The Sonnets and Other Poems (54 page)
Read The Sonnets and Other Poems Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
9
resty
sluggish, lazy
10
graven
engraved
11
satire to
satirist toward (i.e. ridicule, vilify)
12
spoils
destruction, plundering
14
So
thus
prevent’st
forestall, confound
scythe … knife
a tautology— a scythe is a crooked (curved) knife
1
Muse
the address to the Muse continues from Sonnet 100
what … amends
how can you make amends
2
truth … dyed
truth imbued with beauty
3
depends
are subordinate, dependent for their existence
4
dignified
you acquire dignity
5
haply
perhaps
6
colour
cosmetics, rouge (plays on the sense of “excuse”)
his colour fixed
its complexion ingrained
7
pencil
paintbrush
to lay
apply in layers (as paint on canvas)
8
intermixed
adulterated, added to and debased
10
lies in thee
is in your power
13
office
duty
14
long hence
far into the future
shows
appears
1
seeming
appearance
3
merchandised
treated as a saleable commodity
rich esteeming
high value
4
publish
announce publicly
6
wont
accustomed
lays
songs (poems)
7
Philomel
the nightingale (in classical mythology, Philomel was raped and had her tongue cut out by her brother-in-law; she was later turned into a nightingale by the gods)
summer’s front
the beginning of summer
8
pipe
music
in … days
i.e. as summer moves toward autumn
11
wild
belonging to wild birds/unrestrained
burdens
weighs down/fills with song (a “burden” can mean “a chorus”)
12
sweets
sweet things, pleasures
14
dull
bore, blunt your appetite
1
poverty
poor poetic efforts
2
pride
splendid abilities/pride in the beautiful youth
3
argument all bare
unadorned subject matter (i.e. the young man)
6
glass
mirror
7
overgoes
outdoes, surpasses
invention
creative skill
8
Dulling
making tedious/rendering
blunt
9
mend
improve
10
mar
spoil
11
pass
end
12
graces
beauties/attributes
2
eye I eyed
an aural pun
4
pride
splendor
8
which … green
you who are still young and
fresh
9
dial hand
the hand of a clock (as in Shakespeare’s poem “To the Queen”)
10
Steal
creep away/rob
figure
(clock’s) numeral/appearance/face
pace
movement/ footstep
11
hue
complexion
still doth stand
remains motionless/remains yet
12
Hath motion
does move, change
13
age unbred
unborn future age
14
Ere
before
1
idolatry
excessive devotion/worship of many gods
2
show
appear/display
3
Since
since in fact, in my defense (or possibly “simply because”)
4
To … one
addressed to and about only one person
still
always
5
Kind
loving/generous
9
Fair
beautiful/just
true
genuine/faithful
argument
theme
10
varying to
expressed in various
11
invention spent
creativity exhausted
12
Three … one
the religious theme continues with the suggestion of the Christian Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost)
14
kept seat
resided/were enthroned
1
chronicle
historical record
wasted
past, consumed (with suggestion of “squandered”)
2
wights
people (deliberately archaic word)
4
lovely
handsome/amorous
5
blazon
description (literally, of a coat of arms)
8
Even
just, exactly
master
are owner of
11
for
because
divining
predicting (rather than definitively knowing)
14
wonder
admire
3
the … control
regulate the duration of my love/restrict my right to possession of love (the person or the emotion)
4
as … doom
subject to a fixed term
5
The … endured
probably a reference to the death (
eclipse
) of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603; as the Virgin Queen, she was associated with the
moon
, symbol of chastity
endured
undergone
6
augurs
prophets
presage
prediction
7
Incertainties … assured
uncertainties are brought securely to an end (
crown
suggests the coronation of the childless Elizabeth’s successor, James I, putting to an end the uncertainties about England’s future)
8
olives … age
the olive tree (symbol of peace) will last forever (King James regarded himself as an international peacemaker)
9
balmy
soothing (again suggestive of coronation, at which the monarch was anointed with “balm,” i.e. holy oil)
10
subscribes
surrenders
12
insults
triumphs, exults
13
monument
tomb or other memorial structure
14
crests
heraldic devices on coats of arms
spent
gone, wasted away
1
character
write
2
figured
represented
3
register
record
8
hallowed
treated as holy (with suggestion of “halloo,” i.e. call out)
9
case
clothing/condition
10
Weighs not
does not care about
11
gives … place
yields to the inevitable lines of old age
12
antiquity
age
aye
ever
page
boy attendant (plays on the sense of “page of poetry”)
13
conceit
notion, conception/poetic device, metaphor
there
i.e. in the
sweet boy
/in the poetry
14
show it
make it seem
1
false of heart
disloyal, unfaithful
2
my … qualify
to moderate my passion
5
ranged
wandered, strayed
7
Just … exchanged
punctual and not changed by time
8
water … stain
tears to wash away my fault
10
frailties
moral weaknesses
blood
temperament/sexual desire
11
preposterously
unnaturally (literally, “inversely, back to front”)
stained
polluted, morally tarnished
12
for nothing
as something of no value/for no reason
1
gone
may play on the sense of “had sex”
2
motley
fool (after the multicolored costume of a jester, so perhaps alluding to Shakespeare’s acting career)
3
Gored
wounded/cut into triangles (resembling the diamond patches of a fool’s
motley
)
4
Made … new
offended old friends or lovers by finding new ones/repeated former sins because of new passions/committed plenty of sins with the new objects of my affections
6
Askance and strangely
with a side glance and in an unfriendly way
all above
i.e. heaven
7
blenches
swervings
8
worse essays
trying out worse loves
9
what … end
i.e. eternal love
10
appetite
implies sexual desire
grind
whet, sharpen (as a phallic knife; “to grind” could mean “to have sex”)
11
proof
experiments, experiences (i.e. lovers)
try
test the worth of/subject to strain, afflict
12
confined
restricted
13
next … best
you, who are to me the next best thing to heaven
14
most most loving
i.e. supremely loving, but perhaps subverted by a slight suggestion of the young man’s own tendency to love many people
1
with Fortune chide
rebuke or complain at Fortune
2
of
responsible for
4
public means
a means of making a living that involves catering to the public (probably a reference to Shakespeare’s theatrical career)
public manners breeds
generates (or is generated by) the sort of (low) behavior associated with public life
5
brand
criminals (including strolling players, if they were arrested as vagabonds) were branded on the face or hand with a hot iron
6
almost
applies to
subdued
(“my nature is almost subdued”)
subdued To
conquered by
8
renewed
restored
10
eisel
vinegar (i.e.
bitterness
)
11
No bitterness
i.e. there is no bitterness
12
correct correction
correct again what has already been corrected
1
th’impression
the mark left by the
brand
of Sonnet 111 (line 5)
2
vulgar
base/public
4
So
so long as
o’er-green
gloss over/grass over