The Sonnets and Other Poems (56 page)
Read The Sonnets and Other Poems Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
11
thy … lie
both records of the past and what we see for ourselves are deceptive
12
Made … haste
changing in perspective and significance in accordance with the swift passage of time
14
true
faithful (plays on the idea of historical validity as opposed to records and perceptions that
lie
)
1
my dear love
the precious love I feel
child of state
product of circumstances
2
for
as
unfathered
deemed illegitimate, of no fixed identity
4
Weeds … gathered
i.e. rejected or valued according to the whims of Time (or the times)
5
accident
chance
6
suffers … pomp
does not become corrupt as a result of being favored by the great (or “… as a result of fortune and riches”)/does not suffer due to the whims of the great
7
Under … discontent
by being imprisoned for political discontent/by being enslaved to dissatisfaction
8
Whereto … calls
to which the present times draw people of our sort
9
policy
political cunning, scheming
heretic
dissident
10
works … hours
operates on a short-term basis
11
politic
prudent, wise
12
nor … nor
neither … nor
13
witness
as witnesses
fools
idiots/dupes/ playthings/laughingstocks
fools of time
i.e. those who allow themselves (and their love) to be subject to fashion and change
14
for goodness
in the name of goodness, i.e. as martyrs or in an attempt to achieve a good reputation
1
Were’t … me
would it mean anything to me if
canopy
such as would be carried over a monarch in a public procession
2
With … honouring
honoring public displays of respect with my outward appearance (or behavior)
3
bases
foundations for statues or memorial monuments
for eternity
i.e. to last for eternity
4
Which
may refer either to
bases
or to
eternity
5
dwellers … favour
those who are preoccupied with ceremony and the favor of the great (or “… with bodily and facial appearance”);
dwellers
plays on the literal sense of “inhabitants”
6
too much rent
too high a price
7
For … savour
giving up simple tastes in favor of complex or artificial sweetmeats
8
Pitiful thrivers
materially prosperous but deserving of pity (or contempt)/people who prosper poorly
in … spent
exhausted by their gazing (on
form and favour
)
9
obsequious
obedient (also “dutiful in performing mourning rites,” a sense that is picked up in
oblation
)
10
oblation
offering (often in a religious context)
11
seconds
inferior material
art
skill/cunning
12
render
handing over
13
suborned informer
bribed informant (or witness)
14
impeached
accused (often, of treason)
2
fickle glass
changeable and unreliable hourglass
sickle hour
time for harvesting (i.e. death)
3
by waning grown
grown older with the passing of time/increased in beauty as you have grown older
5
wrack
wreck, ruin
6
goest onwards
move forward in time
8
disgrace
shame (at being outwitted by
Nature
)
minutes kill
i.e. destroy the effects of time
9
minion
darling, favorite/effeminate man/one kept for sexual favors
10
keep
preserve
11
audit
final account, reckoning
answered
paid
12
quietus
discharge of a payment, settling of a debt
render
hand over, pay in settlement of a debt
13
( )
the empty parentheses that appear here in the original 1609 Quarto edition suggest a missing final couplet, but the preceding twelve lines consist of six couplets (unlike the other sonnets), and the poem is complete syntactically; the blanks may be seen as a visual representation of the closure of the sequence addressed to the young man and possibly of his absence/death
1
the old age
times past
black
this is the first of the “Dark Lady” sonnets, addressed to a dark-haired and/or dark-complexioned woman
fair
beautiful/pale
2
bore … name
was not explicitly called beautiful
3
successive
legitimate
4
beauty … shame
what was called beauty is disgraced by being termed illegitimate (or is falsely created through cosmetics)
5
put on
assumed (through use of cosmetics)
6
Fairing the foul
making the ugly beautiful
7
name
good reputation/secure paternity
8
profaned
desecrated, treated with irreverence
10
so suited
the same color
11
not … lack
despite not having been born beautiful, achieve (false) beauty through the use of cosmetics
12
Sland’ring … esteem
giving natural beauty a bad name by being praised for false beauty
13
becoming … woe
looking attractive in their black “mourning”
1
thou, my music
you, who are my music (delight, harmony)
2
wood
the wooden keys of the virginals
sounds
resounds
3
sway’st
govern/move rhythmically
4
wiry concord
harmony of strings
confounds
amazes
5
jacks
i.e. keys (in fact pieces of wood fixed to the backs of the keys, carrying the quills that pluck the strings); plays on the sense of “rascals, knaves”
7
that harvest
i.e. of kisses
10
chips
the wooden keys
13
saucy
impudent/lascivious
1
Th’expense
the using up, expenditure/the ejaculation
spirit
vital energy/semen
waste of shame
shameful
waste
(puns on “waist,” the shameful place where the semen is emitted)
2
lust in action
sexual intercourse
3
perjured
oath-breaking
full of blame
completely blameworthy
4
rude
brutal/coarse
to trust
to be trusted
5
straight
straightaway
6
Past reason
illogically/insanely
11
in proof
while being experienced
proved
having been tried
12
proposed
anticipated
behind
afterward
dream
i.e. a fleeting, insubstantial thing
14
hell
plays on the slang sense of “vagina”
1
My … sun
comparing eyes to the sun was common in love poetry; the sonnet goes on to mention a number of conventional similes
3
dun
gray-brown
4
wires
fine golden wires, used for ornamentation (in, for example, headdresses)
5
damasked
of the damask variety/ multicolored (
red and white
)
8
reeks
exhales (did not imply unpleasant odors at this time)
11
go
walk
14
she … compare
woman misrepresented by untrue comparisons
1
tyrannous
cruel and domineering
so … art
just as you are
3
dear
dearly
5
in good faith
truly
6
groan
with desire/with despair
10
but
merely
11
One … neck
one following rapidly after another
12
Thy black
your black hair and/or complexion
fairest
most beautiful/palest
in … place
to my mind
14
this slander
i.e. the claim (in line 5) that she is not beautiful enough to provoke such love
4
petty ruth
small pity
5
morning
puns on “mourning”
6
becomes
befits, suits
even
evening
8
sober
subdued in color
9
mourning
plays on “morning”
10
beseem
befit, suit
11
doth thee grace
makes you more beautiful
12
suit … part
dress your pity entirely in the same way
14
foul
ugly (plays on the sense of “dirty, black”)
1
Beshrew
curse
2
wound
plays on the sense of “vagina”
4
slave to slavery
slave to tyranny, utterly enslaved
5
eye
possible vaginal connotations
6
my next self
i.e. my
friend
harder
perhaps suggestive of penile erection
engrossed
bought up wholesale, monopolized/ made larger and firmer
7
Of
by
forsaken
abandoned
8
crossed
thwarted, tormented
9
Prison
imprison
ward
prison cell
10
bail
bail out, release
11
keeps
guards
his
i.e. the friend’s
12
rigour
harshness/torture
13
pent
imprisoned
14
all … me
i.e. and so is my friend, kept in my heart
1
he
i.e. the friend of Sonnet 133
2
will
resolve/wishes/sexual desire
3
so … mine
provided that my other self (the friend)
6
kind
generous/courteous/loving
7
surety-like … me
to act as my guarantor, to underwrite my debt (and release me)