Summary Continuing his plea to the Muse of poetry, the poet abandons his silence and philosophizes about the nature of truth and beauty. Nature, he says, is the poet’s truth; cosmetic beauty, his falsehood: “Truth needs no color with his color fixed, / Beauty no pencil, beauty’s truth to lay.” […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 101Summary and Analysis Sonnet 100
Summary Sonnet 100 marks a change in the poet’s thinking from previous sonnets, in which the simplicity of his poetry was expected to win favor against rivals, and suggests the poet’s ebbing affection for the youth. We know that some time has elapsed since he wrote the previous sonnet because […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 100Summary and Analysis Sonnet 99
Summary Sonnet 99 is an in-depth explanation of how the natural objects from lines 11 and 12 in the previous sonnet pale in comparison to the young man’s beauty: “They were but sweet, but figures of delight, / Drawn after you, you pattern of all those.” A charming artificiality in […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 99Summary and Analysis Sonnet 98
Summary The theme of absence continues with the youth away. The poet first describes April in a buoyant tone, and says that even “heavy Saturn,” which during the Elizabethan period was thought to influence dark and gloomy behavior in people, “laughed and leapt” during this spring. The typical reversal expected […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 98Summary and Analysis Sonnet 97
Summary The poet begins a new sequence of sonnets, written in his absence from the youth during the summer and autumn months, although the first image in Sonnet 97 is of winter. The previous positions of the young man and the poet are now reversed, and it is the poet […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 97Summary and Analysis Sonnet 96
Summary Still using the paternal tone, the poet observes that the young man’s vices are a subject of public gossip. The contrast between the youth’s beauty and his vicious way of life makes the vices seem less immoral than otherwise: “Thou mak’st faults graces that to thee resort.” The youth’s […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 96Summary and Analysis Sonnet 95
Summary Employing a paternal attitude, the poet continues his lecture on how deceiving appearances can be. In the first quatrain, he constructs a simile in which the young man is like a “fragrant rose” in which vice, likened to a destructive worm, grows unchecked. The poet doesn’t condemn the young […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 95Summary and Analysis Sonnet 94
Summary On the surface at least, Sonnet 94 continues the theme from the previous sonnet, which contrasts virtue with appearance. Although the sonnet offers a warm testimonial to a cool and impassive youth, there is no specific mention of the poet or the young man in the entire poem. The […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 94Summary and Analysis Sonnet 93
Summary In contrast to the concluding couplet in the previous sonnet, in which the poet questions the young man’s moral character, now the poet surmises that the youth may be inconstant without knowing it. In this startling reversal, the poet acknowledges the essentially good nature of the youth, who is […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 93Summary and Analysis Sonnet 92
Summary Resignedly, the poet is prepared to accept whatever fate brings. Because his life depends on the youth’s love, his life will not survive the loss of that love and support: “And life no longer than thy love will stay, / For it depends upon that love of thine.” Because […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sonnet 92