Sonnet 141
Sonnet 141- William Shakespeare
-Sonnet 141 is one of the sonnets known as the sonnets to the Dark Lady.
-The Dark Lady
poems are considered to be more explicit in the expression of physical love.
-Dark Lady sonnets
are compared to the Fair Youth sonnets which describe spiritual love and are written to a young
man in contrast to the dark haired lady mentioned in the Dark Lady sonnets ranging from sonnet
127-154.
Overview of the poem
-This sonnet describes a lover’s confession to his beloved.
-The sonnet describes the
infatuation towards the Dark Lady and the sensual pleasures derived from this relationship.
- According to the poet, the lady is full of faults, but despite these faults, he cannot stop being
attracted to her.
-He finds her attractive not through the use of his five senses (vision, taste, touch,
aural, smell) or through the use of his five wits (the concept of five wits- common sense,
imagination, fantasy, estimation, and memory) but through his desire in his heart.
-He is unable to
control his attraction towards her, despite knowing her faults and even knowing how she does
not belong only to him.
- His only consolation is his attraction towards her, which is an award
itself in its pain.
-The poem is written in a sonnet form and follows the abab cdcd efef gg.
-The three quatrains
describe the writer’s infatuation towards the dark Lady while the final couplet defines his
helplessness and the pain he derives through his relationship.
-This uses the style of a sonnet to deliver the message and true to Shakespearen sonnets
written to the Dark Lady, it focuses on sensual descriptions and sexual attraction towards
theDark Lady.
- The use of the final couplet ushers in the final denouement to the sonnet; the
poet’s realisation of his own faults and his own foolish attraction.
-Attraction and sensual pleasure derived out of pleasing the five senses is a strong theme that
runs through the sonnet.
-Unlike the fair youth sonnets, Dark Lady sonnets are full of sexualised
images and references to pleasures from pleasing the senses.
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