Summary The final sonnets concerning the mistress, beginning with this one, return the poet to the disturbed state of previous sonnets. The image of feeding in Sonnet 146 continues in Sonnet 147, only now the feeding is not on death but on illness, and there is no possibility of immortality […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 147Summary and Analysis Sonnet 146
Summary The poet now somberly ponders why his soul, as “Lord” of his body, spends so much of its time seeking earthly desires when it should be most concerned about ensuring its immortality. The first eight lines are a series of questions addressed to the soul. Why, the poet asks, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 146Summary and Analysis Sonnet 145
Summary As the sequel to the previous sonnet, Sonnet 145 is a trivial treatment of love. The mistress grants pity on the poet in contrast to previous sonnets, in which she was merciless. Before, her only words to the poet were “I hate,” but once she sees how he “languished […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 145Summary and Analysis Sonnet 144
Summary Sonnet 144 is the only sonnet that explicitly refers to both the Dark Lady and the young man, the poet’s “Two loves.” Atypically, the poet removes himself from the love triangle and tries to consider the situation with detachment. The humor of the previous sonnet is missing, and the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 144Summary and Analysis Sonnet 143
Summary The image of an errant mistress chasing chickens while neglecting her infant suggests a love triangle between the woman, the young man, and the poet. The youth is “one of her feathered creatures” and the poet “her babe.” Incredibly, and almost pitifully, the poet again begs the woman to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 143Summary and Analysis Sonnet 142
Summary Delving into the awareness of sin, Sonnet 142 sums up the poet’s whole fatuous and insatiable passion. He supports the woman’s rejection of his love because he deems his love for her unworthy of him: “Love is my sin and thy dear virtue hate, / Hate of my sin, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 142Summary and Analysis Sonnet 141
Summary In Sonnet 141, the poet discusses how his senses warn him of the woman’s disreputable character, yet his heart, a symbol of his emotions, remains affectionately attached to her. He begins the sonnet by denying that the woman has any attractive features. His eyes note “a thousand errors” both […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 141Summary and Analysis Sonnet 140
Summary Sinking quickly into despair over the sad state of his relationship with the woman, the poet threatens the woman with public humiliation should she not at least feign love for him. The first warning is in the first quatrain, in which he cautions her not to be too public […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 140Summary and Analysis Sonnet 139
Summary Regressing to his former melodramatic verse, the poet begs the woman to be honest with him and confess her infidelity. Coming as it does directly after the previous sonnet, in which the poet appears to have mastered his insecurities, the poet’s sense of abandonment in Sonnet 139 is surprising. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 139Summary and Analysis Sonnet 138
Summary Sonnet 138 presents a candid psychological study of the mistress that reveals many of her hypocrisies. Certainly she is still very much the poet’s mistress, but the poet is under no illusions about hercharacter: “When my love swears that she is made of truth, / I do believe her, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 138