Sonnet 141: In Faith, I Do Not Love Thee With Mine Eyes Poem by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 141: In Faith, I Do Not Love Thee With Mine Eyes

Rating: 3.4


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 cars 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 unswayed 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.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Fabrizio Frosini 31 January 2016

There is therefore an element of parody in this sonnet of Shakespeare's, as there was in the equivalent sonnet 130. For that reason it brings us down to earth with a bump, for it tears us away from the tortured conceits of the sonneteers, and perhaps from our own idealisations of the beings we love, and forces us to accept that the things we love often have an earthly and earthy beauty, much less than a divine one. For we also know that love is a power beyond rationality, and that it does not depend on the beloved being made of coral, or ivory, or rubies, but of flesh and blood with all its imperfections. The falseness lies in worshipping humans as if they were all Venuses and Adonises. The poet here finds himself perplexed that the woman he loves does not appeal to his five senses, as the tradition of sonneteering insists that she must, and yet he still loves and desires her. shakespeares-sonnets.com/

27 0 Reply
Fabrizio Frosini 31 January 2016

The poem is thought to rely heavily on 'The Banquet of the Senses', an allegorical story based on Ovid. But it has other antecedents as well, and one should not overlook the fact that it is almost a continuation sonnet to 130, ''My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun''; for in that sonnet the appeal is made to the senses of sight (colour of lips, teeth, flesh etc.) , hearing (the sound of her voice) , smell (reek of her breath) , and possibly taste (lips) , none of which are enraptured by what they find. There are also other examples in the literature which run through a similar catalogue of the senses, and I have included a sonnet below by William Smith. It is much more conventional than this one of Shakespeare's, in that the beloved has all the beauteous characteristics expected, for, even though they are not detailed, they are such as to give him exquisite pleasure, and the amber breath and crystal eyes stand in place of the usual coral, snow, pearls, ivory and gold with which Venus had bedecked the beloved. I have also included a short extract from Barnabe Barnes's Parthenophil and Parthenophe which I take to be relevant.

27 0 Reply
Brian Jani 26 April 2014

Awesome I like this poem, check mine out

0 3 Reply
Raquel Rebecca 27 March 2009

My absolute favorite sonnet in the world.

0 1 Reply
Chinedu Dike 05 May 2019

Beautiful rendition of words to utmost justice. Well penned with spiritual insight.

0 0 Reply
Minnu 24 March 2018

Superb and fantastic poem

0 0 Reply
Mary Skarpathiotaki 09 March 2018

10+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

0 0 Reply
Kim Barney 17 November 2017

There seems to be a misprint here. In line five shouldn't the word be 'ears' instead of 'cars'?

1 0 Reply
Fabrizio Frosini 31 January 2016

***** In this sonnet, the poet runs through a catalogue of the senses, to see what it is that attracts him to his mistress. In fact he finds nothing, and therefore concludes that it must be some perverseness in his heart that forces him to love her and to be her slave. His reward is that she gives him penances for the sin he is committing in loving her. *****

26 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success