Sonnet · Dark Lady Sonnets

Sonnet 150

O! from what power hast thou this powerful might,

With insufficiency my heart to sway?

To make me give the lie to my true sight,

And swear that brightness doth not grace the day?

Whence hast thou this becoming of things ill,

That in the very refuse of thy deeds

There is such strength and warrantise of skill,

That, in my mind, thy worst all best exceeds?

Who taught thee how to make me love thee more,

The more I hear and see just cause of hate?

O! though I love what others do abhor,

With others thou shouldst not abhor my state:

If thy unworthiness rais’d love in me,

More worthy I to be belov’d of thee.

What it's about

A final confrontation with the Dark Lady: the speaker acknowledges his illogical, self-destructive love, but turns the tables with a demand for reciprocity. If she's unworthy and he loves her anyway, he argues, he's actually proved himself worthy of her love. It's part defiant, part pleading.

In plain English

Where does your power come from? You make me contradict what I plainly see—I swear the day has no light, just to praise you. You've got some twisted gift for making bad things look good; even your worst actions seem better than anyone else's best.

You've taught me to love you more the more I find reasons to hate you. I know I love what everyone else despises, but that shouldn't make you despise *me*. If your worthlessness can kindle love in me, then surely I deserve to be loved by someone worthy—which means you should love me back.

Lines that stick

  • To make me give the lie to my true sight
  • The more I hear and see just cause of hate?
  • If thy unworthiness rais'd love in me, / More worthy I to be belov'd of thee

Themes

  • dark lady
  • love
  • self-deception
  • unworthiness
  • desire
  • rejection
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