Summary Sonnet 59 dwells on the paradox that what is new is always expressed in terms of what is already known. The elements of any invention or creative composition must be common knowledge, or old news. The phrase “laboring for invention” indicates not only the poet’s determination to create something […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 59Summary and Analysis Sonnet 58
Summary As in so many other sonnets, the poet’s annoyance with the young man is expressed ambiguously. We hardly notice that he rebukes the youth in the lines “That god forbid that made me first your slave / I should in thought control your times of pleasure.” Surely the suggestion […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 58Summary and Analysis Sonnet 57
Summary In Sonnet 57, the poet argues that he is not so much the young man’s friend as he is his slave. As a slave, he waits on the youth’s pleasure: “But, like a sad slave, stay and think of nought / Save where you are how happy you make […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 57Summary and Analysis Sonnet 56
Summary Much like in Sonnet 52, the poet accepts that separation can be advantageous in making their love that much sweeter when the youth and the poet resume their relationship. The poet asks the abstract love to be renewed so that he can be reunited with the youth. He begs, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 56Summary and Analysis Sonnet 55
Summary Sonnet 55, one of Shakespeare’s most famous verses, asserts the immortality of the poet’s sonnets to withstand the forces of decay over time. The sonnet continues this theme from the previous sonnet, in which the poet likened himself to a distiller of truth. Although the poet’s previous pride in […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 55Summary and Analysis Sonnet 54
Summary The rose image in this sonnet symbolizes immortal truth and devotion, two virtues that the poet associates with the young man. Likening himself to a distiller, the poet, who argues that his verse distills the youth’s beauty, or “truth,” sees poetry as a procreative activity: Poetry alone creates an […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 54Summary and Analysis Sonnet 53
Summary A more relaxed poet appears to have forgotten his previous doubts about his relationship with the young man, who is still attractive but whose true self is elusive. Ironically, the poet’s lavish and ornate eulogy of the youth — for example, when he compares him to Adonis, a legendary […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 53Summary and Analysis Sonnet 52
Summary The poet grows more accepting of his separation from the young man, whom he likens to “up-locked treasure.” This image of the youth as a treasure unites the sonnet: In line 9, the poet writes, “So is the time that keeps you as my chest,” “chest” clearly referring to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 52Summary and Analysis Sonnet 51
Summary The companion to the previous sonnet, Sonnet 51 further expands on the theme of traveling. Many of the details in Sonnet 50 appear here, including the “slow offence / Of my dull bearer,” which mirrors “The beast . . . / Plods dully on,” and the relative weight of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 51Summary and Analysis Sonnet 50
Summary Nothing suggests where the poet is journeying in this and the following sonnets. All that is known is that the poet is on an unnamed journey away from the young man. The poet’s allusion to solitude has no definite time frame, and the journey may be brief. However, the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 50