Page 224 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY

Unit 23: Shakespeare’s Sonnets

The idea of the poet’s eyes and heart distorting what they perceive is reminiscent of Sonnets 46 and Notes
47, in which they are “at a mortal war” but end up reaching a compromise regarding the perception
of the fair lord. But while those sonnets describe the eyes and heart lying to each other in order to
deprive each other of basking in the fair lord’s beauty, here the eyes are the main perpetrators,
leading the heart behind them; Cupid has “forged hooks” out of them to this end. Thus the poet is
overcome by the “blind fool, Love,” who is Cupid; he becomes blind himself in his inability to see
the truth.
The theme of believing one thing while seeing or knowing another to be true is carried through to
the next sonnet, which begins, “When my love swears that she is made of truth, / I do believe her
though I know she lies.” Here, the poet admits in line 13 that, “In things right true my heart and
eyes have erred.” The word “things” could refer to the dark lady, whom the poet believed to be
“right true,” or it could be the fair lord, who actually was “true,” but whom the poet abandoned in
favor of the dark lady. The term “things” also carried a sexual slang meaning.

Describe the imagery of sea in the prescribed sonnet.

Ship imagery is employed in line 6 to suggest the woman’s promiscuity. The phrase “anchored in
the bay” used with “ride,” implies a man having sexual intercourse; in this case, it is “all men” that
are allowed to have sex with the dark lady. But the subject of this phrase is “eyes,” implying that the
poet is only visualizing having sex with the woman; thus, “all men” could really mean “all men’s
eyes,” and rather than literally having sex with her, all men are just fantasizing about it like the poet
does. The “forged hooks” into which Cupid makes the poet’s eyes would be used to hoist sails and
rigging on a ship, as well.
This imagery of the sea is foiled by imagery of the land used in lines 9-10, which compare the
woman to a plot of land. The poet’s heart believes the woman to be “a several plot,” or a private plot
of land for only him to enjoy. But in reality, that land is “the wide world’s common place;” the
woman is actually available to all men, either because she does not return the poet’s love and remains
unattached, or because she is promiscuous. The second meaning is more likely, since the word
“common” is often tied to “whore;” its use here implies that the woman acts like a prostitute, and
would be terribly unflattering and offensive to her.

23.4 Summary
• The Sonnets were the last of Shakespeare’s non-dramatic works to be printed AND published
in 1609.
• Shakespeare’s Sonnets have fascinated and puzzled readers for 400 years.
• William Shakespeare is referred to as a Literary Genius and much of this praise is due to the
wonderful words of his short sonnet poems and his extended poems.
• The Sonnets were the last of Shakespeare’s non-dramatic works to be printed AND published
in 1609.
• Shakespeare’s sonnets comprise 154 poems in sonnet form that were published in 1609 but
likely written over the course of several years.

23.5 Keywords

Sonnet : The sonnet is one of several forms of poetry originating in Europe, mainly
Great Britain and Italy, and commonly has 14 lines.
Shakespearean Sonnet : Shakespeare’s sonnets are 154 poems in sonnet form written by William
Shakespeare, dealing with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty
and mortality.

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