Shakespearean sonnets

[alert-success]Shakespearean Sonnets [/alert-success]

Sonnet 1 – "From fairest creatures we desire increase"

Theme: Procreation and legacy

• The speaker urges beautiful people to reproduce so that their beauty may live on. Wasting beauty by not having children is seen as selfish.

Sonnet 2 – "When forty winters shall besiege thy brow"

Theme: Aging and beauty

• Time will make beauty fade. The speaker suggests that having a child is the best way to preserve one’s youthful appearance.

Sonnet 3 – "Look in thy glass and tell the face thou viewest"

Theme: Self-reflection and reproduction

• A person should look in the mirror and consider continuing their legacy by having a child who mirrors their beauty.

Sonnet 4 – "Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend"

Theme: Wasting beauty

• The speaker criticizes the fair youth for hoarding his beauty instead of sharing it by creating a child.

Sonnet 5 – "Those hours, that with gentle work did frame"

Theme: Transience of beauty

• Beauty fades with time, but it can be preserved symbolically—like distilling a flower’s essence, or through offspring.

Sonnet 6 – "Then let not winter's ragged hand deface"

Theme: Youth versus age

• Winter symbolizes aging. The speaker urges the youth not to let time destroy his beauty without leaving a legacy.

Sonnet 7 – "Lo, in the orient when the gracious light"

Theme: Life cycle and decline

• The sun’s path is compared to human life. As the sun sets, it is less admired—just like an aging person without heirs.

Sonnet 8 – "Music to hear, why hear’st thou music sadly?"

Theme: Harmony and loneliness

• The speaker wonders why someone so beautiful is sad when hearing music, suggesting it reminds him of his solitary life without children.

Sonnet 9 – "Is it for fear to wet a widow's eye"

Theme: Fear of loss and selfishness

• The speaker argues that not marrying or having children doesn’t spare anyone pain—instead, it causes more sorrow when beauty dies unshared.

Sonnet 10 – "For shame deny that thou bear’st love to any"

Theme: Love, selfishness, and beauty

• The speaker accuses the fair youth of being selfish for not sharing his love or beauty with anyone else, especially by refusing to procreate.

Sonnet 11 – "As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow’st"

Theme: Time and reproduction

• The speaker argues that as time takes away youth, it also grants an opportunity—by having children, one renews their youth through future generations.

Sonnet 12 – "When I do count the clock that tells the time"

Theme: Mortality and legacy

• Observing nature and aging, the speaker is reminded that time destroys all beauty. The only defense is to pass on beauty through children.

Sonnet 13 – "O that you were yourself! but, love, you are"

Theme: Identity and impermanence

• The speaker mourns that the young man’s beauty is temporary unless he reproduces. Through children, his true self could live on.

Sonnet 14 – "Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck"

Theme: Beauty and truth

• The speaker claims he doesn’t read beauty in the stars but in the beloved’s eyes. Yet even they show that youth must pass—unless preserved in offspring.

Sonnet 15 – "When I consider everything that grows"

Theme: Growth and decay

• All things mature and then decline. The speaker begins to fight time through his verse, preserving the youth’s beauty in poetry.

Sonnet 16 – "But wherefore do not you a mightier way"

Theme: Art versus procreation

• The speaker admits poetry can preserve beauty, but urges the youth to take the "mightier way"—having children—as a more lasting defense against time.

Sonnet 17 – "Who will believe my verse in time to come"

Theme: Truth and exaggeration

• The speaker fears that future generations won’t believe how beautiful the youth was. A child would serve as living proof of his beauty.

Sonnet 18 – "Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?"

Theme: Eternal beauty through poetry

• One of the most famous sonnets. The speaker praises the beloved’s beauty, claiming it surpasses summer’s and will live forever in the lines of this poem.

Sonnet 19 – "Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion’s paws"

Theme: Time’s power and poetry’s defiance

• Time can destroy everything, but the speaker forbids it from harming the beloved’s beauty, at least in verse where he will remain youthful.

Sonnet 20 – "A woman’s face with Nature’s own hand painted"

Theme: Gender and attraction

• The speaker admires a young man who has the beauty of a woman but is still male. He confesses affection and praises the youth’s natural perfection.

Sonnet 21 – "So is it not with me as with that Muse"

Theme: Truthful love vs. exaggerated praise

• The speaker contrasts himself with poets who exaggerate beauty. He prefers sincere love over false flattery.

Sonnet 22 – "My glass shall not persuade me I am old"

Theme: Shared identity and eternal youth

• The speaker says he won’t feel old as long as the young man is youthful—because their hearts are one and the same.

Sonnet 23 – "As an unperfect actor on the stage"

Theme: Love and expression

• Nervousness and awe prevent the speaker from expressing his love fully in words, so he asks his beloved to read his heart instead.

Sonnet 24 – "Mine eye hath play’d the painter and hath stell’d"

Theme: Visual art and love

• Love is compared to a painting: the speaker’s eye has drawn the beloved's image in his heart, reflecting the deep bond between eye and soul.

Sonnet 25 – "Let those who are in favour with their stars"

Theme: Contentment in love over fame

• The speaker does not envy the famous or powerful, as their fortunes can change. He finds greater joy in the beloved’s constant affection.

Sonnet 26 – "Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage"

Theme: Loyalty and humility

• The speaker calls himself a servant to his beloved, offering his devotion. He hopes his love is worthy enough to be seen favorably.

Sonnet 27 – "Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed"

Theme: Restless love and imagination

• Though physically tired, the speaker’s mind is still active, imagining the beloved’s image in the dark of night, making sleep impossible.

Sonnet 28 – "How can I then return in happy plight"

Theme: Day and night torment

• Both day and night bring pain: work exhausts him by day, and thoughts of his beloved torture him by night.

Sonnet 29 – "When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes"

Theme: Despair lifted by love

• Feeling outcast and self-pitying, the speaker is uplifted just by thinking of the beloved—making him richer than kings.

Sonnet 30 – "When to the sessions of sweet silent thought"

Theme: Memory and emotional healing

• The speaker remembers old griefs and losses, but thinking of his friend compensates for all the sorrow, bringing emotional restoration. 

Sonnet 31 – "Thy bosom is endeared with all hearts"

Theme: Love’s inheritance

• The speaker feels that all his past loves now live on in the beloved. The beloved’s heart is filled with all the love the speaker has ever felt.

Sonnet 32 – "If thou survive my well-contented day"

Theme: Legacy through poetry

• If the speaker dies before the beloved, he hopes his simple poems will still be loved—not for their skill, but for the love they contain.

Sonnet 33 – "Full many a glorious morning have I seen"

Theme: Disappointment and forgiveness

• The speaker compares the beloved to the sun, which can be clouded over by shame. Though hurt by betrayal, he forgives, as beauty is sometimes marred.

Sonnet 34 – "Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day"

Theme: Broken promises

• The speaker laments being misled by the beloved’s charm. Like a sunny day turned stormy, the beloved’s betrayal causes pain.

Sonnet 35 – "No more be grieved at that which thou hast done"

Theme: Fault and forgiveness

• The speaker tells the beloved not to feel too guilty, as all people sin. He forgives him, even though it hurts to excuse someone he loves.

Sonnet 36 – "Let me confess that we two must be twain"

Theme: Separation for love’s sake

• Though their hearts are one, the speaker says they must part publicly to protect the beloved’s reputation, hinting at a social or moral conflict.

Sonnet 37 – "As a decrepit father takes delight"

Theme: Pride in the beloved

• Like a proud parent, the speaker finds joy in the beloved’s youth, beauty, and virtue, which compensate for his own aging and weakness.

Sonnet 38 – "How can my Muse want subject to invent"

Theme: Inspiration in love

• The speaker says his poetry will never run dry as long as the beloved exists—his very presence gives endless poetic inspiration.

Sonnet 39 – "O, how thy worth with manners may I sing"

Theme: Admiration and praise

• The speaker struggles with praising the beloved without seeming boastful himself, since their bond is so close it reflects on him.

Sonnet 40 – "Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all"

Theme: Betrayal and possession

• The speaker confronts the beloved for stealing someone else he loved. Despite the betrayal, he still loves and forgives him.

Sonnet 41 – "Those pretty wrongs that liberty commits"

Theme: Youth and betrayal

• The speaker excuses the beloved's unfaithfulness, blaming it on his beauty and youthful freedom, though the pain remains.

Sonnet 42 – "That thou hast her, it is not all my grief"

Theme: Love triangle and emotional conflict

• The speaker laments losing both a friend and a mistress, but tries to justify it by saying they’re united because both once belonged to him.

Sonnet 43 – "When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see"

Theme: Love in dreams

• The speaker sees the beloved most clearly in dreams. Though absent during the day, the beloved becomes vivid in sleep.

Sonnet 44 – "If the dull substance of my flesh were thought"

Theme: Longing and separation

• If the speaker’s body were made of thought, he could instantly be with the beloved. Physical distance causes deep sorrow.

Sonnet 45 – "The other two, slight air and purging fire"

Theme: Elements of love and absence

• Air and fire, representing thought and desire, fly to the beloved when the speaker is apart from him. Their return brings both joy and pain.

Sonnet 46 – "Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war"

Theme: Conflict between love and sight

• The speaker’s eye and heart battle over who truly owns the beloved—the eye claims the physical beauty, the heart the deeper love.

Sonnet 47 – "Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is took"

Theme: Reconciliation of sight and emotion

• The speaker resolves the conflict between eye and heart. When he can’t see the beloved, he imagines him; when he can’t feel him, he gazes upon his image.

Sonnet 48 – "How careful was I when I took my way"

Theme: Possession and fear of loss

• The speaker protects material things with care, but didn’t guard the most precious thing—his beloved’s heart—now possibly lost to another.

Sonnet 49 – "Against that time—if ever that time come"

Theme: Anticipating rejection

• The speaker prepares for the moment when the beloved may no longer love him, trying to reason through the future pain of abandonment.

Sonnet 50 – "How heavy do I journey on the way"

Theme: Emotional weight of separation

• Physical travel becomes painful because it leads the speaker farther from the beloved. His sorrow makes even his horse feel heavy.

Sonnet 51 – "Thus can my love excuse the slow offence"

Theme: Love’s urgency and delay

• The speaker criticizes the slow pace of travel that keeps him from his beloved, but forgives it because love excuses all.

Sonnet 52 – "So am I as the rich, whose blessed key"

Theme: Treasure and anticipation

• The speaker compares his love to hidden treasure: rarely seen, but more cherished. Delayed joy enhances its sweetness.

Sonnet 53 – "What is your substance, whereof are you made"

Theme: Ideal beauty and uniqueness

• The beloved’s beauty surpasses all others. Even mythological or natural beauties are only shadows of the beloved’s perfection.

Sonnet 54 – "O, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem"

Theme: Inner virtue and truth

• Beauty without inner truth is meaningless. Like a rose that gives both beauty and fragrance, the beloved has both outer and inner worth.

Sonnet 55 – "Not marble, nor the gilded monuments"

Theme: Immortalization through poetry

• The speaker claims that poetry will outlive physical monuments. As long as people read, the beloved will live on in verse.

Sonnet 56 – "Sweet love, renew thy force; be it not said"

Theme: Reviving passion

• The speaker asks for love to be renewed, warning against emotional dullness. Like seasons, love should go through cycles and stay alive.

Sonnet 57 – "Being your slave, what should I do but tend"

Theme: Servitude in love

• The speaker expresses devotion, comparing himself to a slave to the beloved. He waits patiently, enduring neglect without protest.

Sonnet 58 – "That god forbid that made me first your slave"

Theme: Resignation and patience

• Though jealous and doubtful, the speaker accepts the beloved’s freedom, recognizing he has no control over him and must wait in faith.

Sonnet 59 – "If there be nothing new, but that which is"

Theme: Timelessness and repetition

• The speaker wonders if anything is truly new, imagining that even his beloved’s beauty might have existed in ages past—yet never better expressed than now.

Sonnet 60 – "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore"

Theme: Time’s relentless passage

• Time moves like waves, endlessly forward, eroding beauty and life. Yet poetry can defy time and preserve the beloved's memory.

Sonnet 61 – "Is it thy will thy image should keep open"

Theme: Obsessive love and sleeplessness

• The speaker wonders if the beloved purposely haunts his thoughts at night, causing sleeplessness and emotional unrest.

Sonnet 62 – "Sin of self-love possesseth all mine eye"

Theme: Narcissism and projection

• The speaker confesses vanity, admitting that he sees the beloved’s beauty as a reflection of himself, but recognizes this self-love as flawed.

Sonnet 63 – "Against my love shall be as I am now"

Theme: Aging and poetic preservation

• Time will age the beloved, just as it has the speaker. But poetry will preserve the beloved’s youthful beauty beyond time’s reach.

Sonnet 64 – "When I have seen by Time’s fell hand defaced"

Theme: Fear of loss through time

• Witnessing the destruction of beautiful things, the speaker dreads losing the beloved to time and change, leading to sorrow.

Sonnet 65 – "Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea"

Theme: Vulnerability and poetic endurance

• If even strong things decay, how can beauty survive? Only through the permanence of poetry can the beloved’s essence live on.

Sonnet 66 – "Tired with all these, for restful death I cry"

Theme: Disillusionment and despair

• The speaker is overwhelmed by the corruption and injustice of the world and longs for death—except he won’t leave the beloved behind.

Sonnet 67 – "Ah, wherefore with infection should he live"

Theme: Purity amidst corruption

• The beloved is pure and true, unlike the decaying world. The speaker questions why such goodness should live in a time of moral decay.

Sonnet 68 – "Thus is his cheek the map of days outworn"

Theme: Authenticity vs. artificiality

• The beloved reflects natural beauty from a purer time, contrasting with modern society’s artificiality and false appearances.

Sonnet 69 – "Those parts of thee that the world’s eye doth view"

Theme: Appearance vs. inner character

• The world admires the beloved’s outer beauty, but may not appreciate his inner flaws. The speaker suggests the beloved’s deeds may not match his looks.

Sonnet 70 – "That thou art blamed shall not be thy defect"

Theme: Envy and slander

• The speaker defends the beloved against criticism, claiming that even good people are often slandered—especially when their beauty provokes envy.

Sonnet 71 – "No longer mourn for me when I am dead"

Theme: Letting go after death

• The speaker urges the beloved not to grieve after his death, asking to be quickly forgotten so that sorrow won't tarnish the beloved’s happiness.

Sonnet 72 – "O, lest the world should task you to recite"

Theme: Modesty and posthumous reputation

• He warns that people might mock any praise the beloved gives him after death, since he believes he’s unworthy of grand remembrance.

Sonnet 73 – "That time of year thou mayst in me behold"

Theme: Aging and love’s deepening

• Using metaphors of autumn, twilight, and dying fire, the speaker shows his aging, saying that love should grow stronger as time runs out.

Sonnet 74 – "But be contented: when that fell arrest"

Theme: Body vs. spirit

• The speaker assures the beloved that though his body will die, his spirit—the best part—will remain through poetry.

Sonnet 75 – "So are you to my thoughts as food to life"

Theme: Love’s obsession and contradiction

• The speaker is caught between wanting to be with the beloved and needing space to avoid emotional overwhelm, like love that both feeds and sickens.

Sonnet 76 – "Why is my verse so barren of new pride?"

Theme: Repetition and poetic sincerity

• The speaker admits that his poetry may seem repetitive, always about the same subject—but it's because his love remains constant.

Sonnet 77 – "Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear"

Theme: Time, aging, and self-reflection

• A mirror (glass) and blank pages symbolize aging and memory. The speaker urges the beloved to reflect on time’s passage and use writing to preserve his thoughts.

Sonnet 78 – "So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse"

Theme: The beloved as poetic inspiration

• The speaker has often used the beloved as his muse, even as other poets now also draw inspiration from him. Still, his love is sincere.

Sonnet 79 – "Whilst I alone did call upon thy aid"

Theme: Jealousy and poetic rivalry

• The speaker reflects that when he alone praised the beloved, it was pure. Now that others do too, their poetry feels false, while his remains faithful.

Sonnet 80 – "O, how I faint when I of you do write"

Theme: Insecurity and poetic inadequacy

• The speaker feels unworthy to write about the beloved, especially in comparison to other poets who praise him more skillfully.

Sonnet 81 – "Or I shall live your epitaph to make"

Theme: Immortality through verse

• The speaker may die first or last, but either way, the beloved will live forever in poetry—outlasting tombs and time.

Sonnet 82 – "I grant thou wert not married to my Muse"

Theme: Exclusive inspiration and poetic truth

• The speaker admits the beloved inspires other poets too, but insists his own love-poems are more honest and natural, unlike artificial praises.

Sonnet 83 – "I never saw that you did painting need"

Theme: Plain praise vs. flattery

• The speaker doesn’t exaggerate the beloved’s beauty because it needs no decoration; flattery would only diminish true worth.

Sonnet 84 – "Who is it that says most, which can say more"

Theme: Sufficiency of truth

• No praise can match the beloved’s natural beauty; the best description is simply to say he is himself—anything more is less true.

Sonnet 85 – "My tongue-tied Muse in manners holds her still"

Theme: Silence as respect

• While others loudly praise the beloved, the speaker says his silent admiration is more respectful, expressing love through sincerity, not showiness.

Sonnet 86 – "Was it the proud full sail of his great verse"

Theme: Poetic rivalry and loss of inspiration

• The speaker wonders if another poet’s grand style has silenced his own Muse. But ultimately, love—not intimidation—makes him speechless.

Sonnet 87 – "Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing"

Theme: Unworthiness and goodbye

• The speaker bids farewell, feeling unworthy of the beloved. The beloved’s value is too great to be truly owned or kept.

Sonnet 88 – "When thou shalt be disposed to set me light"

Theme: Self-sacrifice and loyalty

• If the beloved ever scorns him, the speaker will agree with the judgment—even argue against himself—to support the beloved’s view.

Sonnet 89 – "Say that thou didst forsake me for some fault"

Theme: Love even in rejection

• The speaker is ready to be blamed and reshaped by the beloved. He will never slander the beloved, even if cast off and criticized.

Sonnet 90 – "Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now"

Theme: Timing of pain and heartbreak

• The speaker asks to be hated now, while he's already suffering. Let all sorrow come at once, so he won’t be struck again when he’s happy.

Sonnet 91 – "Some glory in their birth, some in their skill"

Theme: True pride in love

• Others boast of birth, skill, or wealth, but the speaker’s pride comes solely from loving the beloved.

Sonnet 92 – "But do thy worst to steal thyself away"

Theme: Fear of loss

• The speaker challenges the beloved to leave if he must but warns that losing him would be the ultimate pain.

Sonnet 93 – "So shall I live, supposing thou art true"

Theme: Trust and betrayal

• The speaker reflects on how the beloved’s outward appearance hides inner deceit, creating a painful illusion of truth.

Sonnet 94 – "They that have power to hurt and will do none"

Theme: Restraint and potential for harm

• Those who could hurt but don’t are noble. The beloved’s restraint makes his power and beauty even more admirable.

Sonnet 95 – "How sweet and lovely dost thou make the shame"

Theme: Beauty’s power to soften faults

• The beloved’s beauty transforms shameful actions into something more bearable, making faults seem less harsh.

Sonnet 96 – "Some say thy fault is youth, some wantonness"

Theme: Youthful faults and charm

• People excuse the beloved’s faults as youthful mistakes or flirtations, drawn in by his charm despite flaws.

Sonnet 97 – "How like a winter hath my absence been"

Theme: Separation and emotional coldness

• The speaker compares time apart from the beloved to a cold, bleak winter, despite it actually being a different season.

Sonnet 98 – "From you have I been absent in the spring"

Theme: Missing the beloved in beauty

• Though spring brings flowers and beauty, the speaker feels joyless because he is separated from the beloved.

Sonnet 99 – "The forward violet thus did I chide"

Theme: Jealousy of nature’s beauty

• The speaker chastises the violet for stealing the beloved’s scent and beauty, envying nature’s imitation of the beloved.

Sonnet 100 – "Where art thou Muse that thou forget’st so long"

Theme: Inspiration and poetic frustration

• The speaker laments losing his muse and creativity during the beloved’s absence and hopes for their return to inspire new poetry.

🔹 Sonnets 101–110: Themes & Summaries

Sonnet 101 – "O truant Muse, what shall be thy amends"

Theme: Poetic apology and devotion

• The speaker apologizes to his muse for neglecting to write and vows to praise the beloved properly from now on.

Sonnet 102 – "My love is strengthened, though more weak in seeming"

Theme: Love’s quiet strength

• The speaker’s love is strong even if it seems less expressed or frequent. Sometimes silence is a sign of deeper feeling.

Sonnet 103 – "Alack, what poverty my Muse brings forth"

Theme: Inadequacy of words

• The speaker admits his poetry falls short of fully capturing the beloved’s beauty and essence.

Sonnet 104 – "To me, fair friend, you never can be old"

Theme: Timeless beauty

• The beloved’s beauty seems eternal to the speaker, who never sees signs of aging despite time passing.

Sonnet 105 – "Let not my love be called idolatry"

Theme: Pure and true love

• The speaker denies that his love is idolatrous or excessive, insisting it’s pure and faithful, free from false worship.

Sonnet 106 – "When in the chronicle of wasted time"

Theme: Ancient praise of beauty

• The speaker claims that great poets of the past hinted at the beloved’s beauty, which is so perfect it has always inspired admiration.

Sonnet 107 – "Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul"

Theme: Faith in survival through poetry

• Despite fears and prophecies of the world’s end, the speaker trusts his poetry will immortalize the beloved.

Sonnet 108 – "What's in the brain that ink may character"

Theme: Endless love and creativity

• The speaker wonders how he can keep writing about the beloved without tiring, concluding that his love and inspiration never fade.

Sonnet 109 – "O, never say that I was false of heart"

Theme: Reaffirmation of love

• The speaker insists he was never unfaithful, asking the beloved not to doubt his devotion despite appearances.

Sonnet 110 – "Alas, 'tis true I have gone here and there"

Theme: Repentance and loyalty

• The speaker admits past mistakes and faults but says he always returns to the beloved, proving his true loyalty.

Sonnet 111 – "O, for my sake do you with fortune chide"

Theme: Blaming fortune and self

• The speaker criticizes fortune for his shame and misfortunes but admits his own faults contributed to his downfall.

Sonnet 112 – "Your love and pity doth th’ impression fill"

Theme: Love’s power to heal and protect

• The beloved’s love and pity erase the speaker’s shame and keep him safe from public scorn.

Sonnet 113 – "Since I left you, mine eye is in my mind"

Theme: Absence and inner vision

• Even when apart, the speaker sees the beloved in his mind’s eye, keeping him close despite distance.

Sonnet 114 – "Or whether doth my mind, being crowned with you"

Theme: Mind’s distortion by love

• The speaker wonders if his perceptions are real or distorted by love, seeing the beloved’s image everywhere.

Sonnet 115 – "Those hours, that with gentle work did frame"

Theme: Love’s growth and constancy

• Love grows slowly but surely. Even if it changes, it never fades and remains constant.

Sonnet 116 – "Let me not to the marriage of true minds"

Theme: True love’s unchanging nature

• True love is unwavering, not altered by time or circumstance. It is an eternal, guiding force.

Sonnet 117 – "Accuse me thus: that I have scanted all"

Theme: Confession and forgiveness

• The speaker admits faults and mistakes but pleads for forgiveness, saying he loves sincerely despite errors.

Sonnet 118 – "Like as, to make our appetites more keen"

Theme: Pain enhancing pleasure

• The speaker compares love’s difficulties to medicine that increases appetite—temporary pain makes love sweeter.

Sonnet 119 – "What potions have I drunk of siren tears"

Theme: Dangerous allure of love

• The speaker describes love as intoxicating but harmful, like drinking poison that both harms and excites.

Sonnet 120 – "That you were once unkind befriends me now"

Theme: Forgiveness and growth

• Past unkindness from the beloved now benefits the speaker by strengthening his love and making forgiveness possible.

Sonnet 121 – "‘’Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed"

Theme: Integrity vs. reputation

• It’s better to be truly bad than to be falsely judged bad. The speaker values truth over public opinion.

Sonnet 122 – "Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain"

Theme: Memory as a lasting gift

• The beloved’s gift (likely a book or writing) is treasured in the speaker’s mind and heart, far beyond physical possession.

Sonnet 123 – "No, time, thou shalt not boast that I do change"

Theme: Constancy against time

• The speaker declares that he doesn’t change like time does; his love and principles remain constant.

Sonnet 124 – "If my dear love were but the child of state"

Theme: True love vs. political fortune

• Love that depends on external conditions is weak; true love withstands challenges and remains loyal.

Sonnet 125 – "Were’t ought to me I bore the canopy"

Theme: Authentic honor

• The speaker rejects false honors or outward shows, valuing genuine love and truth above all.

Sonnet 126 – "O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power"

Theme: Time’s effect and immortal youth

• Time holds power over the beloved, but the speaker hints that the youth’s beauty is immortalized in these 12 sonnets (the only sonnet without a couplet).

Sonnet 127 – "In the old age black was not counted fair"

Theme: Beauty standards and change

• The speaker notes that dark features were once seen as less beautiful, but now the beloved’s “dark lady” is praised, challenging traditional beauty.

Sonnet 128 – "How oft, when thou, my music, music play’st"

Theme: Desire and envy

• The speaker envies the piano keys touched by the beloved’s fingers, longing for the same intimate contact.

Sonnet 129 – "The expense of spirit in a waste of shame"

Theme: Temptation and regret

• The sonnet explores the destructive nature of lust—exciting at first, then leading to guilt and self-loathing.

Sonnet 130 – "My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun"

Theme: Realistic love

• The speaker rejects unrealistic comparisons and praises his mistress for her real, human qualities, celebrating honest love.

Sonnet 131 – "Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art"

Theme: Love and imperfection

• The speaker calls his mistress tyrannical but loves her deeply, accepting her flaws and beauty that defies norms.

Sonnet 132 – "Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me"

Theme: Healing power of love

• The beloved’s eyes both torment and heal the speaker, showing love’s dual nature of pain and comfort.

Sonnet 133 – "Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan"

Theme: Love’s torment and jealousy

• The speaker curses his heart for suffering because of love, caught in a painful triangle with a rival.

Sonnet 134 – "So, now I have confess’d that he is thine"

Theme: Betrayal and conflicted loyalty

• The speaker admits the beloved belongs to another, causing emotional conflict and betrayal.

Sonnet 135 – "Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will"

Theme: Wordplay on ‘will’ and desire

• Using double meanings of “will” (desire and name), the speaker discusses love and sexual longing with wit.

Sonnet 136 – "If thy soul check thee that I come so near"

Theme: Boldness in love

• The speaker challenges the beloved’s conscience, urging boldness and openness in their passionate relationship.

Sonnet 137 – "Thou blind fool, love, what dost thou to mine eyes"

Theme: Deception and blindness in love

• Love is blind, deceiving the speaker’s eyes despite knowing the beloved’s flaws.

Sonnet 138 – "When my love swears that she is made of truth"

Theme: Mutual deception

• Both speaker and beloved lie to each other to preserve love, aware of the deception but accepting it.

Sonnet 139 – "O, call me not false, who am not false to thee"

Theme: Defense against accusations

• The speaker denies being false, asking the beloved not to accuse him of betrayal.

Sonnet 140 – "Be wise as thou art cruel; do not press"

Theme: Warning against cruelty

• The speaker advises the beloved to be wise and moderate in cruelty, warning that harshness will cause regret.

Sonnet 141 – "In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes"

Theme: Love beyond physical attraction

• The speaker admits his love is deeper than physical beauty, driven by heart and mind despite flaws.

Sonnet 142 – "Love is my sin, and I repent it too"

Theme: Confession and acceptance

• The speaker confesses love as a sin he regrets but cannot give up, revealing love’s power over reason.

Sonnet 143 – "Lo, as a careful housewife runs to catch"

Theme: Love’s anxious care

• The speaker compares himself to a housewife rushing to catch a child, showing anxious devotion to the beloved.

Sonnet 144 – "Two loves I have of comfort and despair"

Theme: Conflict between good and bad love

• The speaker describes two loves: one pure and comforting, the other destructive and despairing.

Sonnet 145 – "Those lips that Love’s own hand did make"

Theme: Simple love and joy

• The speaker celebrates the beloved’s sweet words, which bring joy and ease fears.

Sonnet 146 – "Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth"

Theme: Inner spirituality and self-care

• The speaker urges the soul to care for itself, valuing inner riches over worldly desires.

Sonnet 147 – "My love is as a fever longing still"

Theme: Love as destructive passion

• Love is compared to a fever, dangerous and consuming, yet the speaker cannot resist it.

Sonnet 148 – "O me, what eyes hath love put in my head"

Theme: Blindness and folly of love

• Love has distorted the speaker’s vision, making him see faults as virtues and vice versa.

Sonnet 149 – "Canst thou, O cruel! say I love thee not"

Theme: Unrequited love and devotion

• The speaker insists on his love despite cruelty, expressing deep devotion even when rejected.

Sonnet 150 – "O, from what power hast thou this powerful might"

Theme: Love’s mysterious influence

• The speaker wonders what supernatural force gives the beloved power to control him so completely.

Sonnet 151 – "Love is too young to know what conscience is"

Theme: Youthful folly and lust

• Love is immature and reckless, often ignoring conscience in pursuit of desire.

Sonnet 152 – "In loving thee thou know’st I am forsworn"

Theme: Confession of broken promises

• The speaker admits breaking vows of chastity and faithfulness but remains devoted.

Sonnet 153 – "Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep"

Theme: Love’s healing power

• The sonnet tells a mythic story of Cupid’s torch extinguished in a fountain, symbolizing love’s healing and renewing power.

Sonnet 154 – "The little Love-god lying once asleep"

Theme: Love’s persistence and immortality

• A continuation of Sonnet 153’s myth, love’s flame never dies, symbolizing eternal desire and passion.

www.speedynotes.in

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. The Sonnets. Edited by Stephen Booth, Yale University Press, 1977.

Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones, Arden Shakespeare, 2010.

Shakespeare, William. The Complete Sonnets and Poems. Edited by Colin Burrow, Oxford University Press, 2002.

“William Shakespeare.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-shakespeare. 

William Shakespeare. 

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