Sonnet · Dark Lady Sonnets

Sonnet 141

In faith I do not love thee with mine eyes,

For they in thee a thousand errors note;

But ’tis my heart that loves what they despise,

Who, in despite of view, is pleased to dote.

Nor are mine ears with thy tongue’s tune delighted;

Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone,

Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited

To any sensual feast with thee alone:

But my five wits nor my five senses can

Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee,

Who leaves unsway’d the likeness of a man,

Thy proud heart’s slave and vassal wretch to be:

Only my plague thus far I count my gain,

That she that makes me sin awards me pain.

What it's about

A brutal self-aware portrait of lust divorced from love. The speaker admits his senses reject the dark lady entirely, yet his heart compels him anyway — he's enslaved by appetite, not affection. The twist at the end suggests he's oddly grateful for her cruelty, because it authenticates his degradation.

In plain English

I don't love you because you're beautiful or perfect — my eyes see a thousand flaws in you. But my heart loves you anyway, defying what my eyes tell me. My ears don't enjoy the sound of your voice, my sense of touch doesn't crave you, and I have no appetite for physical intimacy with you.

None of my senses or rational faculties can convince my foolish heart to stop serving you. I've become a slave to someone who despises me, stripped of my dignity and self-respect. The only comfort I can find is this: at least the pain you cause me proves you matter, that my sin has real consequences from you.

Lines that stick

  • In faith I do not love thee with mine eyes
  • Thy proud heart's slave and vassal wretch to be
  • That she that makes me sin awards me pain

Themes

  • lust vs. love
  • self-deception
  • servitude
  • the dark lady
  • degradation
In the app

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