Summary Sonnet 39 constructs an ingenious variation on the theme of ab-sence. Ironically, separation is inspirational: “That by this separation I may give / That due to thee which thou deserv’st alone.” Also, as the youth is the “better part” of the poet, the two remain united through the poet’s […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 39Summary and Analysis Sonnet 38
Summary Like the previous sonnet, Sonnet 38 contrasts the selfishly lascivious youth and the adoring, idealistic poet. The poet appears pitifully unable to contemplate his life without the youth, who remains physically distanced from the poet. The poet’s emotional reliance on the young man dominates the sonnet. For example, the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 38Summary and Analysis Sonnet 37
Summary Sonnet 37, which echoes Sonnet 36, conveys the emotions of a doting parent and discontinues the confessional mode of the previous sonnets. “As a decrepit father takes delight / To see his active child do deeds of youth,” the poet takes comfort in the youth’s superlative qualities, and wishes […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 37Summary and Analysis Sonnet 36
Summary Obstacles to the friendship between the poet and the young man remain, but the poet is no longer wholly duped by his young friend. However, he still maintains that their love for one another is as strong as ever: “Let me confess that we two must be twain / […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 36Summary and Analysis Sonnet 35
Summary Whereas in Sonnet 33 the poet is an onlooker, in the previous sonnet and here in Sonnet 35, the poet recognizes his own contribution to the youth’s wrongdoing in the excuses that he has made for the youth over time. Sonnet 35 begins with parallel objects that, although beautiful, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 35Summary and Analysis Sonnet 34
Summary The poet speaks of a quite different feeling than he did in Sonnet 33. He is puzzled and painfully disappointed by the youth, whose callousness dashes any hope of his enjoying a dependable friendship. The opening complaint, again based on the metaphor of the young man as the sun, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 34Summary and Analysis Sonnet 33
Summary Sonnet 33 begins a new phase in the poet and youth’s estrangement from each other. (The breach well may be caused by the youth’s seduction of the poet’s mistress, which the poet addresses in later sonnets.) In any case, faith between the two men is broken during the poet’s […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 33Summary and Analysis Sonnet 32
Summary Sonnet 32 concludes the sonnet sequence on the poet’s depression over his absence from the youth. Again the poet questions the worth of his poems, but this time his insecurity has to do with their style and not with the intensity of their subject matter, which is his love […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 32Summary and Analysis Sonnet 31
Summary Sonnet 31 expands upon the sentiment conveyed in the preceding sonnet’s concluding couplet, “But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, / All losses are restored and sorrows end.” In the present sonnet, the young man is a microcosm representing all the poet’s past lovers and friends; […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 31Summary and Analysis Sonnet 30
Summary The poet repeats Sonnet 29’s theme, that memories of the youth are priceless compensations — not only for many disappointments and unrealized hopes but for the loss of earlier friends: “But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, / All losses are restored and sorrows end.” Stylistically, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 30