The Sonnets – Sonnets 127-154 “In the old age black was not counted fair...”

The Sonnets – Sonnets 127-154 “In the old age black was not counted fair...”

Sonnet 127

“In the old age black was not counted fair,


Or if it were, it bore not beauty's name;


But now is black beauty's successive heir,


And beauty slandered with a bastard shame:


For since each hand hath put on Nature's power, 


Fairing the foul with Art's false borrowed face,


Sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower,


But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace.


Therefore my mistress' eyes are raven black,


Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem


At such who, not born fair, no beauty lack,


Sland'ring creation with a false esteem:


Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe,


That every tongue says beauty should look so.

In Sonnet 127, we are introduced to the Dark Lady. The tone of many of the sonnets changes from the light reflective love poems to an exploration of the nature of passion. The poet starts revealing that his new‘beauty’ is fair and she is black. He then derides the ‘borrowed face’ of those women who paint their faces. Women who wore makeup is consistently criticized by Shakespeare. The central idea of this sonnet seems to be that because his mistress is black and black is the beautiful colour of mourning and mourning has become fashionable then dark beauties like his mistress are now the most beautiful and “…every tongue says beauty should look so.”

Here is Sonnet 127 Read by Dan Hakimi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFo0arFna-4

There are parallels in Sonnet 128 to Romeo's sonnet in 'Romeo and Juliet' where, at a ball, he pleads for a first kiss from Juliet. This poem takes place in public at a musical celebration. The lady seems to be playing an instrument and poet longs to kiss her and he envies the keys that she is playing on her instrument. Here is a musical version of Sonnet 128, performed in 2012 on the Andrew Marr television show for the BBC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDd8FGCSfIU

Sonnet 129

The expense of spirit in a waste of shame

Is lust in action; and till action, lust

Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,

Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,

Enjoy’d no sooner but despised straight,

Past reason hunted, and no sooner had

Past reason hated, as a swallow’d bait

On purpose laid to make the taker mad;

Mad in pursuit and in possession so;

Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;

A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;

Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.

All this the world well knows; yet none knows well

To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

This is an amazingly complex sonnet which, because it appears straight after the appearance of the Dark Mistress, we assume to be about the Poet’s relationship with the dark mistress. Dealing with sexual desire, this poem begins with the speaker contending that: “The expense of spirit in a waste of shame Is lust in action...” yet lust is describe as existing before the act of sex as shown in “till action”. The first quatrain slanders lust further as“…perjured, murd’rous, bloody, full of blame / Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust.”

The second quatrain is more reflective stating that no sooner is lust “enjoyed” than it is “despised.” The desire of lust is framed as being “past reason hunted”; but the act of lustful sex is then considered ‘past reason hated” as it is compared to a poisoned bait in the simile “as swallowed bait”. The third quatrain moves onto contending that lust is mad in all of its three forms or stages: its pursuit, its possession or consummation and in its memory. The poet states that although the act of lust is “a bliss in proof”, lust being had or “proved” then becomes for the lustful “a very woe”. In memory, lustful once acted upon becomes merely “a dream”. In he final rhyming couplet, the speaker/poet states that while what he has spoken about is well known, people will still give into lust and no-one knows all this well enough “To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.”

Here is Maureen Beattie reading Sonnet 129:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nvz-p4cm_g

Sonnet 130

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

And in some perfumes is there more delight

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

I grant I never saw a goddess go;

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

As any she belied with false compare.

It is possible that most of the sonnets of Shakespeare are not autobiographical but primarily poetic explorations of the sonnet form or Shakspeare playing with the Petrachian sonnet form. Sonnet 130 plays so much with the notions and conventions of love poetry that in fact this sonnet can be seen as an argument for the fact that perhaps all of Shakespeare’s sonnets are mocking the sonnet form and playing notions of love poetry in general.

The structure and rhetoric of Sonnet 130 is crucial to its mockery of love poetry with the first quatrain seeing the poet comparing his mistress with one line comparisons of his mistress to the sun, coral, snow and wires but undermining all these comparisons. This picks up pace in the third and fourth quatrains where comparisons continue to use conditionals but take two lines pairings expanding the irony of the comparison of the mistress’ features. The poet conditionally compares his mistress’ cheeks to roses but states that  but starting that she has no roses in her cheeks, his mistress’ breath is unlike perfume because it reeks, her voice is not musical or pleasing in its tone, and his mistress does not walk like a s but definitely “treads on the ground”. This unflattering portrait builds in argument until the rhyming couplet which neatly renders the rest of the sonnet void when the poet states that he thinks his love “…as rare as any she belied with false compare.”

Here is Sonnet 130 read by Alan Rickman. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Ja0Paz04s

Sonnet 131 "Thou art as tyrannous..." continues to state that the poet’s mistress does not have the traditional attributes we associate with beauty but that she has other virtues and suggests that there is nothing dark or non-virtuous about his mistress except her deeds. Then Sonnet 132 takes up again the parallels between black and mourning and beauty. The sonnet ends with a lover’s pledge that if the mistress takes pity upon the poet, that he will “…swear beauty itself black...". Here is Sonnet 131 read with a backing of the H. Villa-Lobos' guitar piece Study No.1 for Classical Guitar. The narrated reading is done by Harry Verey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzDULD0w1Z8

Sonnet 132 takes up again the parallels between black and mourning and beauty. The sonnet ends with a lover’s pledge that if the mistress takes pity upon the poet, that he will “…swear beauty itself black...". here is Dominic West reading Sonnet 132. https://vimeo.com/44736432

Sonnet 133 addresses both the poet's relationship with his young male friend and with his mistress. The sonnet suggests that the poet's heart belongs to his friend but everything he is and has belongs to the dark lady. Here is Sonnet 133 read by GDanae. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo1W6iTd4B0

Sonnet 134 is a continuation of Sonnet 133 and muses on the situation that the poet and his friend themselves in when entangled in a relationship with the Dark Lady. Here is a video as part of the NYC Shakespeare Project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGvGPo8CZ3w

In Sonnet 135, the poet makes appeals to the dark mistress after having rejected her. The poem is one of two counted as 'Will' sonnets since the word "will" is mentioned and played with. The poet pledges himself to the dark mistress and asks her through the graciousness of her will to accept him back. He compares her to an ocean and accepts that he cannot be her exclusive lover. The last line, while ambiguous, is a plea to have the Dark Lady "Let no unkind kill no fair beseechers." Here is Simon Russell Beale reading Sonnet 135: https://vimeo.com/4473643

Sonnet 136 is another "Will" poem and between Sonnet 135 and 136, the word "will" is used in three ways. First as a name. refering mostly to the poet himself but it can also be seen to allude to another Will (possibly William Lanier whose wife Emilia lanier might be the Dark Lady). Secondly, "will" is meant to be ones's wishes. The third meaning is "will" as sexual desire. Here is actor Kenny Scott with the Shotgun Players reading Sonnet 136: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYf-GbJHiaI

Sonnet 137 looks at the nature of love and how sight as a sense both enriches love and distorts it. Here is it read by Sir John Gielgud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSdJcXpQB1E

 

Sonnet 138 is both a reflection and psychological examination of the poet's  mistress. It is a bit misogynistic and the poet muses on the lying nature of his mistress. The word 'lie' is used with multiple meanings that give irony. The poet does coceed that he also is deceptive. It is a beautiful sonnet. David Shaw Parker reads it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MmyVMFHk88

Sonnet 139 has the poet blaming his lover for infidelities and the beauty that initially drew him into love. Here is a video with Bu Kunene reading Sonnet 139: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbCjLiTUC9E

Sonnet 140 has the poet threaten to reveal the lover as not chaste or fair. There is an element of revenge in the poem yet the poem succeeds in capturing the emotions and experience of love where real pain and despair exist in heightened emotional states. Here it is done in Shakespeare by the Lakes collection as performed by Lexi Sukuless. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1744759425828421

Sonnet 141 shows that the poet's relationship with the dark lady is more about infatuation and sensual desire than deep understanding. Here is a video of Sonnet 141 performed as a song in jazz style by Zhang Lee and Burnett Thompson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ognO0KMbgco

In Sonnet 142, we see the poet accept the dark lady's rejection of his love for her because it is sinful and unworthy. The poet however believes that he deserves her pity since she also has been lustful and sinful in her love for others. Here is a video of Sonnet 142 performed by Rory Grant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uhv5OHPIrY

What a strange sonnet Sonnet 143 is. The poet uses a simile of a housewife chasing chickens and leaving her baby to address the errant ways of his mistress. The poet compares himself to the neglected baby. This is a 'Will' poem since the poet uses his own name when he urges the mistress: 

"But if thou catch thy hope, turn back to me,

And play the mother's part, kiss me, be kind;
   So will I pray that thou mayst have thy 'Will,'
   If thou turn back and my loud crying still."

Here is a video of Sonnet 143 done by Bruce Alexander. https://vimeo.com/44738730

Sonnet 144 is unusual since it is the only sonnet where the poet refers to both the Dark Lady and the young man - the poet's "two loves". The poem is written with an air of detachment. Here is a video with Niamh McGrady reading Sonnet 144:  https://vimeo.com/44738731

Sonnet 145 is a sequel to Sonnet 144. It trivialises love ans sees the Dark Lady pitying the poet and the poet :languishes for her sake" as her hatred turns to mercy. Here the sonnet is done once again as part of The Sonnet Project NYC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwLrpmf7-z

Sonnet 146

Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,

these rebel powers that thee array;

Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,

Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?

Why so large cost, having so short a lease,

Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?

Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,

Eat up thy charge? is this thy body’s end?

Then soul, live thou upon thy servant’s loss,

And let that pine to aggravate thy store;

Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross;

Within be fed, without be rich no more:

So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,

And Death once dead, there’s no more dying then.

One of the most interesting of the later sonnets is Sonnet 146. The poet does not address the poem to the Fair Youth nor to the Dark Lady but to his own soul and starts by the poet asking his “Poor soul” why it puts up with his body or “sinful earth” and why his soul tolerates the vanity of his body. He asks why at such a large cost to the soul, the soul allows the body “spend” and “cost” the soul. The poet asks “Shall worms, inheritors of this excess, Eat up thy charge?” The third quatrain sees the poet asks the soul (and himself) to:

“Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross;

Within be fed, without be rich no more…”

The final rhyming couplet sees the poet tell his soul that once it has feed on death, it will live eternally.

“So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,

And Death once dead, there’s no more dying then.”

Here is a video of Sonnet 146 done in the New Shakespeare Songbook done as pop music videoclip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2mH9ycO6K8

Sonnet 147 

Sonnet 147 explores the Poet's internal battle between his heart and head. He sees his love for his mistress as a fever. He ultimately blames his mistress for his internal battle at the end of the poem. Here John Hurt reads Sonnet 147. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOsNQ--0xV8

Sonnet 148 continues on from Sonnet 147 and the poet admits that his his eyes deceive him, his judgement is blind and reason has left him. The poem ends with the poet claiming that tears have prevented him from seeing either the "foul faults" of love or of the one he loves. Here is an interesting interpretation of the sonnet done with the character of Titania from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL7uCKidpjM

Sonnet 149 is another Dark Lady sonnet yet what is slightly unusual about this sonnet is that the poet echoes the sentiment in his earlier sonnets where he contrasts pure love with the tainted love he has found with his mistress. The poem ends with his framing his love in terms of blindness and thus accepting his mistress' rejection of him. Nonso Anozie reads it here: https://vimeo.com/44739705

In Sonnet 150, the poet adopts a more rational tone and attempts to figure out why he can't break himself from the grasp of the Dark Lady. He thinks about the power she has over him and asks himself what flaws in his own disposition make him susceptible. In the end he realises that the sexual freedom and promiscuity of the lady is what he loves the most. Here is a video with Henry Woudhuysen reading the sonnet. https://vimeo.com/44740073

Sonnet 151 sees the poet give into lust even though the poet believes that this is degrading. Sexual suggestiveness is evident in this sonnet. Here The Sonnet Project NYC shows the sonnet performed at Coney Island. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ7HjFC8zS8&feature=emb_logo

Sonnet 152 shows the end of the relationship between the poet and the dark lady. The is filled with self-pity and claims his mistress has forsaken her oaths of love. Of particular interest is the use of the imagery and double meaning of the word 'I'.  Here The Sonnet Project NYC shows the sonnet in The Bronx.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=LiWy6N3tlI4&feature=emb_logo

Sonnet 153 is paired with Sonnet 154 Shakespeare’s final sonnet . Both are based on the 5^th century poetry of the Greek poetry of Marcianus Scholasticus. It shows Cupid, the bringer of love being caught napping by a nymph and she attempts to drown his fire of love in a fountain. The poet tries to cure his own love sickness but discovers that the only cure is in his mistress' eye. Here is The Sonnet Project NYC version of it filmed at the WTC site. https://vimeo.com/296029892

Sonnet 154 is the final sonnet. The sonnet uses the image of the sleeping Cupid and tells the story of the sleeping Cupid who puts down his love torch and one of Diana’s nymphs who had taken a vow of chastity picks up the love torch and comes under the power of the torch and tries to put out the love torch in a cool pring but the heat of the love torch makes the spring itself turn into a hot bath. This then becomes a healing bath to diseased men. The poet then says that when he visited the water to be cured of the love of his mistress, he found that, “Love's fire heats water, water cools not love.”

The little Love-god lying once asleep,


Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand,


Whilst many nymphs that vowed chaste life to keep


Came tripping by; but in her maiden hand


The fairest votary took up that fire


Which many legions of true hearts had warmed;


And so the General of hot desire


Was, sleeping, by a virgin hand disarmed.


This brand she quenched in a cool well by,


Which from Love's fire took heat perpetual,


Growing a bath and healthful remedy,


For men diseased; but I, my mistress' thrall,
   

Came there for cure and this by that I prove, 
   

Love's fire heats water, water cools not love.

Fiona Shaw reads it here: https://vimeo.com/44740083