Sonnet · Fair Youth Sonnets

Sonnet 69

Those parts of thee that the world’s eye doth view

Want nothing that the thought of hearts can mend;

All tongues, the voice of souls, give thee that due,

Uttering bare truth, even so as foes commend.

Thy outward thus with outward praise is crown’d;

But those same tongues, that give thee so thine own,

In other accents do this praise confound

By seeing farther than the eye hath shown.

They look into the beauty of thy mind,

And that in guess they measure by thy deeds;

Then churls their thoughts, although their eyes were kind,

To thy fair flower add the rank smell of weeds:

But why thy odour matcheth not thy show,

The soil is this, that thou dost common grow.

What it's about

A sharp reversal: the poet admits the youth's beauty is undeniable, but attacks his moral character. Physical perfection means nothing if the person beneath it acts basely and indiscriminately. It's not jealousy—it's disappointed judgment.

In plain English

Everyone agrees you're physically beautiful—even people who dislike you have to admit it. Your outward appearance gets universal praise, and rightly so.

But those same people who flatter your looks also notice something else: when they observe your actual behavior and character, they find it disappointing. They see ugliness where your beauty ought to match—like a gorgeous flower growing in filthy soil.

The problem is simple: you've become common. You squander your exceptional gifts on ordinary, even degrading, actions. Your character doesn't live up to the promise of your face.

Lines that stick

All tongues, the voice of souls, give thee that due
By seeing farther than the eye hath shown
But why thy odour matcheth not thy show, / The soil is this, that thou dost common grow

Themes

beauty vs. character
youth's flaws
moral corruption
squandered potential

Sonnet 69

What it's about

In plain English

Lines that stick

Themes

Tap any word to see it explained.