1672 + SONNETS 11-13 SONNETS 14-16 + 16' 11 14 As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow'st Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck, . In one of thine from that which thou: departest,l And yet methinks I have astronomy;O Ils'trological knowld And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow'st But not to tell of good or evil Juck, Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest. 0 turn away Of plagues, of dearths, or seasons' quality. O Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase; Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell, precis! Without this, folly, age, and cold decay. 'Pointing to each his thunder, rain; and wind, If all were minded so, the times should cease, Or say with princes if it shall-go well O And threescore year would make the. world away. By oft predict that I in heaven find; Jnll1terolls sit) Let those whom nature, hath notmade for store," breeding But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive, 10 Harsh,o featureless,o and Tude,o barrenly,perish. ugfy (all three words) 10 And, constant stars, in them I read such art Look whom she best endowed she gave :the more,2 As! truth and beauty shall together thrive Which bounteous gift thou shouldstin bountyO cherish. ,by ushig b01mtifully If from thyself to store thou wouldst convert. 2 She carved thee for her seal,3 and meant thereby Or else of thee this Iprognosticate: Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die. Thy endis truth's and beauty's doom and date.o filml judgment and 1'1 (C~.' . 12 , 15; ,J 'When I do count the clocko that tells the time, ' lwurs as they strike \\Then I consider eve'tTthihg that grows And see the braveD day sunk in hideous night; fine Holdso in perfection but a little moment, RenJai When I behold the violet past prime, That this huge stage presenteth naught but shows Arid sableo curls ensilvered o'er with white; black Whereon the stars in secret influenceD comment; (asrrologicali When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,' When I perceive that men as plants increase, Which erstO from heat did canopy the herd, once Cheered and checked even by the selfsame sky; O And summer's green all girded up in sheaves Vaunt intheir youthful sap,° at height decrease, Gloat I streng 1 Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard: And wear their brave state out of memory: I Then of thy beauty do I question make Then the conceitO of this inconstant stayO illlilginarl0l1 / (on eart, 10 That thou among the wastes of time must go, 10 Sets you most rich in youth .before my sight, Since sweetsO and beauties do themselves forsake, sweet things mere wasteful time debatethO with dec;1y comper And die as fast as they see others grow; To change your day of youth to sullied night; And nothing 'gainst time's scythe can make defence And all in war with time,,-£oi~ love of you, Save breed to brave himO when hetakes thee hence. children to defy time As he takes from you, I e!1graft you new. 2
13 16[' o that you were yourself! 1 But, love, you are But wherefore do not you a mightier way No longer yours than you yourself here live. Make war upon this bloody tyrant, time, AgainstO this coming end you should prepare, F" And fortify yourself in your decay And your sweet semblance to some other give. "With means more blessed than my barren rhyme? So should that beauty which you hold in lease Now stand you on the top of happy hours,° in your pri11 Find no determination;o then you wereO never end /wOldd be And many maiden gardens yet unsetO 1-111plant! Yourself again after your self's decease, With virtuous wish would bear your living flowers, When your sweet issue your sweet form should bear. ' Much liker than your painted counterfeit.° image in art or poet 2 o Who lets so fair a house fall. to decay, So should the lines of life that life repair Testa 3 10 Which husbandry' in honour might nphold 10 mich this time's pencil or my pupil pen Against the stormy gusts of winter's day, Neither in inward worth nor outward fair And barren rage ofdeath's eternal cold? Can make you live yourself" ineye~ of men. as yourse 0, none but unthrifts,° dear my love, you know; spendthrifts To give' away yourself keeps yourself still,O (as childTe1 You had a father; let your son say so. And you must live drawn by your own sweetskill.
Sonnet II 3. Literally, a stamp of authority. I. In a child begotten in youth (with ~ugge~tions of Sonnetl2 SQnnet 14 I loveyoli, restore you with my verse. ~exual intercOllr~elind of-death). 1. An ... beard: And sheaves of mature ("bearded") I. such art IAs: such predictions as that. Sonnet 16 2. To whomever nature gave most (made be.st-looking) grain carried away on the harvest cart; old man borne on 2. Ifyou would prOvide for tbe future. 1. This sonnet links \\ith 15. she gave even more (extra reproductive abilities). The a funeral bier. SonnetlI5 2. Lineage; IMng lines (unlike those ofpoet or p
29 32 When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, If thou survive my well-contented day' I all alone beweep my outcast state, When that churl death my bones with dust shall cover, And trouble deaf heaveri with my bootlesso cries, 1t1faVCIilillg O And shalt by fortune once more resurvey chau And look upon myself and curse my fate, These poor rudeo lines of thy deceased lover, rou, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, o Compare them with the bett'ring :ofthe time, progress; better I Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,l And though they be outstripped by every pen, Desiring this man's artO and that man's scope,o skill / range' Reserve 'them for my love, not for their rhyme With what I most enjoyO conte~east: like; own Exceeded by the height of happier men.2 Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, o thenvouchsafeme but this loving thought: lO Haply2 I think on thee, and then my state,P flWod; fortunes 10 'Had my friend's muse grown with this growing age, O Like to the lark at break of day arising A dearer birth than this his love had brought worthier poe From sullenearth, sings hymns at heaven's gate; To march in ranks of better equipage;O poet Fm thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings But since he died, and poets better prove,o have iml1rot', That then I scorn to change mystate\vithkings'. Tbeirs for their style I'~\ his for his love.' 30 When to the sessionsO of sweetsilentthought court sittings Full many a glorious mo~ave I seen I summon up remembrance of things past, Flatter the mountain tops WIth sovereign eye,° sunligi I sighO thelack of many a thing I sought, mourn Kissing with golden face the meadows green, And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste.' Gilding pale streams with heavenly 'alchemy; o O Then can I drown an eye unused to flow .5 Anon permit the basest clouds to ride o (But) soon / aarke For precious friends hidin death's datelesso night, endless With ugly rack on his celestial face, cloudymm And weep afresh love's long-since-cancelledo wO'e, repaid (with sorrow) And from the forlorn world his visage hide, And moan th'expenseo ofmany a vanished sight. passing Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace. Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,° bygone Even so my sun one early morn did; shine 10 And heavilyO from woe to woe tellO o'er sadly! say; count 10 With all triumphant splendou~onmy prow; The sad accountO of fore~bemoanedmoan, star),; filUmces But out, alack,o he was but one,hour mine; ai, mas~d Which I new pay as if not paid before. The region° cloud hath him from me now. hig But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, Yet him for this myloveno whit disdaineth: O All losses are restored, and sorrows end. Suns of the world may stain when heaven's sun staineth. darke
31 34' Thy bosom is endeared with° all hearts lovec! by; enriched by Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day , Which I by lacking have supposed dead, And ma~e me travel forth without my cloak, And there reigns love, and all love's loving parts, To let base clQIJds-o'ertake me in my way, And all those friends which I thought buried. Hiding thy brav'ryO in their rotten smoke?O finery / ntJ.·dous mist How many a holy and obsequiousOtear dutifullly flwHrning . 'Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break Hath dear religiousO love stol'n from mine eye det'Oted To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face, As interest ofo the dead, whicho now appear due/payment to Iwho For no man well of such a salve can speak But things removedo that hidden in thee lie! absent That heals the wound and cures not the disgrace. 2 Thou art the grave where buried love doth1ive,' Nor can thy shameOgive physic toO my grief; remor.~e/cur, 10 Hung with the trophieso of my lovers gone, memorials .10 Though thou repent, yetI-have still the loss. Who all their partsO of me to thee did give: shares Th'offender's sorrow lends but weak relief
That due of manyl noW is thine alone. To him that bears the strong offence's cross.° consequel1ce~
Sonnet 29 Sonnet 30 2. And you, who are made up of all of them. fortunfltein their talent than I. L WtShing . .. posse,I,led: Three people he wants to be I. my. ,. waste: the frittering or wasting away of my Sonnet 32 Sonnet 34 Iike-"liketo one"'with better ~rospects, better looking precious time. 1. Day of my death, whic'h I shall willingly accept. 1. This sonnet Jinks with 33, "like him," and having friends 'like him." Sonnet 31 2. Reserve . .. men: Keep them because yOu love me, not 2. Disfigurement; dishonor done the poet by the youth's 2. By chance; also, pun on "happlly." 1. What was m.\'edto many (myself). for their value as poetry, which is surpassedbypoets more neglect. SONNETS58~61 1688 .. SONNETS 61...:.64 ...
Be where you list',° your chatterO is so strong wish /jl-eedom 10 It is my love th~tkeeps mine eye awakei 10 That you yourself may privilegeD your time allocate Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat, To what you will; to you it doth belong To play the watchman ever for thy sake. Yourself t,o pardon of self~doingO crime. C011fmited by you 'For thee watch 1° whilst thou dost wake elsewhere, I remaill I am to wait, though waiting so be hell, Fromme far off, with others all too near. Not blame your pleasure, be it ill or well. 62 59 Sin of selfRlove pQssesseth all mine eye, If there be nothing new, but that which is And all my soul, and all my every part; Hath been before, how are our brains beguiled,° cheated And for this sin there is no remedy, Which,labouringO for invention, bear amiss ~workil1g; giving birth It is so grounded inward in my heart. The second burden of a former child! I Methinks no face so gracious is as mine, o that recordo could with a ba~kward look recollection No shape so true,°no truth ofsuch account, Even of five hundred courses ofthe sun And for myself mine own worth do define f AsO I all othero in all worthssurmount., Show me your image in some antique book Asif/, Since mind at first in characterwasdone,2 But when my glassO shows me myself indeed, That I might see what t1)wold'world could say 10 Beated and chapped with tanned antiquity, 10 To this composed wonder of your frame;3 Mine own self-love quite contrary I read; Whether we are mendedo or whe'er better they, iml11·oved SelfsO'selfRloving wereiniquity. 'Tis thee, myself,O that forO myself I praise, Or whether revolution be the same,4 you, my other se 0, sure I am the witsOof former days . dever writers Paintingmy age with beauty ofthy days. To subjects worse have given admiring praise. 63 60 AgainstO my love shall be as I am now, Preparillg for 1 Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, With time's injurious hand crushed and'o'envorn; So do our minutes hasten to their end, When hours have drained his blood and filled his brow Each changing place with that.whichgoes: before; With lines, and wrinkles; when his youthful"morn In sequent toil all forwards do contend.' o Hath travelled on to age's steepyl night, progres.;ed; ,t, Nativity,O once in the main oflight,O A newborn / in the world And all those beauties whereofnow he's king Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crowned Are'vanishing, or vanished'oufo(l>!ght, Crookedo eclipses 'gainst his glory fight, Pernicious Stealing away the treasure ofhis spring: ruin And time that gave doth now his gift confound.° For such (l time-do I nm';li"'fortify . 2 Time doth transfix the flourish set on youthj 10 Against confounding'tage's cruel knife, devastll 10 And delves the parallelso in beauty's brow; carvestlw wrinkles That he shall nevercutftom memory' ~ Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth, My sweet love's ,beauty, thoughO my,'lover's life. though he will s And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow. His, beauty shall in these black Jines be seen, And yet to times in hopeo my verse shall stand, future days And they shall live, and he in them stilI gr,een. ° perpetually yout, Praising thy worth despite his cruel hand. 64 image~J2ld When I have seen by time's felIO" hand defaced Is it thy will thy keep open The rich proud castO of outworn buried'age; ft' My heavy eyelids to the weary night? . sometimeo~lofty "'P' When towers I see down' razed, o Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken And brass eternal slave to m(?rtaI rage;l visio1tS While shadowso like to thee do mock my sight? When I have seen the hungry ocean' gain Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee Advantage on the kingdom of the shore, So far from home into lily deeds to pry, O And the firm soil win of the: wa,t'ry "main, ~ngro1tlu1ft To find out shames and idle hours in me, Increasing store with loss and loss with store;2 The scope and tenor of thy jealousy?l When I have seen such interchange of state, no; thy love, though much, is not so great. 3 o 10 Or state itself confounded to decay, Q reduced to TU Sonnet 59 Sonnet 60 Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate: I. bellr . .. dzild: mistakenly ("amiss") give birth for a sec I. Toiling one after the other,all seek to move forward. ond time to a child that has already been born. 2. Time pierces and destroys the ornament (beauty). Sonnet 63 2. Since writing was invented. 3. On the most precious products ofnature's perfection. settingsun)~ 2., Adding to the stock of one by loss of the other, a. 3. To the wond('.rful compos(tion of your form (perhaps Sonnet 61 . I. PreCipitous (like the path of the vice versa. Sonnet 64 referring to the sonnet Hselfas well). 1. The objectand intent ofyour distrust (that is, "shames 3. state (line 9): condition; sovereign territory state (lj 4. 'A'hcther the revohing of the ages makes no differ- and idle hours," line 7). l. And eternal brass forever succumbs to death's vio 10): pomp. lence. ence. . 1700 + SONNETS 94-97 SONNETS 97...,.100 •
The basest weed outbraves his dignitYi,4 Or if they sing, 'tis with so dull a cheero ...1wh a dismal For sweetest things 'turn sOll.rest' by their deeds: That leaves look pale, dre~ding the winter's near. Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.5
95 From you have I been ab(£~ the spring How sweet and lovely clost thou make the shame When proud~piedoApril, dressed in all his trim,° . multicolored / Which, like a cankero in the frfJ-grantrose, caflhenvorm Hath put a spirit of youth in everything, Doth spot the beautyof thy budding name!O fame That heavy Saturnl laughed and leapt with him. 0, in what sweets clost thou thy sins enclose! Yet nor the layso of birds nor the sweet smell not the That tongue that tells the, story of thy days, Of different flowerso in odour and in hue flO'lI'ers diJ. Making'lascivious comments on thy sport,c amorous adventures Could make me any summer's story tell,° speak (write) h, Cannot dispraise, butina kind of praise, Or from their proud lapo pluck them where they grew; (thegn Naming thy name, blesseso ,an ,ill report. mahes positive Nor did I wonder at the lily's white, ~ 0, what a mansion have those vices got· 10 Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose. ID 'Which for their habitation chose out thee, They were but sweet, but figureso of delight merely em Where beautyls veil doth cover every blot Drawn after you, you pattern of all those; And all things turns to fair that eyes can see!· Yet seemed it winter still, and, you away, Take heed, deaf heart, of this large privilege: As with your shadow I with these did play.2 The hardest knife ill used doth lose hiso edge. ;" 99' 96 The forward" violet thus did I chide: Some say thy fault is youth, some wantonness;? pJ"ollfikltity; frivolity Sweet thief, whence didst thou steal thy sweetO that smells, p' Some say thy grace is youth and g~ntle sport.l If not from my love's breath? The purple prideo L Both grace and faults are loved of more andlessjo by people ofall ranks . \Vbich on thy soft cheek for complexion dwells Thou mak'st faults graces thatto thee reso~ In my love's veins thou hast toogrosslyO dyed, ow As on the finger of a throned queen' , ·The lily I condemned for thy hand,2 The basest jewel will be well esteemed, And buds of marjoram3 had stoI'n thy hair; So are those errors, that in thee are seen> The roses fearfully on thorns did stand, To truths translatedO and for true things deemed. converted One blushing shame, another white despair; How many lambs mightthe sterna wolf betray' vicious 10 A third, nor red nor white,l~ad stol'n of both,O (m;hil1g it 10 If likeo a lamb he could his looks translate! into And toO his robb'ry had annexedthy breath; inaddi,t Howmany gazers" rnightst thou lead away But for his theft in prideJ?faIl his growth If thou wouldst use the strength6f all thy statel O power A vengeful cankerO ate, hiin up to death; cCJ11ker But do not so: I love thee in such sartO such a way More flowers I noted, yet I none could see As, thou being mine, mine is thy good report.2 But sweetO or colour it had stoI'n from thee, pe:
97 100 How like a winter hath my absence been Where, are thou, muse, that thou forget'st so long From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! To speak of th~t which gives thee all thy might? What freezings have I felt, what dark _days seen, Spend'st thou thy furyl on some worthless song,' %at old December's bareness everywhere! Dark'ningO thy power to lend base subjects light? Dd Andyet this time removedo ,was summer's time, . aw"Y I Return, forgetful muse, and straightO redeem i1J11Hea The teeming autumn bigO with rich increase; pregnant In gentle numberso time so idly spentj noble] Bearing the wanton burden of the primeo; , haroest ofwmd0l1 spring Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem Like widowed wombs after their lords' decease.. ," And·gives thy pen both skill and argument.o sub, Yet this abundant issue seemedI to me Rise, restyO muse, my love's sweet face survey 10 But hope of orphans and unfathered fruit", ;0 If' time have any wrInkle graven there. To For summer and his pleasures waite on thee, attend If any, be a satire toO decay . sati And thou away, the very birds are mute; I And make time's spoils despised everywhere. 4. Exceeds the flower in magnificence, Sonnet96 I Sonnet 98 2. For steaJingwhitene$s from your (the beloved's) 5, This line also occmsin TheBeign oiKing Edward III, L A gentleman's sexual prerogative. 1. The planet Saturn was regarde_d as cold and slow, 3. Thehe.rb, sweet of scent and auburn in color. a play printed anonymollslyin 1596 and SOmetimes attrib 2. Reputation, The same couplet ends 36. i exerting a melancholy influence. Sonnet 100 uted, in whole orin part, to Shakespeare. Sonnet 97 2. As if with your image I played with these flowers. 1. Inspiration (the "poet's rage" of 17.11). 1. Offspring seemed in prospect, before the beloved's I Sonnet 99 absence. j 1. This s0!1net has an extra opening line. ~ ~ 1704 • SONNETS 1 06~ 109 SONNETS 109~112 .. l'
For weO which now behold these present days even we Never believe, though in my nature reigned Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise. 10 All frailties that besiege all kinds ofblood,° disposi Thatit could so preposterously be stained 107 To leave forO nothing all thy sum of good; Bxcl1allg( Not mine own fears nor the prophetic soul For nothing this wide universe I call Of the wide world dreaming on things to come Save thou my rose; in it..~~_ou art my all. Canyet the leaseo of my true love control, allotted term Supposed as forfeit to a confined doom. l 110 The mortal moon hath her eclipse endul'ed;2 Alas, 'tis true, I havegGH&--h"'2re and there And the sad augurs mock their own ,presage;3 And made mys'elf a motley to the view,o clml'11 to the w Incertainties now crown themselves assured,4, Goredo mine own thoughts, sold cheap what i_s most dear, Injt And peace proclaims olives of endless age,.5 Made old offences ofaffections new;! Now with the drops6 of this most balmy time' Most true, it is that I have looked on truthO fi~ 10 My love looks fresh, and death to me ,subscribes,° submits Askance and strangely.o But, by allabove, Since spite of him I'll live in this poorrhyme These blencheso gave my he,art another youth, a/teraf" While he insultso o'er dull and speechless tribes,7 prevails And worse essaysO proved thee my best of love e;ocperim And ,thou in this shalt find thY'ffionument Now all is done, have what shall have noend;2 When tyrants' crests and- tombs ofbrass 'are spent.° ruined 10 Mine appetite I never more will grind On newer proof to' try3 an older friend, 108 A god in love, to whom I am confined. O What's in the brain that ink may character express Then give me welcome, next my heaven the best,Q next best to hea Which hath not figuredO to thee my true spirit? shown Even to thy pure an<~,~ostloving breast, VVhat's new to speak, what now to register,° record That may express my love or thy dear merit? Nothing, sweet boy; but yet Hke prayers divine 0, for my sake do you Wlth~une chide, I must each day say o'er the very same, The guilty goddess of my harmful deeds, Counting no old thing -old, thou mine, I thine, That did not better for my life provide Even as when 'first I hallowed thy fair name. Than public means which public manners breeds.2 So that eternal love in love's fresh caseO cotJering Thence comes it that my name receives' a brand,o sti! O 10 Weighs not the dust and injury of age, Overlooks And almost thence my nature-,is subdued Nor gives to necessaryO wrinklesplace,o inevitable / priority. To what it works in, like the.dyer's himd. But makes antiquity for aye his page,l Pity me then, and wish I ;were renewed,° " Finding the first conceit oflove therebred2 ,~ Whilst like a willing patient.I will drink Where time and outward form wouldoshow-it dead. want to 10 Potions of eisel° 'gainst my strong infection; medicinal vim NoO bitterness that I will bitter think, There i: 109 Nor double penance to correct correction.° correct me twice ( o never say that I was false of heart, Pity me then,dear friend, and I assure ye Though absence seemed my flame to qualify°~" reduce Even.that your pity is e~~ to cure me; As easy might I from myself depart As from my soul, which in thy breast dothlie. l r;;2' ' That is my home of love. If I have ranged, Your love and pitY dothY~ssion fillo eliminates the! Like him that travels I return again, \Vhich vulgarO scandal stamped upon my brow; pu Just to the time,o not with the time exchanged,O Punctually / changed For What care I who calls me well or ill, So that myself bring water for my stain. l So you o'er-green my bad, my good allow?2 You are my all the world, and I must strive To know my shames and praises from your tongue Sonnet 107 with Spain signed by King James, who succeeded Eliz 1. Imngined as limited to a finite term. abeth. None else to me, nor I to none alive, 2. Surnved. The line is variously taken to refer to an 6: Soothing drops of dew, rain, or balm. Balm was used edipse of the moon, to an event in the life (or, more in the co~onation ceremony. likely, to the death in 1603) of Queen E1i7.llheth" (often 7. Over-those legions ofdead who have no poetic legacy. known as Diana, the moon goddess); or, less probably, to Sonnet 108 Sonnet 110 alternative meanings. the defeat of the Spanish-Armada (1588). 1. But mnkes (old) age forever the (youthful)servaI!-t to I. Repeated traditional misbehavior (infidelity)-or 2. Probably: Than employment as an actor, wI-: 3. And prophets ofdoom now ridicule theirown prophe love; perhaps referring to the pages of poetry written offended old friends-in (my treatment of) new attach requires one to curry favor with the public. des. when the "sweet boy" (lJlie 5) was still young. ments. Sonnet 112 4. Desired but doubtful possibilities now celebra:te their 2. The first feeling (poetic. expression) oflove generated 2. have end:take that (my love} whichl'ill not expire. I. This sonnet links with Ill. renli?ationj uncertninty is now unavoidable. in that place (the h'eloved; the poem). 3. grind try: sharpen with new experience to test. 2. So long as you allow new growth to cO\'l'r what is 5. And peace dec!nrcs the olive hmnches that symbolize Sonnet!09 Sonnet III . in me, and give credit for whM is good. it to be everlasting. Perhnps a reference to the peace treaty I. for my stain: to cleanse the stain of my absence. 1. Qhas "wish," which gives a more problematJc array of 1706, • SONNETS 112-115 SONNETS 115-,117 +
3 That my steeled sense or changes, right orwrong. :1, My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer. In so profound abyss I throw all care But reckoning time1 l'whose millioned accidents 10 Of others' voices that my adder'ssenseo deafears '. Cr.eep in 'twixt vowsO and change decrees of kings, o (and, th.eir perfon To critic and to flatterer stopped are. Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp'st intents, 1 Mark how with my peglect I dodispense:4 Divert strong minds to th' course of alt'ringthings-+ You are so strongly in my purpose bred5 Alas, why, fearing of time's tyranny, That all the world besides, methinks, they're dead. w Might I nouhen say2 'Now I love you best', VVhen I was certain o'ero incertainty, O 113 Crowning the present, dO'ubting of the rest? Eo Since I left you mine eye is in mymind,1 Love is a babe; then might I not say so,3- ~o And that which governs me go aboutO Ami my real sight To giveO full growth to that which still doth grow. Thereby Doth part his o function and is partly' blind, Divides its Seems seeing, but effectually is out;O blind 116. For it no form delivers to the heart Let me not to the marriage of true minds o Of bird, of flower, or shape which it doth Iatch,O catch sight of Admit impediments. Love is notlove legal harriers to 1m Of his quickobjectsO hath the.mind no part,', fleeting impressions Which alters when it alteration finds, Nor his own vision holds2 what-it doth catch; Or bends with the remover to remove. l For if it see the rud'st or gentlesf' sight; coarsest or noblest o no, it is an ever fixed mark2 3 10 The most sweet favour or deformed'stcreature1 That looks on tempests and is never shaken; The mountain or the sea, the day or night, s It is the star to every wand'ring barque, 4 3 The crow or dove1 it shapes them to your feature. Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken.
Incapable of more, replete with you 1 Love's not time's fool,o though rosylips and cheeks pi, My most true mind thus makes mine eye untrue. 10 Within his bending sickle's ,compass4 come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, 114' Butbears it out even to the edge of doom.s o Or whether doth my mind1 being crowned with you,2 If this be error and upon me proved, Drink up the monarch's plague, this flattery, I never writ, nor no man ever loved. Or whether shall I say mine eye saith true, And that your love taught it this alchemy;3 117 To make of monsters and things indigestO chaotic Accuse me thus: that Ih::we scantedO all n,. Such cheruhinso as your sweet self resemble, angels Wherein I should your great deserts repay; Creating everyO bad a perfect best from every Forgot upon your dear~.tlove to call . As fast as objects to his beams assemble?4 Whereto all bonds do tie me day by. day;
0 1 'tjs the first, 'tis flatt'ry in my seeing, That I have frequentO been with unknown minds,o friendly / str 10 And my greatOmind most kingly drinks it'up. 11ompous And 'given .to time' your own dear~purchased right;l Mine eye well lrnows whatwith his gusUs'greeing,5 That I have hoisted sail to all the winds And to his palate doth prepare the, cup. Which shouldotransport me farthest from your sight. wereli; ( Book both my wilfulness and errors dm.Vl1; If it be poisoned1 'tis the .lesser sin , That mine eye loves it and doth first begin.6 w And on just proof surmise accumulate;Z Bring me within the levelo of yourJrown, 115 But~hoot not at me in your wakened hate, ThoseJines that I before have writ do lie; Since my appeal says I did strive toprove3 Even those that said I could not love' you dearer; The constancy and virtue of your love. Yet then my judgement knew no reason why
3. Nom' . .. wrOllg: perhaps, There being no one el6e to Sonnd 1'14 Sonnet 115 not be assessed, although nmigators at sea can m. influence me, and no one else's influence being capable 1. This sonnet links with 113. 1. But taking time into account; but time, which settles height above the horizon. ofpositively or negatively affecting myhardened disposi 2. Being made a King by having you. "Or whether" intro accounts. 4. Wi,thin mnge of time's curved (and hostile),.\' tion. duces alternatives. 2. Was I not then right to have said. "Compas.5" also recoils the imagery of the secoO' 4. How I excuse my neglect (of "other's voices," line 10). 3. And that love ofyou taught my eye howthustb trans 3. Thus I shouldn't say, "Now I love you best" (line 10). train. 5. Nurtured in all my plans. fonn things. Sonnet 11.6 5. But endures until the eve of doomsday. Sonnet 113 4. As,fast as objects come before its gaze. (The eye was L Or abandons the relationship when the loved one is Sonnet 117 1. I see with my mind's eye. thought to emit beams of light). unfaithful or has departed or died, or when time ("the I. And wasted idly what should have been you 2. Nor does the eye's vision hold on to. 5. VVhatpleases the mind's appetite. remover") alters things for the worse. (rite) because llcquired hyyour great worfh and aff 3. Face; perhaps Q's "sweet~favor" means "sweet 6. And drinks first (like a King's taster). ·2. An unmoving seamark, such as a lighthouse ora bea~ (because acquired at your great,cost). favored," or "good-.looking." can, which provides a constant reference point for sailors. 2. And pUe suspicion on top ofyonr proof. 4. It makes them look like you. 3. Whose . .. taken: The star's (great) intrinsic value can" 3. Since my defense. is that I was trying to test.