayst in me behold

The narrator of Sonnet 73 is approaching death and thinking about how different it is from being young. It’s like the branch of a tree where birds once sang but the birds have gone and the leaves have fallen, leaving only a few dry yellow leaves. It’s like the twilight of a beautiful day, where there is only the black night ahead. It’s like the glowing ashes of a fire that once roared. The things that one gave him life have destroyed his life. From that experience, he has learned that one has to love life as strongly as one can because it will end all too soon.

Sonnet 104:  To me, fair friend, you never can be old

Here Shakespeare expresses the love one person has for another by showing how the beauty of the beloved doesn’t change in the eyes of the lover. He shows time passing through the seasons and the years, everything changing. Except for the beauty of the beloved. He goes further by saying that no matter how long the world will endure, even though the beloved is long dead there will never be another as beautiful.

Sonnet 116:  Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments

There are two striking definitions of love that we refer to again and again. Perhaps the most popular of the two is in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians ( Corinthians 13: 4-8 ):

Love is patient, love is kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

Paul’s text is as well known as Sonnet 116 because it is used in most weddings as the young couple stands before the minister. But Shakespeare’s sonnet employs an amazing array of poetic devices to convey the eternal nature of love. Shakespeare ends by staking everything on his observations about love by asserting that if he is wrong about it then no-one ever wrote anything and no-one ever loved.

Sonnet 129:  The expense of spirit in a waste of shame

Sonnet 129 is an interesting take on the imperative force of lust, but its ultimate shallowness. Everyone knows how shallow and guilt-producing lust is but very few men can avoid it. Shakespeare shows how lust brings out the very worst in people and the extremes they will go to. And then he explains the guilt that follows the satisfaction of one’s lust.

Sonnet 130:  My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun

Shakespeare is expressing the kind of love that has nothing to do with the beloved’s looks. He satirizes the usual way of expressing love for a woman – praising her lips and her hair, the way she walks, and all the things that a young man may rave about when he thinks about his beloved. What he does is invert those things, assert that his beloved is ugly, ungainly, bad-smelling, etc, but ends by saying that his love for her is as ‘rare’ as that of any young man who writes flatteringly about the object of his love.

Interested in sonnets from other authors? Check out our sonnet examples from highly regarded poets who do things a little differently to Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Publishing Shakespeare’s Sonnets

A widely held belief contends that Shakespeare’s sonnets were published without his consent. Had Shakespeare endorsed their publication, many believe he would have provided their printer with an authoritative text and a dedication. However, “Shakes-peares Sonnets” contains no dedication from the author and the text has many errors. Some critics also maintain that some sonnets are unfinished and that the sequence is too incoherent to have been intended for publication.

Exponents of this view have argued that someone whom Shakespeare trusted betrayed him by giving the poems to their first publisher, Thomas Thope, or that a thief, perhaps motivated by animosity or personal profit, seized the poets manuscript and sold it on. Some hold that the publication of the sonnets surely upset Shakespeare, whose poems dealt with scandalous forms of love; homoerotic and adulterous. Others variously insist that these subjects are more shocking to post-Victorian readers than to Jacobean ones; that, whilst the sonnets voice strong feelings, these were entirely appropriate to the form; and that emotions expressed in his sonnets do not mirror Shakespeare’s own any more than those of  dramatic characters in his plays .

Who Were The Shakespeare Sonnets Dedicated To?

Certain features of  the sonnet form – not least the first-person narrative and themes of love – give the impression of offering direct access to their author’s inner world. Since there has long been intense curiosity about the ‘youth’ addressed in the sonnets, clues to his identity have also been extracted with no little strain from the frontispiece of the first edition. The author of this dedication, T.T, was Thomas Thorpe, the publisher. But the identity of the “begetter” of the sonnets, “Mr W. H.” remains a mystery. Some think this is a misprint for “Mr W. S.” or “Mr W. Sh.”, as in William Shakespeare. Others suspect that the “begetter” refers to the scoundrel who may have conveyed the poems to Thorpe against Shakespeare’s wishes.  But the most widely held assumption is that the “beggetter” must be the person who inspired the “ensuing sonnets”, the majority of which address a young man.

Working from the scant evidence offered by the initials W. H., literary detectives have proposed many candidates. One is  Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton , to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis  and  The Rape of Lucrece  in the mid-1590s. Another is William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, whose name figures among those to whom the First Folio was dedicated in 1623. A third candidate is Sir William Hervey, stepfather of the Earl of Southampton, who may have commissioned lyrics urging the young man to marry and produce an heir – the first 17 sonnets of the sequence treat this theme. Of these candidates, however, two were earls and one was a gentleman, referred to as “Sir”. None would have been called “Mr” save by error or to suggest intimacy. In the end, these probing enigmas of Shakespeare’s sonnets are forced to speculate; information is poor, scarce and inconclusive.

The numbers behind the sonnets

Who knew that Shakespeare’s sonnets and mathematics were so linked?

In the super-interesting video below, Professor Roger Bowley talks about the tight constraints – and shape – that numbers gave to Shakespeare’s sonnets.

What’s your take on the Shakespeare sonnets listed above? Let us know by joining in the conversation in the comments section below!

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I verry mutch like sonnet154

I proposed a hypothesis revealing the meaning of the mysterious Dedication – see my article `Shakespeare’s Sonnets: The Riddle of Dedication` https://vixra.org/abs/2102.0107

The sonnets, especially 34, suggest to me that Shakespeare may have been unhappy in his relationships. It makes me sad.

nice, thanks, his works are more than meets the eye!

What an impressionable Mark he left throughout his generations still centuries later We’re still learning from him A true composure of his pieces Shows how tangible one’s touch can be on time I have an original William Shakespeare ‘The tragedy of McBeth’ 1673 1908 edition I cherish

Shakespeare’s collection of 154 sonnets, initially published in 1609 in the ‘quarto’, encapsulates a rich tapestry of themes that reflect the complexities of human emotions and experiences. Central themes that reverberate through these sonnets include the passage of time, mortality, love, beauty, infidelity, and jealousy, inviting readers into a profound exploration of the human condition.

A prominent theme across the sonnets is the passage of time and its inexorable effects on human life. Shakespeare grapples with the fleeting nature of time, expressing the inevitable march towards mortality and the fleeting nature of youth and beauty. He frequently uses imagery related to seasons, days, and hours to underscore the transience of life and the urgency to seize the present moment.

Love, arguably the most pervasive theme in the sonnet sequence, is depicted in various shades – from idealized and romantic to tumultuous and conflicted. The first 126 sonnets, addressed to a young man, explore themes of infatuation, adoration, friendship, and the desire for legacy and immortality through procreation. These sonnets delve into the complexities of platonic and romantic love, capturing the profound emotions experienced by the speaker.

In the latter part of the sequence, the focus shifts to a ‘dark lady,’ an enigmatic woman who is the subject of the remaining 28 sonnets. Here, the sonnets take a more provocative turn, exploring themes of lust, jealousy, betrayal, and the darker aspects of romantic relationships. The portrayal of this ‘dark lady’ offers a contrast to the idealized love depicted in the earlier sonnets and delves into the complexities of human desires and emotions. Shakespeare’s sonnets remain a timeless exploration of the human psyche, revealing the multifaceted nature of human emotions and experiences. The duality between the idealized love for the young man and the more tumultuous relationships with the ‘dark lady’ provides a holistic depiction of the highs and lows of love and the inevitability of the passage of time and mortality.

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Shakespeare's Sonnets

By william shakespeare, shakespeare's sonnets essay questions.

Modern scholarship divides the sonnets into two main groups: the fair lord sonnets (1-126) and the dark lady sonnets (127-154). Do you agree with this division?

A: An answer to this question may wish to focus on the fair lord sonnets, as they offer more room for creativity. It is also worth questioning whether any subdivisions might be identified within the aforementioned divisions? Finally, what do these sorts of divisions mean for the scholar? Do they simplify too much, or are they useful tools for analysis?

Choose one of the three recurring characters in the sonnets - the fair lord, the rival poet, or the dark lady - and argue the case for his or her real-world identity. Adopt a candidate who has already been proposed, assessing the evidence for yourself - or posit a new possibility.

A: This question demands careful historical research, coupled with close literary analysis. Techniques of comparative literature will come in handy; for example, when weighing the validity of the Christopher Marlowe claim, it behooves the student to not only study Marlowe's life and place in history, but his work as well - and the ways in which Shakespeare's writing might draw from, comment on, or question his.

Discuss the conflict between Platonic love and carnal lust captured in the figures of the fair lord and the dark lady, respectively.

A: "Love" is a multifaceted term, and Shakespeare explores it in all its permutations in his sonnets: love as friendship, love as family, love as devotion, love as affection, love as lust, love as sex. How does the poet express his love for the fair lord differently from how he expresses his love for the dark lady? And does he value one kind of love over another?

The rival poet enters the scene to stir things up with the narrator's fair lord. How would you characterize the poet's reaction to the thought of losing his fair lord to another?

A: A close analysis of the text on hand is crucial for this essay. The student should pick a reaction - jealousy, perhaps, or disdain - and support it with specific textual evidence. Perhaps the reaction suggests a broader emotion or mentality: pride (wounded in this case), greed (thwarted), helplessness...

Critics are divided over whether Shakespeare's sonnets really do contain expressions of homoerotic desire. What do you think?

A: There is of course no right answer here, but any argument must again pay close heed to the particulars of the text. Is the narrator's love for the fair lord purely one of friendship, or is it in fact something else? A consideration of what exactly homoeroticism meant and constituted in Shakespeare's day - how it might be expressed in so repressive a society, how it might be tacitly acknowledged - is likewise necessary.

Frequently throughout the sonnets the poet criticizes himself for his inadequacy. Find at least three examples of such self-criticism, and interrelate them in the context of the sonnets as a whole.

A: The rival poet certainly inspires feelings of inadequacy, but there are other instances to look for as well. More important, what does such self-criticism mean? Can it be read as autobiographical - truly personal, even confessional, writing? Or is Shakespeare simply adopting a guise? (Of course there can be no definitive answer to that, only speculation...)

Discuss the theme of unfaithfulness in Shakespeare's sonnets.

A: Specific questions to consider here are: Who is being unfaithful to whom? How can one characterize the narrator's reaction to his learning of his loves' infidelity? And how is infidelity portrayed? As an incurable sin - or as something to be understood?

Several of the sonnets are rife with financial imagery. Find as many examples of this imagery as you can, and try to account for their distribution within the sonnets.

A: Ask yourself: what does the poet wish to achieve by describing the sonnets' characters and events with the language of money and finance? Consider Shakespeare's time: the modern notion of economics is slowly taking shape, more and more sophisticated forms of trade are emerging, and a "philosophy" of money is not far away...

The color black is used frequently in the dark lady sonnets to characterize the woman's dark identity. What other instances of color symbolism appear in the sonnets? Find at least three examples of color symbolism and explain them.

A: Shakespeare's language is markedly tactile, imbued with specific imagery; thus, color (as well as sound, smell, feel) plays a major role in his poetry. Any colors may do in this essay, but in every case the student should use specific passages to support his or her claims.

Sonnets 153 and 154 are often said not to fit in with the overall sequence. It has also been suggested that they are in fact two drafts of the same sonnet due to their similarity in content and form. Do you agree with these statements? Support your hypothesis by attempting to explain why Shakespeare may have written these sonnets in the first place.

A: As with earlier questions, the student must consider both the text at hand and the historical context to fashion a fully realized argument.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Shakespeare’s Sonnets is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Summary of sonnet 18

Here the theme of the ravages of time again predominates; we see it especially in line 7, where the poet speaks of the inevitable mortality of beauty: "And every fair from fair sometime declines." But the fair lord's is of another sort, for it...

Part A In Sonnet 12 (“When I do count the clock that tells the time”), what do the images of passing time make the speaker wonder about the person he addresses? a. Will that person’s beauty fade? b. Will that person’s fame endure? c. d. Will that person a

a. Will that person’s beauty fade?

What is the message of Sonnet 18?

Shakespeare's main message is that which will fade in life (beauty) can be immortalized in verse.... his poetry will live forever.

Study Guide for Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Shakespeare's Sonnets study guide contains a biography of William Shakespeare, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Shakespeare's Sonnets
• Shakespeare's Sonnets Summary
• Character List

Essays for Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Shakespeare's Sonnets essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of various sonnets by William Shakespeare.

• Colonial Beauty in Sidney's "Astrophil and Stella" and Shaksespeare's Sonnets
• Beauty, As Expressed By Shakespeare's Sonnet 18
• From Autumn to Ash: Shakespeare's Sonnet 73
• Dark Beauties in Shakespeare's Sonnets and Sidney's "Astrophil and Stella"
• Human Discrepancy: Mortality and Money in Sonnet 146

Lesson Plan for Shakespeare’s Sonnets

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Shakespeare's Sonnets
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Shakespeare's Sonnets Bibliography

E-Text of Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Shakespeare's Sonnets e-text contains the full text of Shakespeare's Sonnets.

Wikipedia Entries for Shakespeare’s Sonnets

• Introduction
• The quarto of 1609

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61 William Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets

“William Shakespeare” by Batyr Ashirbayev, 2019. Wikimedia Commons .

Introduction

by Mikayla Langham, Nicole Almendarez and Kaeli Walls

Shakespeare, arguably the most world-renowned writer in the English language, is thought to have been born on April 23, 1564 just three days before his official baptism, in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was born to John and Mary Shakespeare, who are both assumed to be illiterate. Though it cannot be verified, experts believe he went to the New Grammar School of Stratford-upon-Avon from the age of 6 to around 13, when his family faced financial hardship and he was likely compelled to leave (Mibillard). From there, speculators say that Shakespeare spent his time working in a butcher shop, as well as helping his dad run his business (Mibillard).

He married his wife, Anne Hathaway, when he was 18 and she 26; at the time, she was already pregnant with their first child, Susanna. They would go on to have twins as well, one of whom—their only boy, Hamnet–died at the age of 11 around the time Shakespeare composed Hamlet , which is one of the only clues we have to the intersection of art and biography in his works.

From 1585 to 1592 there are no records found of Shakespeare. These are considered Shakespeare’s “lost years.” Around the year of 1590, Shakespeare started composing and producing plays, including Henry VI Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, etc. By the year 1613, he had written 37 in total. Within those plays there was four main genres: romance ( Romeo and Juliet ), comedies ( As You Like It ), tragedies ( Hamlet ), and histories ( King John ).

In these plays, he was able to connect with the audience through intense emotions, witty wordplay and themes that connected deeply to the human experience, rather than to the supernatural. By the year 1599, the Globe Theatre was open. The Globe Theatre was where Shakespeare did much of his acting and production, with the King’s Men, perhaps the most well-regarded acting troupe of his generation (“William Shakespeare” Wikipedia). Shakespeare was a part of this company for most of his career, and it was affiliated with the royal court of James I. At this time theatre was considered a treat for only the wealthy, and those who couldn’t afford it could sit outside the theatre or in “the pit” for a penny (Poulter). The year 1609 was when Shakespeare’s sonnets were published by Thomas Thorpe. He began writing them around the year 1585 to 1592, 154 in total. These cover three main themes and are thought to be some of the best love poetry to this day. Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 and was buried at Stratford Church.

Shakespeare was a common boy, had basic education, and—as far as is known—never ventured abroad. Yet, the knowledge of history, geography and language evident from his plays has led many to question whether “Shakespeare” may have been a pseudonym for another writer (Chadwick). Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon and Amelia Lanyar have been among the most prominent of the nominees for the “true” identity of Shakespeare. It is unlikely that this controversy will ever be resolved; what is known for sure is that Shakespeare’s contribution to English language and letters is without parallel.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets

It is believed that William Shakespeare began writing his sonnets, The Sonnets of Shakespeare , towards the end of his “lost years.” The exact date can’t be known but has been assumed to be between 1592 and 1601. Thomas Thorpe then published them in 1609, but he did so without knowledge of if he was publishing them in the order Shakespeare wrote them, or even if Shakespeare intended them to be published in this order.

A sonnet is a short poem, usually ten to fourteen lines, that uses any of a number of formal rhyme schemes. While there are multiple types of sonnets, and many authors have tried their hand at the genre, some of the most known and beloved are those by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets. The majority of the sonnets, that is, the first 126, are addressed to a young man whom the poet has a romantic, loving relationship with. The first seventeen sonnets are used to try to convince the young man to marry and have beautiful children. The rest of the sonnets in what is known as “the young man sequence” are about the power of poetry, pure love, and defeating death (Mabillard). The remaining sonnets (127-154) are written to the dark lady- a promiscuous and raven-haired temptress, the tone of which is “…distressing, with language of sensual feasting, uncontrollable urges, and sinful consumption” (Mabillard). It is natural for a current reader to read the sonnets in an autobiographical style, but the true nature of the poems is unknown. The sonnets are possibly drawn from personal experiences in William Shakespeare’s life as they are written in a story format, albeit obliquely.  It is suggested that they are written to intentionally play with the reader by creating this poet-boy-dark lady love triangle. This style was popular at the time and can also be seen in many Shakespearian comedies and plays (Crawforth). Shakespeare created some of the most fascinating and influential poems ever written, and certainly left his mark on the history of poetry.

Shakespearian Style and Iambic Pentameter

Shakespearean sonnets are written in fourteen lines: “The first twelve lines are divided into three quatrains with four lines each. In the three quatrains the poet establishes a theme or problem and then resolves it in the final two lines, called the couplet” (Mabillard). There is also a standard rhyme scheme and rhythm. The rhyme pattern is: “abab cdcd efef gg.” This sonnet structure is known as the “English sonnet” or the “Shakespearean sonnet,” to distinguish it from six other different rhyming patterns common to the sonnet form.  Shakespeare’s sonnets are mostly written in a type of metrical line called “iambic pentameter.” Each sonnet line consists of ten syllables. The syllables are divided into five pairs called “iambs” or “feet.” An iamb is made up of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable:

Here is an example of a Shakespearian Sonnet line written in Iambic Pentameter:

Shall I / com PARE/ thee TO / a SUM / mer’s DAY?

Thou ART / more LOVE / ly AND / more TEM / per ATE (Sonnet 18)

We believe that Shakespeare may have used Iambic Pentameter because it is easier for actors to memorize and for the audience to understand.

In addition to dramatic metaphors, the use of oxymorons is a common literary device used by William Shakespeare.  An oxymoron is a stylistic figure where the coupling of opposing words is used to create an effect (Sakaeva). It is likely that Shakespeare used oxymoron to dramatically illustrate the polarity of events and as a creative writing invention. In sonnet forty Shakespeare uses the oxymoron “Lascivious (Lustful) Grace” to mean refined sensuality.  Shakespeare is a master of prose and poetry, which is why he is so highly revered to this day: “Since Homer, no poet has come near Shakespeare in originality, freshness, opulence, and boldness of imagery” (Hudson).

Theories about William Shakespeare and the Shakespearean Sonnet

As stated, we do not know the true nature of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Are they strictly autobiographical?  Are some of the Sonnets written vicariously? Or are they completely imaginary, but purposefully written to intrigue and confuse the reader? If they are autobiographical, does this mean that William Shakespeare was homosexual? We will never know for certain, but if Shakespeare’s hope was to open the conversation, he surely succeeded. There is also speculation as to whom his two main subjects (the “Fair Youth” and the “Dark Lady”) may have been modeled on. It is believed that the dark lady is one of three historical women: Mary Fitton, a lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth; Lucy Morgan, a brothel owner and former maid to Queen Elizabeth; and Emilia Lanier, the mistress of Lord Hunsdon, patron of the arts (Mabillard). A large part of the beauty of these sonnets is the historical mystery that shrouds them.

Works Cited

Chadwick, Bruce. “Who Really Wrote Shakespeare’s Plays?”  History News Network , 20 May 2018, historynewsnetwork.org/article/169054. Accessed 23 Oct. 2020.

Crawforth, Hannah. “An Introduction to Shakespeare’s Sonnets.” British Library Online . 13 July 2017. www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/an-introduction-to-shakespeares-sonnets Accessed 04 Nov. 2019.

Hudson, Henry Norman. Shakespeare: His Life, Art, and Characters, Volume I . 1872. Shakespeare Online . www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/imagery.html Accessed 04 Nov. 2019.

Mabillard, Amanda. “Introduction to Shakespeare’s Sonnets.” Shakespeare Online, 30 Aug. 2000. www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/sonnetintroduction.html. Accessed 04 Nov. 2019

Poulter, Eliza. “The Seating at The Globe Theatre.”  Seating in The Globe Theatre – The Globe Theatre , The Globe Theatre, the-globe-theatre.weebly.com/seating-in-the-globe-theatre.html. Accessed 23 Oct. 2020.

Sakaeva, L. and L. Kornilova. “Structural Analysis of the Oxymoron in the Sonnets of William Shakespeare.” Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 6(5), 409-414.

“William Shakespeare.” Wikipedia. 28 May 2019. Web. 03 June 2019. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare. Accessed 23 Oct. 2020.

Discussion Questions

• Does the controversy surrounding Shakespeare’s authorship have any bearing on the works themselves? Why/why not?
• What accounts for the lasting appeal of his plays and sonnets?
• Did his complicated and seemingly unfulfilling domestic life influence his works? Should biography be considered in the interpretation of great literature?
• “Love” is a multifaceted term, and Shakespeare explores it in every way throughout his sonnets. Love as friendship, as family, as devotion, as lust, as affection. Are there any other authors you can think of exploring the many forms of love as he does?
• Why do you believe Shakespearian sonnets, comedies, and plays are still so celebrated and revered today?
• The sonnets are considered some of the greatest love poetry ever written – do you agree? Disagree? Why? Why is Sonnet 18 so famous?
• How are Shakespeare’s sonnets related to real life?
• How do the sonnets explore the human spirit in confrontation with love, death, change, and time?
• There are many interpretations of the “Dark Lady.” Let’s assume she is a metaphor. What might she be a metaphor of?

Further Resources

• A video covering the background, rules, and significance of shakespearean sonnets.
• A podcast series that explores Shakespeare’s work, life, and the effect they have on the world.
• Audio Clips of each sonnet broken into sections.
• A two-page “cheat sheet” on analyzing Shakespeare’s sonnets This is a website that shoes you how to analyze Shakespearean sonnet form:
• This website offers side-by-side “translations” of Shakespeare into modern English
• A comprehensive glossary of Shakespeare’s invented words (as found in his plays and poems)

Reading: Selected 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.

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 unear’d 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, remember’d not to be,

Die single and thine image dies with thee.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,

But sad mortality o’ersways their power,

How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,

Whose action is no stronger than a flower?

O! how shall summer’s honey breath hold out,

Against the wrackful siege of battering days,

When rocks impregnable are not so stout,

Nor gates of steel so strong but Time decays?

O fearful meditation! where, alack,

Shall Time’s best jewel from Time’s chest lie hid?

Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?

Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?

O! none, unless this miracle have might,

That in black ink my love may still shine bright.

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.

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.

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.

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 wrack’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.

My tongue-tied Muse in manners holds her still,

While comments of your praise richly compil’d,

Reserve their character with golden quill,

And precious phrase by all the Muses fil’d.

I think good thoughts, whilst others write good words,

And like unlettered clerk still cry ‘Amen’

To every hymn that able spirit affords,

In polish’d 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.

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.

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!

They that have power to hurt, and will do none,

That do not do the thing they most do show,

Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,

Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow;

They rightly do inherit heaven’s graces,

And husband nature’s riches from expense;

They are the lords and owners of their faces,

Others, but stewards of their excellence.

The summer’s flower is to the summer sweet,

Though to itself, it only live and die,

But if that flower with base infection meet,

The basest weed outbraves his dignity:

For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;

Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds.

How like a winter hath my absence been

From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!

What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!

What old December’s bareness everywhere!

And yet this time removed was summer’s time;

The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,

Bearing the wanton burden of the prime,

Like widow’d wombs after their lords’ decease:

Yet this abundant issue seem’d to me

But hope of orphans, and unfather’d fruit;

For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,

And, thou away, the very birds are mute:

Or, if they sing, ’tis with so dull a cheer,

That leaves look pale, dreading the winter’s near.

From you have I been absent in the spring,

When proud-pied April, dress’d in all his trim,

Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing,

That heavy Saturn laugh’d and leap’d 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 seem’d it winter still, and you away,

As with your shadow I with these did play.

Let not my love be call’d 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 confin’d,

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 liv’d alone,

Which three till now, never kept seat in one.

When in the chronicle of wasted time

I see descriptions of the fairest wights,

And beauty making beautiful old rime,

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 express’d

Even such a beauty as you master now.

So all their praises are but prophecies

Of this our time, all you prefiguring;

And for they looked but with divining eyes,

They had not skill enough your worth to sing:

For we, which now behold these present days,

Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.

Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul

Of the wide world dreaming on things to come,

Can yet the lease of my true love control,

Supposed as forfeit to a confin’d doom.

The mortal moon hath her eclipse endur’d,

And the sad augurs mock their own presage;

Incertainties now crown themselves assur’d,

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 rime,

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.

Alas! ’tis true, I have gone here and there,

And made my self 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 look’d on truth

Askance and strangely; but, by all above,

These blenches gave my heart another youth,

And worse essays prov’d thee my best of love.

Now all is done, save 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 confin’d.

Then give me welcome, next my heaven the best,

Even to thy pure and most most loving breast.

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 prov’d,

I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.

O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power

Dost hold Time’s fickle glass, his fickle 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.

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 slander’d 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 profan’d, if not lives in disgrace.

Therefore my mistress’ eyes are raven black,

Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem

At such who, not born fair, no beauty lack,

Sland’ring creation with a false esteem:

Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe,

That every tongue says beauty should look so.

How oft when thou, my music, music play’st,

Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds

With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway’st

The wiry concord that mine ear confounds,

Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap,

To kiss the tender inward of thy hand,

Whilst my poor lips which should that harvest reap,

At the wood’s boldness by thee blushing stand!

To be so tickled, they would change their state

And situation with those dancing chips,

O’er whom thy fingers walk with gentle gait,

Making dead wood more bless’d than living lips.

Since saucy jacks so happy are in this,

Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss.

The expense of spirit in a waste of shame

Is lust in action: and till action, lust

Is perjur’d, murderous, bloody, full of blame,

Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;

Enjoy’d no sooner but despised straight;

Past reason hunted; and no sooner had,

Past reason hated, as a swallow’d 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 prov’d, a very woe;

Before, a joy propos’d; behind a dream.

All this the world well knows; yet none knows well

To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red, than her lips red:

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damask’d, 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.

Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy ‘Will,’

And ‘Will’ to boot, and ‘Will’ in over-plus;

More than enough am I that vex’d 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.’

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 untutor’d 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 flatter’d be.

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.

Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,

My sinful earth these rebel powers array,

Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,

Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?

Why so large cost, having so short a lease,

Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?

Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,

Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body’s end?

Then soul, live thou upon thy servant’s loss,

And let that pine to aggravate thy store;

Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross;

Within be fed, without be rich no more:

So shall thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,

And Death once dead, there’s no more dying then.

My love is as a fever longing still,

For that which longer nurseth the disease;

Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,

The uncertain sickly appetite to please.

My reason, the physician to my love,

Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,

Hath left me, and I desperate now approve

Desire is death, which physic did except.

Past cure I am, now Reason is past care,

And frantic-mad with evermore unrest;

My thoughts and my discourse as madmen’s are,

At random from the truth vainly express’d;

For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,

Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.

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 perjur’d 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 perjur’d I,

To swear against the truth so foul a lie!

Source Text 

Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare’s Sonnets . Project Gutenberg, 2014, is licensed under no known copyright.

Early English Literature Copyright © 2019 by Allegra Villarreal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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A Short Analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 15: ‘When I consider’

A reading of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 15

‘When I consider every thing that grows’: so begins William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 15, another example of the Bard’s ‘Procreation Sonnets’ addressed to the Fair Youth. In this post we offer a brief summary and analysis of Sonnet 15, focusing on the poem’s language, imagery, and overall meaning.

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.

As ever, we’ll begin by offering a short summary of Sonnet 15. Shakespeare begins by contemplating all living things which grow and are perfect for only a brief time, before they start decaying or ageing. He then likens the world to a ‘stage’ and our lives mere ‘shows’ or performances, which have a brief duration. (The implication is also that our lives are fake shams, just as stage shows are illusion.) The stars, unbeknownst to us, decide our fates – this reference to stars continuing the astrological metaphor introduced in the previous sonnet.

In lines 9-12, Shakespeare says that considering how short life is, the Youth’s current prime is even more ‘rich’ to behold, and should be treasured; while Time and Decay (personified a bit like Death as the Grim Reaper) discuss and bicker over how best to bring about the Fair Youth’s decline into old age and death.

Shakespeare concludes by saying that the whole world, for love of the Youth, are at war with Time (that seeks to bring about the Youth’s destruction), and as Time seeks to take the Youth’s beauty and strength away from him, Shakespeare seeks to ‘engraft’ the Youth anew, i.e. graft a new piece of wood onto an old root to create a new tree (continuing the man = plants and other living things idea from earlier in the sonnet). The idea of engrafting also suggests scratching words on a page ( graphos is the Greek for ‘to write’), suggesting – much as many of the later Sonnets will do – that Shakespeare is seeking to immortalise the Fair Youth through writing these Sonnets to his beauty.

That, in summary, is the ‘argument’ of Sonnet 15, but several questions suggest themselves which prompt closer analysis of the poem. The word ‘increase’ in line 5 takes us back to the very first line of the very first sonnet: ‘From fairest creatures we desire increase’. ‘Increase’ carries a double meaning in Sonnet 15, referring both to the individual’s growth and the act of multiplying or leaving offspring. The fact that Shakespeare rhymes ‘increase’ with its antonym ‘decrease’ points up the cycle of growth and decay, just as ‘sight’ and ‘night’ are put in pointed opposition.

In short, Sonnet 15 represents something of a development in the Sonnets, because it introduces the idea of Shakespeare immortalising the Fair Youth in poetry. This is something we will see again in later Sonnets, where it warrants closer analysis. We continue our analysis of the Sonnets with the 16th sonnet .

4 thoughts on “A Short Analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 15: ‘When I consider’”

I would like to think the Fair Youth got the notion to marry at this point in the Bard’s efforts.

You’d hope, wouldn’t you? Shakespeare’s certainly dropped the odd hint here and there…

I think the Fair Youth’s momma wanted a grandkid. There’a definite story hiding in all those sonnets.

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Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare Essay

William Shakespeare, the well-known English poet and playwright is famous for his various sonnets, short poems filled with expressive emotions and deep feelings. Overall, Shakespeare has written 154 sonnets which are thought to be created in the period between 1592 and 1598 (Introduction to Shakespeare’s Sonnets par. 2).This paper is focused on one of the most known sonnets of Shakespeare, the sonnet number 18 which is also known as “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

The main theme reflected in the sonnet number 18 is love. The author expresses his affection to a person he does not name, yet it is suspected that the mysterious object of the poet’s admiration who is mentioned in most of the other sonnets is a young man named William Herbert, the Earl of Pembroke (Introduction to Shakespeare’s Sonnets par. 4). The very first line of the sonnet is a question, the speaker wonders if he could compare his beloved person to a summer day. Generally, this seems to be an appropriate comparison since summer is known to be a beautiful and pleasant time of a year, enjoyed by everyone. Yet, the author has a different opinion, his view of a summer day is unusual. He mentions number of negative qualities a summer day has.

First of all, the speaker states that the summer weather can be quite unpleasant when “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May” (3). Secondly, the author notes that summer is rather brief and short-lasting. Thirdly, the poet adds that “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines” (5) meaning that the heat of summer can be simply unbearable and merciless which is definitely a negative characteristic. Finally, the author underlines the imperfection of summer remarking that it is not always bright, and from time to time summer days are cloudy with their “gold complexion dimmed” (6). The speaker lists all of these negative features of summer in order to answer his initial question and confirm his primary statement where he admits that the object of his romantic interest is “more lovely and more temperate” (2) than a summer day.

In the next several lines of the sonnet, the poet reminds the reader that nothing is eternal, and “every fair from fair sometime declines” (7) meaning that even the most exceptional beauty tends to go away after a certain amount of time since this is how our world is – every object and being here goes through stages of birth, blossom, decline and eventual death, obeying the cyclic nature of life.

Yet, having stated that everything sooner or later loses its beauty, the poet emphasizes that his beloved is an exception, because their “eternal summer shall not fade” (9). The poet believes that the person he admires in this sonnet is never going to lose their fair beauty or even be taken away by death. This statement seems rather bold, because it looks like the poet is convinced that the object of his love is going to live forever, which is impossible. The confusion is solved in the end of the poem where the speaker explains his previous words about the eternal life of his beloved specifying that what is going to live forever is their beauty and the memory about this person as it is now imprinted in this sonnet. The poet says: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,/ So long lives this, and this gives life to thee” (13-14) meaning that the poem he dedicated to the object of his love will serve as an eternal source of life for them, preserving their beauty and fairness, and passing the memory about them through generations of people.

The last lines of the sonnet can be rather overwhelming for the contemporary reader who is encountering the poem more than 400 years after it was first published. The words of the author who created the poem specifically to preserve the memory about his beloved person turned out to be a prophesy – the sonnet still lives today, and it is still very famous and is read and discussed by thousands of people who pass the memory of the person depicted in this poem through generations.

It seems that Shakespeare has found the formula of eternal life, he use his sonnets as the carriers of messages, feelings, emotions and thoughts that practically served as bottled messages able to travel through an ocean of time and still be able to deliver their contents. The only difference is that those who throw their bottled messages into the sea can only hope that their letters will be found by someone one day, but Shakespeare seems to be very confident about the long lives of his sonnets.

In conclusion, the 18 th sonnet by William Shakespeare is the author’s monologue where he admires his beloved person and states that even a summer day cannot be a fair comparison for them due to their beauty that, unlike a summer day, will live forever carried by the poem as long as the humanity can read it.

Works Cited

Introduction to Shakespeare’s Sonnets . Shakespeare-online . 2014. Web.

Shakespeare, William. Sonnet XVIII . 2014. Web.

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Background of the Poem

Historical context.

William Shakespeare is probably the most renowned writer in the history of English literature. He wrote more than thirty plays and more than 150 sonnets. His sonnets were published in a collection in 1609. Among these sonnets, sonnet 18, sonnet 29, sonnet 116, and sonnet 130 are the most famous ones.

 Shakespeare’s sonnet collection is usually divided into two parts. This division is made on the basis of the different people these sonnets address. The first part consists of 126 sonnets. These sonnets are addressed to a young guy. The speaker in these sonnets tells him about the mortality of life and the ways he can escape its clutches. These sonnets also stress the role of poetry in immortalizing its subjects. The second part consists of the remaining twenty-eight sonnets. The sonnets of this part are addressed to a female. This character is usually called “dark lady.” The speaker seems to have a troublesome relationship with her and speaks to her in a manner that is not typical of lovers. Sonnet 130 falls in this portion of the sonnet collection and is, therefore, considered to address this lady.  

Literary Context

In the fourteenth century, the Italian poet Petrarch introduced the genre of sonnets. The conventions of this genre were to follow a strict guideline of form and subject-matter. In form, the sonnet was required to be written in fourteen and that its meter should be iambic pentameter. In subject matter, the convention was to praise the beauty of a god-like beloved and narrate the events of the unsuccessful quests of winning her love. The description used to involve many clichéd comparisons where the speaker would compare his beloved with heavenly and worldly symbols of beauty.

Shakespeare, when he wrote his sonnets, followed the conventions of form but deviated in the subject matter. First of all, many of his sonnets did not address a female beloved. They were addressed to a young male. Secondly, the description of the beloved’s beauty is also not the same as the convention. When he addresses the black lady in his last twenty sonnets, he does not alleviate her to the status of gods. He considers her as much imperfect as other humans are.

Sonnet 130 is another example of Shakespeare’s treatment of the conventions of a sonnet. He follows the conventional form and writes it in fourteen lines. He also uses the conventional iambic pentameter and the division of sonnet into three quatrains and a couplet. However, he chooses a subject matter, which is exactly opposite to the traditional themes. He describes the flaws in his mistress’s beauty and stresses that his mistress is human and prone to imperfections.  He says that he will not exaggerate his mistress’s beauty to express his love. Instead, he will accept her for what she is, and that is the real and rare love.

Shakespeare maintains that his mistress is not a goddess but a human, and he is content with it. His mistress does not need to be as red as roses and as white as snow. Her grayish breasts and brownish cheeks are enough for him to love her. In this way, he mocks the conventional analogies by proving that they are mere talks and have no substance.

Sonnet 130 Summary (My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun)

First quatrain.

The speaker opens the poem with the description of his mistress. He says that his mistress’s eyes are in no way comparable to the sun. He says that the sun is far more bright and beautiful than the ordinary eyes of his mistress. He goes on to describe another aspect of his mistress’s beauty by comparing her lips and cheeks to corals. However, this comparison does not go in his beloved’s favor as well. He says that the redness of corals is far more than the redness of his mistress’s cheeks and lips.

In the third line, the speaker compares the whiteness of his mistress’s breast with the whiteness of snow. He says that if snow stands as the standard for whiteness, his mistress’s breast does not qualify for such whiteness. Instead, they are brownish in comparison to snow. He furthers this description by employing another analogy. He says that his mistress’s hair is not something extraordinary. He says that if it is allowed to label one’s hair as wires, it will be right to say that his mistress’s head is covered with wires.

Second Quatrain

In the second quatrain, the speaker describes the different aspects of his mistress’s beauty by comparing her to roses and perfume. He says that he has seen many different variants of roses. Some of those roses were red, some were white, and some were grayish pink. However, connecting roses with his mistress’s cheek seems irrational to him. He says that he has never seen such roses in the cheeks of his mistress.

In the third line of the quatrain, the speaker starts talking about perfumes. He says that there is a great deal of pleasure in the smell of perfumes. At the same time, the breath of his mistress is also pleasurable. However, the pleasure in his mistress’s breath is of lesser degree in comparison to the pleasure of perfumes. He uses the word “reek,” which shows that the breath of his mistress is unpleasant at times.

Third Quatrain

In the third quatrain, the speaker continues his mockery of comparisons of his mistress and the ideal symbols of beauty. He says that it brings a great deal of joy to hear to the voice of his mistress. The moments, when his mistress talks to him, are a source of delight for him. However, he says, there is another sound that is sweeter than his mistress’s voice. This sound is the sound of music, which has a far more pleasing effect on him.

Furthermore, the speaker mocks the comparison of beloveds to goddesses. He says that he has never seen a goddess in his life. Therefore, he has no knowledge of how the goddesses walk. However, he says that he is sure about one thing. He knows that his mistress walks on earth. Therefore, he knows that his mistress cannot be compared to a goddess.  

In the couplet, the speaker says that despite all the shortcomings of his mistress that he has described in the earlier line, he is in deep love with her. He considers his love rare because he is in love with an imperfect lady. He says that his love is as rare as anyone in the world. Similarly, his mistress is as beautiful as other women about whom people lie in their poetry.

Themes in Sonnet 130

Escape from idealism.

The major focus of the poem is to free poetry from the ideal form of description. All of the sonneteers of that time used elaborated analogies to describe how ideal and beautiful their beloveds are. Almost all of these descriptions used to be exaggerated and were no way near reality. In this poem, the speaker mocks this attitude. He does so by describing the features of his own mistress. He employs some of the most common comparisons that were used by the sonneteers and points out the fact that it is not humanly possible to reach that level.

How can someone’s breath be more delightful than the smell of perfumes? How can someone’s breast be as white as snow? How can someone’s lips and cheeks be as read as the coral? How can someone’s hair be like golden wires? How can someone’s voice be sweeter than music? How can someone’s walk match the walk of goddesses? The speaker questions the conventional depiction of beauty by asking these questions and negating them by saying that his mistress’s beauty is not of this level. Furthermore, he declares that all those people that describe their beloveds’ beauty are liars.

This satire not only points out the idealism in poetry but also in all the fields of life. It shows that ideal wishes can never be fulfilled in this world, and the people dealing with such ideal forms are nothing but liars. Humans should ready themselves to accept the world as it is with all its imperfections.

The poem addresses the problem of stereotyping the beauty of females by setting unreachable standards for it. It shows how males have set such out of the world expectations for the beauty of their female partners. We have created a fixed definition of beauty for all of the humans of the world when they are very diverse. Every person is different from another, and such stereotyping of beauty can never work. Rather, it will make the females inferior for not achieving the ideal standards of beauty.

The speaker stresses the point that poets have gone a step further by taking their standards of beauty above the level of goddesses. Such idealism questions the very essence of love. If we are not ready to accept the imperfections of humans, how can we love them? Therefore, the speaker says that his mistress is full of imperfections and that he still loves her as much as others can.

One of the major themes of the poem is love. The speaker is expressing his love for his beloved. In order to do so, he describes and defines his values of love. He says that his love is not based on the physical beauty of his beloved. His beloved is neither as white as snow, nor is her lips red like the coral. Still, he loves her with all his heart.

The speaker appears to have some kind of emotional bond with his mistress. He does not need any perfect physical beauty. Rather, his love is based on true emotions and feelings.

Sonnet 130 Analysis

The poem is a satire on the conventions of idealizing one’s beloved. It uses different devices like hyperbole, metaphor, and simile, to emphasize the absurdity of idealism in love. 

In the first quatrain, the speaker questions the idea of comparing humans to sun and corals. He says that his mistress’s eyes are not like sun and that her cheeks are not red like roses. He also mocks the tradition of comparing one’s breast to snow and hair with golden wires. In order to stress his point, he starts with an alliterative sound pattern in the first line. Similarly, there is consonance in this line which reflects his urgency in attacking the absurd analogies. He also goes on to use hyperbole by exaggeratedly claiming that his mistress’s hair is like black wires. 

In the second quatrain, the speaker points out two more absurd comparisons. He maintains that comparing someone’s cheeks to roses is absurd as he has never seen roses in his mistress’s cheeks. Furthermore, he negates the idea of comparing someone’s breath to perfume. He uses hyperbole and claims that his mistress’s breath reeks to highlight the difference between human breath and perfumes.

In the third quatrain, the speaker continues the same pattern of satire and mocks further traditional analogies. He says that he can neither claim that his mistress’s voice is more delightful nor can he say that she walks like goddesses. In the last line of this quatrain, the speaker employs exaggerated alliteration to express his annoyance with these absurd notions.

In the couplet, the flow of the sonnet takes a turn as the speaker brings volta. He claims that despite all the flaws, he is pure love in his heart for his mistress.

The tone of the poem is thoroughly satirical. The speaker satirizes all the set traditions of elaborated comparisons between one’s beloved and the symbols of beauty. Every line of the poem attacks the said conventions except for the last two lines. In those lines, the speaker takes time to elaborate on his love for his mistress. However, in doing so, he again claims that other lie when they unduly praise their beloveds.

The speaker of this poem is a realist lover. He describes his beloved features that are not so attractive. However, he has a strong belief in his love and says that his love is as rare as anyone in the world.

Rhyme Scheme

The rhyme scheme of this sonnet is traditional ababcdcdefefgg. The first twelve lines make three quatrains with an alternate sound pattern, and the last two lines make a rhyming couplet.

Literary Devices in Sonnet 130

Alliteration.

Alliteration is the repetition of the same starting consonant sound in a line. The very first line of the poem starts with an alliterative sound pattern where the speaker utters the word “My mistress’.” This type of start suggests the urgency in the speaker’s tone and shows that he is desperately trying to say convince the readers. 

In the third line, the speaker compares the whiteness of his beloved’s breast to the whiteness of snow. There the words “white, why” make another alliterative sound pattern. This device emphasizes the difference between the whiteness of the two.

In the fourth line, the speaker compares his beloved’s hair to wires. In this line, there are two alliterative sound patterns. The first pattern is made by the words “be” and “black,” while the  second is made by the words “hair,” “her,” and “head.” This type of repetitive sounds at the start of the words exhibits the disagreement of the speaker with this type of comparison.

In the eleventh line, there is another exaggerated alliteration.

“I grant I never saw a goddess go;”

Here the /g/ sound is repeated three times in the line. Through this device, the speaker conveys his annoyance with the comparison of humans and gods.

Hyperbole is an exaggerated overstatement or understatement in a literary piece. In the sonnet, the speaker exaggerates the flaws of his beloved to prove his point. He wants to prove that the convention of describing human beauty through false comparisons is wrong. In the fourth line, the speaker exaggeratedly says that his beloved’s head is covered with black wires. Similarly, in the eighth line, the speaker says that his beloved’s breath reeks, which is an exaggeration. The purpose of this exaggeration is to highlight the absurdity of the conventional comparisons of humans’ breath with perfumes.

Consonance is the repetition of the same consonant sound in a line. In the first line of the poem, the sound /s/ is repeated three times. In the second line, the sound /r/ is repeated four times. Similarly, /r/ sound is repeated twice in the third line. This clustering of similar sounds makes the poem appealing by giving it a rhyming effect.

Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound in a line. The sound /i/ is repeated in the first and second lines of the poem. Similarly, the /u/ sound is repeated twice in the sixth line. This device makes the poem appealing by giving it a rhyming effect.

A metaphor is an implicit comparison between two different things based on some similar quality. In this poem, the speaker compares his beloved’s hair to the wire by saying,

“black wires grow on her head.”

This metaphor serves the purpose of creating an image in the mind of the reader.

A simile is an explicit comparison between two different things based on some similar quality with the help of words like “as” or “like.”

In the poem, the speaker compares his mistress’s eyes to the sun in the first line.

Anaphora is the repetition of the same word at the start of consecutive lines. The third and fourth lines of the poem start with the word “if.” This device gives the poem a rhyming effect.

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Literary Analysis of William Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 30"

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Published: Oct 2, 2020

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Essay 2 Lit Analysis (2)

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How many sonnets did Shakespeare write?

Widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, William Shakespeare is still a celebrated figure in literary circles, if not often cited as an inspiration for every burgeoning scribe out there.

The Bard of Avon is credited with some of the most elaborate and era-defining plays in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Most, if not all, of current drama and tragedy is derived from works like Macbeth , Hamlet , King Lear , Henry V , Julius Caesar, and Coriolanus , but theatre is not the only place where Shakespeare has staked his artistic claim. 

The playwright also published a collection of sonnets, mostly in the form popularized by Sir Thomas Wyatt, the politician poet who introduced sonnets to the English language in the early 16th century. These sonnets work to highlight Shakespeare’s genius wordplay even beyond the bounds of his dramatic work. Perhaps the best way to do them justice would be to pray beg the Bard himself for help; “For we, which now behold these present days, Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.”

Here’s a breakdown of the sonnets attributed to Shakespeare and why they remain a significant part of English poetry all these centuries later.

What is a sonnet and why are Shakespeare’s sonnets significant?

The sonnet is believed to have been invented under the rule of Frederick II, King of Sicily, King of Italy, and Holy Roman Emperor in the 13th century. The Italian poet Giacomo da Lentini, who was the headmaster of the Sicilian School at the time, came up with the form and progressively perfected it until a “sonnet” (from the Italian word sonetto , meaning “little song”) came to mean a poem consisting of 14 lines with a strict rhyme scheme.

It is only a testament to the sonnet’s incredible thematic flexibility that it has survived in its original form throughout history. While many poets have experimented with the form to create different meters, Shakespeare mostly wrote in the traditional iambic pentameter, not only because of its natural rhythm, but because of the way it can be so expressive in so short a stride. But that’s not the only thing setting Shakespeare apart from his contemporaries. The sonnet initially worked as a worshipful verse attributed to a feminine goddess, but Shakespeare reinvested the sonnet in the conceptual sense and introduced his own philosophies to it, which mostly revolved around the figure referred to as the “Fair Youth.”

Here’s an example of the Shakespearean sonnet not only reflecting love, but also bringing other themes to the fore:

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest 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.

The main body of Shakespeare’s sonnets refers to the 154 sonnets published in a quarto in 1609, but if we take the additional 6 sonnets in Love’s Labour’s Lost , Romeo and Juliet , and Henry V , it would take the total number of his published sonnets to 160. There is also a partial sonnet in Edward III , taken from the 1609 collection’s 94th sonnet, “They That Have Power to Hurt and Will Do None.”

Even after several centuries, Shakespeare’s sonnets continue to invoke universal truths and describe themes like love, mortality, and all the other complexities of the human spirit. The emotional depth of these sonnets is, in my personal opinion, unmatched in the Western canon, and continues to amaze literature buffs and linguists to this day.

What remains, then, but the heedless joy, to open now the Bard’s quarto and breathe deep the product of his literary toil? “O, learn to read what silent love hath writ: To hear with eyes belongs to love’s fine wit.”

Sonnet 76: Why Is My Verse so Barren of New Pride SONNETCAST – William Shakespeare's Sonnets Recited, Revealed, Relived

The deceptively unsensational Sonnet 76 asks a simple question and provides to this a straightforward enough answer that will hardly come as a surprise: how is it that I write one sonnet after another and they all sound the same? Because "I always write of you."  With this one declaration it settles a debate that – in view of its very existence bafflingly – has more recently reappeared in scholarly circles: are these sonnets, such as we have them in the collection originally published in the Quarto Edition of 1609, addressed to or written about principally one person, or could they not also have been composed in the context of a whole raft of relationships over a much longer period than has generally been assumed?

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A Poet on Taylor Swift’s Complicated Embrace of Tortured Poets

W ho was the first tortured poet? Maybe the ancient Egyptian who wrote, sometime in the 15th century BCE, "My beloved stirs my heart with his voice. He causes illness to seize me.... My heart is smitten." Maybe the poet Catullus, whose heartbreaks lit up ancient Rome: "I hate and love," he explained in Latin, "and it's excruciating," or (depending on the translator) "it crucifies me." Petrarch's sonnets, in 14th century Italy, complained that love both scorched and chilled. Mary Wroth, a contemporary of Shakespeare, agreed: love made her "burn and yet freeze: better in hell to be."

All those poets felt tortured by erotic love—and their strife sometimes hurt other people, too, if they came too close. The trope of the tortured poet whose gifts would destroy him (or, less often, her) came about later, when European writers began to see poets as especially sensitive, anguished, or fragile. "We poets in our youth begin in gladness," William Wordsworth mused in 1802, "But thereof in the end come despondency and madness." That second line lengthens as if unfolding hard truth. A genuine poet in France might be a "poète maudit" ("cursed poet"), like Charles Baudelaire or Arthur Rimbaud, marked by fate, mental illness, or alcohol addiction. By the 20th century the type (or stereotype, really) could fit all manner of wild and self-destructive creators, especially men, from Dylan Thomas to the Doors' Jim Morrison.

By calling her new album The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift points back to this tradition. She also makes fun of it, comments on it, and rejects it, as the prose that accompanied the album implies. "There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed," Swift wrote in an Instagram post. "Our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it."

Seeing her work as ink on a page, not only as song in the air, Swift claims herself as a literary writer—the modern age’s most notorious poet. Fans first speculated that she appropriated the "tortured" mantle from the group chat co-run by her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, which Alwyn called "The Tortured Man Club.” Could be—but it’s so much more than that, and it might also point to other recent relationships . Taylor creates some distance between herself and the stereotype she invokes. "You're not Dylan Thomas, I'm not Patti Smith," Swift's title track declares. "This ain't the Chelsea Hotel. We're modern idiots." He's not that gifted, and she's not that dramatic. Or rather she's dramatic in a different, far more deliberate way: one that fits her own, always thoughtful, but rarely raw, art.

Read More: All the References in Taylor Swift’s Title Track ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Swift also takes back for herself—and for other women artists—the power that supposedly comes from chronic distress, from feeling like a tortured mess. "You wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me," Swift warns on "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" If she feels tortured and reacts with poetry, that's not endemic to poets; it's the logical consequence of a romance gone wrong and a live lived in public. "I was tame, I was gentle till the circus life made me mean,” she sings. “You caged me and then you called me crazy/ I am what I am 'cause you trained me.”

But if Swift has become the chair of the Tortured Poets Department, she didn't get there by being born this way: the rest of the department did it to her. Her barbed words, sharp hooks, and sarcastic replies are more like Wroth's burning and freezing than they are like Baudelaire's doom. They share, and make fun, of her own emotional extremes. "Whether I'm gonna be your wife or gonna smash up your bike I don't know yet," she explains on “imgunnagetyouback,” punningly. "But I'm gonna get you back”—either get you to come back to me, or get back at you. Her phrases present a feminist revenge, turning her pain into (what else?) song. "I cry a lot but I am so productive it's an art," she croons on one of the most upbeat new tracks “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” "You know you're good when you can even do it with a broken heart."

Like all Swift's albums, The Tortured Poet Department contains multitudes and multiple takes on the same situation, just as it contain several pop styles, from the 1980s-style synths in the album’s single “Fortnight,” composed with Post Malone, to the acoustic guitar and string sweeps of "The Albatross," created with reference to Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Wordsworth's ex-friend, a self-sabotaging poet for the ages). In "But Daddy I Love Him" Swift strikes back, with extra reverb, at fans who insist on telling her who to date and how. In "Down Bad" she encapsulates her toughest, most immature moments in elegant half-rhyme: "everything comes out teenage petulance. I might just die, it would make no difference." But Swift for most of the album, for all her passion and all her pain, knows better than to blow up her life for love. Like her character in "The Bolter," she knows how to save herself, even when love feels like drowning.

The tortured modern poet—the poète maudit—the trope that Swift's new album takes up and plays with and against, remains a powerful metaphor (she is no authority on literal torture, and never pretends to be one). Listeners who have been sorting through The Tortured Poets Department since both halves of it dropped, two hours apart, have already found our own favorites, mirrors for our own falls through thin ice.

Read More: Taylor Swift Is Embracing the 5 Stages of Grief. Should You?

It's surprising, even staggering, to see the range of her responses to love, to poetry, and to "torture." Sometimes she magnifies, even celebrates, her own and her characters' emotional turmoil. Other times (as in the title track) she makes fun of the way they, as would-be "tortured poets," cannot get out of their own heads. And sometimes—to quote another poet, William Butler Yeats—she mocks mockers after that, telling us to stop telling her what to do.

Always, though, she shows us the craft she shares with the great poets, and songwriters, of times past: the ability, as Yeats also put it, "to articulate sweet sounds together," and to "work harder than all these"—harder than anybody—at turning all those feelings into art.

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