Summary The poet describes himself as being “weary with toil” and trying to sleep. The somber mood announces a new phase in the relationship. In the first four lines, the poet likens his state of mind to traveling afar. Restlessly, he cannot sleep because his mind is filled with thoughts […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 27Summary and Analysis Sonnet 26
Summary Sonnet 26 prepares for the young man’s absence from the poet, although the reason for this separation is not clear. The sonnet’s first two lines, “Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage / Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit,” show the poet’s submission to his love, using […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 26Summary and Analysis Sonnet 25
Summary In Sonnet 25, which has as its theme mortality versus immortality, the poet contrasts himself with those “who are in favor with their stars,” implying that, though he is not numbered among those famous, fortunate people, their fame will not last, while his love will. Therefore, he is happy […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 25Summary and Analysis Sonnet 24
Summary When the poet writes in Sonnet 24 of finding “where your true image pictured lies,” he focuses on a meaning of “true” in the sense of genuine as opposed to counterfeit. The young man’s beauty is often cast as a shape or appearance. Paintings, pictures, visual images, forms, shadows, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 24Summary and Analysis Sonnet 23
Summary Most of Sonnet 23 compares the poet’s role as a lover to an actor’s timidity onstage. The image of the poor theatrical player nervously missing his lines is the first indication that the poet doubts whether his love for the young man is requited. The first two lines of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 23Summary and Analysis Sonnet 22
Summary Until now, the poet’s feelings have soared to the level of rapture; in Sonnet 22, he suggests — perhaps deluding himself — that his affections are being returned by the youth. He declares that the youth’s beauty “Is but the seemly raiment of my heart, / Which in thy […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 22Summary and Analysis Sonnet 21
Summary Having explored the nature of his and the young man’s relationship in the previous sonnet, the poet now returns to his theme of immortality. Not only does he grant the youth immortality through his verse, but because the poet’s enduring love is repeatedly stressed as well, the poet himself […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 21Summary and Analysis Sonnet 20
Summary In this crucial, sensual sonnet, the young man becomes the “master-mistress” of the poet’s passion. The young man’s double nature and character, however, present a problem of description: Although to the poet he possesses a woman’s gentleness and charm, the youth bears the genitalia (“one thing”) of a man, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 20Summary and Analysis Sonnet 19
Summary In Sonnet 19, the poet addresses Time and, using vivid animal imagery, comments on Time’s normal effects on nature. The poet then commands Time not to age the young man and ends by boldly asserting that the poet’s own creative talent will make the youth permanently young and beautiful. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 19Summary and Analysis Sonnet 18
Summary One of the best known of Shakespeare’s sonnets, Sonnet 18 is memorable for the skillful and varied presentation of subject matter, in which the poet’s feelings reach a level of rapture unseen in the previous sonnets. The poet here abandons his quest for the youth to have a child, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 18