The Sonnets and Other Poems (50 page)
Read The Sonnets and Other Poems Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
8
vulgar
common
11
closure
enclosure, containment
12
at pleasure
as you please
14
truth
(even) honesty
dear
valuable/beloved
1
Against
in anticipation of/to defend myself against
3
When as
when
cast … sum
calculated its final total (i.e. closed its account)
4
advised respects
careful consideration
5
strangely
like a stranger
7
converted
changed
8
reasons … gravity
find weighty reasons for no longer knowing me/find reasons to maintain a dignified distance
9
ensconce me
fortify myself
10
mine own desert
what I deserve
11
this … uprear
raise my hand as if testifying against myself in a court of law
12
guard
defend
13
strength of laws
law on your side
14
why … cause
I can offer no reason why you should love me
cause
reason/adequate legal grounds
1
heavy
miserably/unwillingly/slowly
2
what … friend
when the urge to reach my destination and rest only reminds me how far I have traveled from my friend
5
beast
i.e. horse
6
dully
slowly
7
wretch
poor thing
8
being made
journeying away
11
heavily
miserably
1
slow offence
offense of slowness
2
dull bearer
horse
4
posting
riding swiftly
6
swift extremity
(even) extreme speed
7
spur
use the spur
8
In … know
even at the speed of flight I will not feel as if I am moving
10
perfects
most perfect
11
no dull flesh
being made of no heavy, earthly flesh (rather, being dominated by the element of fire)
12
for love
for love’s sake/out of charity
jade
worn-out horse
14
go
depart/walk
1
So … rich
I am like a rich man
4
seldom
infrequent, rare
5
feasts
feast days
solemn
special, ceremonial
rare
choice, splendid
7
thinly placèd
spaced out, sparingly distributed
8
captain
chief
carcanet
jeweled collar or necklace
9
as
like
chest
treasure chest
special
specially
11
instant
occasion
12
imprisoned pride
locked-away splendor
14
Being … hope
for one to exult in having you, yet still feel hope in your absence
1
whereof
of what
2
strange
indefinable, odd/different, other/ foreign
shadows
images (with connotations of various other senses of the word, including “ghosts/reflections/ shadows cast by the sun”)
on you tend
follow, serve you
3
shade
shadow cast by the sun/image
4
every shadow lend
lend (attributes) to everyone else
5
Adonis
in classical mythology, the beautiful youth loved by Venus, goddess of love (Shakespeare tells their story in
Venus and Adonis
)
counterfeit
copy/forgery—i.e. the poor attempt to describe Adonis
7
On … new
use all the arts of beautification to depict Helen and the result is a portrait of you in Grecian clothing (
tires
)
Helen
Helen of Troy, supposedly the most beautiful woman in the world; her abduction by Paris provoked the Greeks to attack Troy
9
foison
abundance, harvest
10
The … show
the spring is a reflection of your beauty
11
bounty
abundance (of attributes)
12
know
recognize
13
grace
beauty
2
By
by means of
3
deem
judge
5
canker blooms
dog roses/wild poppies
6
tincture
essence
7
play
can have sexual connotations
wantonly
sportively/recklessly/lasciviously
8
maskèd buds discloses
opens their shut buds (an image that may suggest yielding lips or vaginas)
9
for … show
because their worth lies only in their appearance (
virtue
may incorporate a sense of “chastity”)
10
unwooed
unsought
unrespected
disregarded/not esteemed
11
to themselves
alone
12
sweetest odours made
i.e. perfume distilled from rose petals
14
that
i.e. your beauty
1
monuments
tombs or other memorial structures
3
these contents
the subject matter of these poems/these containers (poetry as a tomb)
4
with
by
sluttish time
time is personified as a slovenly housewife
5
wasteful
destructive
6
broils
turmoil, war
root out
uproot
7
Nor … nor
neither … nor
Mars his
Mars’ (Roman god of war)
quick
swift (plays on the sense of “living” to create a contrast with the destruction it causes)
9
all oblivious enmity
hostility that is completely oblivious of everything/hostility that destroys all records of the past/all destructive hostilities
12
ending doom
end of the world, Judgment Day
13
the … arise
you rise from the dead on Judgment Day
14
this
i.e. this sonnet
dwell
live/linger
1
love
the emotion/the object of love
appetite
sexual appetite/hunger
3
but
only for
6
wink
close
8
dullness
lack of enthusiasm/bluntness/sexual lethargy
9
int’rim
interim, period apart
10
contracted new
newly betrothed
11
that
so that
13
it
i.e. the
sad int’rim
care
anxiety, sorrow
14
rare
special, splendid
1
tend
attend, wait
5
chide
rebuke
world-without-end
seemingly endless
9
jealous
suspicious/envious
10
suppose
imagine, speculate about
12
those
i.e. those who are with you
13
in your Will
with regard to your desire (including sexual urges); plays on the sense of “as far as your Will Shakespeare is concerned”
1
That … slave
i.e. may Cupid (the god of love who enthralled me to you) forbid
2
in thought
even in my thoughts
control
plays on the sense of “check and regulate payments regarding”
3
at … crave
request an itemized account of how your time has been spent
4
vassal
slave
stay your leisure
wait for a time that is convenient for you
5
beck
disposal, beck and call
6
Th’imprisoned … liberty
the separation from you that your freedom of action brings and which is like an imprisonment to me
7
patience … sufferance
with patient endurance/with the patience that comes from suffering
bide each check
bear each rebuke or rebuff
9
list
wish
charter
right, entitlement
10
privilege
authorize, license
12
to … crime
it is your responsibility to pardon your own crimes (or crimes you have committed against yourself)
2
beguiled
deceived
3
labouring
toiling/being in childbirth
invention
new subject matter
bear … child
give birth mistakenly to a child that already exists (i.e. write about a subject that has already been tackled)
5
record
memory
6
courses … sun
years
8
mind … done
thoughts were first expressed in writing
10
composèd … frame
your miraculously well-constructed body (plays on the idea of literary composition)
11
mended
improved
whe’er
whether
12
revolution … same
the cycle produces the same things again
13
wits
clever men
3
changing place with
replacing
4
In … contend
toiling in succession, they strive onward
5
Nativity
birth/a newborn baby
main
broad expanse (figurative development from the sense “open sea”)
7
Crooked
malign/distorted (as the moon seems to diverge from its usual course)
eclipses
thought to be bad omens
glory
beauty/luminescence
8
confound
destroy
9
transfix
pierce
flourish
bloom/adornment
10
delves the parallels
digs parallel lines, i.e. wrinkles
11
rarities
delicacies, choice objects
truth
integrity, essential quality
12
scythe
the tool of
Time
, bringer of death
13
times in hope
the hoped-for future
4
shadows
images/illusions/ghosts