The Sonnets and Other Poems (55 page)
Read The Sonnets and Other Poems Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
allow
praise
7
None … wrong
no one other than you has the power to alter my fixed sensibilities either for better or for worse, and I do not have such a power over anyone at all
9
so profound abysm
such a deep abyss
10
adder’s sense
i.e. deaf ears; proverbially, adders blocked their ears in order to avoid succumbing to the music of the snake charmer
12
how … dispense
note how I disregard others’ neglect of me
13
are … bred
exist so powerfully in my thoughts
2
that … about
eyesight, which shows me where to go
3
part
divide/abandon
4
Seems seeing
appears to see
effectually is out
in effect is blind
5
heart
i.e. inner consciousness
6
latch
catch hold of, apprehend
7
his quick objects
the living (or “fleeting”) things he sees
8
Nor
nor does
9
rud’st or gentlest
most uncouth or most well-bred
10
favour
appearance/face
12
shapes
transforms, remodels
13
Incapable of
unable to receive, contain
14
true
faithful
untrue
deceptive, unreliable
1
Or … whether
Is it the case that … or that
crowned with you
made into a king by your love
4
alchemy
pseudoscience that sought to turn base metal into gold
5
indigest
shapeless, crude
6
cherubins
angels
7
Creating every bad
making every bad thing into
8
beams
eye-beams, rays of light thought to be emitted by the eye and to enable vision
10
most kingly
like a king (subject to deceptive flattery)
11
what … ’greeing
what agrees with (the mind’s) taste
14
doth first begin
i.e. drinks first from the poisoned cup itself
4
full
intense
5
reckoning time
calculating time
whose
starts a long relative clause which continues to the end of line 8, but is not followed by a main clause (which may be purposeful or may be the result of “divert” being a misprint for “diverts,” which would then be the main verb belonging to
reckoning time
millioned accidents
innumerable chance events
6
’twixt vows
between (lovers’) vows and their fulfillment
7
Tan
i.e. render unattractive, fair skin being considered a mark of beauty
8
alt’ring
changeable
10
Might … say
was it not natural for me then to say
12
Crowning
seeing as best, privileging
13
Love … babe
Cupid, the god of love, was traditionally depicted as a child
then … so
so I should not have spoken as I did
14
give … grow
attribute maturity to love that was still in its infancy
2
Admit
acknowledge, concede
impediments
echoes the words of the marriage service in the Book of Common Prayer, where the couple and the congregation are asked to declare if they know of any impediment to the marriage
4
bends … remove
is inclined to cease if abandoned by the object of love (or perhaps “is inclined to be unfaithful in response to infidelity from the object of love”)
5
ever-fixèd mark
lighthouse, beacon, or landmark
7
star
the North (or Pole) Star, used in navigation
bark
small ship
8
worth’s unknown
value cannot be fully known or measured
height be taken
height above the horizon can be scientifically measured
9
Time’s fool
the plaything of Time, or subject of its mockery
10
bending
curved
compass
scope/arc
12
doom
doomsday, the end of the world
13
upon me proved
I am proved to have committed it (legal language)
1
Accuse
initiates legal imagery that continues through the sonnet
scanted
stinted, neglected
3
call
visit/invoke/appeal (to)
4
bonds
physical ties/legal documents
5
frequent
familiar, in company/often
unknown minds
strangers
6
given … right
given away your richly bought right to my time
9
Book
record
10
on just proof
on top of what can be fairly proved
accumulate
pile up (charges)
11
level
aim/line of fire/sights
12
wakened hate
the hate that my behavior has roused in you
13
appeal
legal appeal for a second hearing
14
virtue
moral integrity/power
1
Like as
just as
2
eager compounds
pungent concoctions
our palate urge
stimulate our appetite
3
maladies unseen
i.e. potential illnesses
4
sicken
make ourselves ill
shun
prevent
purge
use laxatives or emetics
5
Even so
in just such a manner
6
frame my feeding
adapt my diet (sexual connotations)
7
welfare
good health
meetness
appropriateness
8
ere … needing
before there was any real need
9
policy … assured
my stratagem of anticipating and preventing diseases generated actual ill health
11
to medicine
into a condition requiring medicine
12
rank of
full of/bloated with/diseased by
1
siren
a mythical creature, part woman, part bird, whose enchanting singing lured sailors to their deaths (presumably suggests a person with whom the poet has been unfaithful)
2
limbecks
alembics, vessels with long nozzles used in distillation
foul
loathsome/diseased/ sinful/black
3
Applying
administering (medical sense)
4
saw myself to
believed I was going to
6
so blessèd never
never so blessed, as happy as possible
7
spheres
sockets (eyes are compared to planets or stars, which were thought to inhabit concentric hollow spheres that orbited the earth)
fitted
forced out by fits or seizures
8
madding
frenzied/maddening
13
content
contentment
14
thrice
three times
1
befriends me
stands me in good stead
3
Needs must I
I must of necessity
under … bow
bow my head in shame at my wrongdoing
6
hell of
hellish
7
no leisure taken
spared no time
8
weigh
consider
9
remembered
reminded
11
tendered
offered
12
humble salve
soothing ointment of contrition
fits
suits
13
that your trespass
that trespass of yours
14
ransoms
pays for, redeems
1
vile esteemed
thought to be despicable, worthless
2
being
i.e. being
vile
3
just
legitimate
so deemed
i.e. thought to be vile
5
false
deceitful/unfaithful
adulterate
impure, corrupt/adulterous
6
Give salutation to
greet (knowingly)
sportive blood
playful temperament/lust
7
on … spies
why are my weaknesses spied on by those who are even more at fault themselves (
frailty
often implies succumbing to sexual temptation)
8
wills
desires/sexual urges
9
that
what (
I am that I am
were God’s words to Moses in Exodus 3:14)
level
guess/aim a metaphorical gun
10
abuses
misdeeds
reckon
count
11
bevel
crooked
12
By
through
rank
foul/diseased/lustful
shown
viewed, interpreted
13
maintain
assert
14
in … reign
prosper in their badness/are supremely bad
1
tables
writing tablet, notebook
2
Full charactered
completely inscribed
3
idle rank
trivial series (of writings in the notebook)/worthless type (of memorandum)
4
date
limit
6
faculty
power, ability
7
razed
erased, obliterated
9
That poor retention
i.e. the
tables,
memorandum book
10
tallies
sticks marked with notches (scored) to record a debt
11
to … bold
I dared to give them away
12
those … more
the notebook (my memory) that holds you more completely (or “retains more of you”)
13
adjunct
external aid
14
import
imply
2
pyramids
obelisks (perhaps suggestive of those built in London to celebrate the coronation of King James I in 1603)
newer might
more recent strength/more modern skills
4
dressings … sight
dressed-up versions of something seen before
5
dates
(lives’) duration
6
foist
palm off (originally a term for cheating at dice)
7
born … desire
created for our wishes
9
registers
records
10
wond’ring
marveling