933 earth’s worm i.e. creature that feeds on dead bodies
939 no eyes Death’s face is traditionally represented as a skull with empty eye sockets
941 mark target
dart arrow
942 cleaves splits
943 he had Adonis would have
947 golden arrow i.e. that causing love (as opposed to Cupid’s lead arrow, which provoked loathing)
fled hastened
948 ebon ebony (wood)/black
950 heavy sorrowful
953 mortal vigour deadly strength (an oxymoron, as vigor refers to the strength or attributes of living things)
954 rigour harshness, pitilessness
956 vailed lowered in defeat
who which
sluices dams, floodgates
957 crystal tide i.e. flow of tears
960 course flow, current
961 lend and borrow reflect one another
963 crystals mirrors (or possibly “magic crystals”)
967 Variable changeable, fluctuating
passions strong emotions/sorrow/means of expressing suffering
throng crowd around and press upon
968 become befit, suit
969 entertained received, given hearing
labours so makes such efforts (to be supreme)
972 consulting for conferring about/planning
973 this this time, now
hollo huntsman’s call to his hounds
975 imagination image, train of thought
981 orient lustrous, shining (used of pearls)
983 foul dirty
sluttish grimy/immoral, whorish (as all men tread on it)
985 hard-believing incredulous, skeptical
987 weal happiness, well-being
991 wrought made
993 called … naught claimed Death was worthless
995 clepes calls
996 Imperious supreme imperial ruler
999 Whenas when
1000 still severe always rigorous in punishment
1001 shadow dark presence/ghost
1002 railed on loudly abused
1004 wreaked revenged
1006 act i.e. utter his words
1010 suspect suspicion
extenuate seek to excuse
1012 insinuate ingratiate herself
1013 trophies memorial monuments erected after wars
1015 Jove supreme Roman god
1018 mutual … kind i.e. universal destruction, the end of the world
1021 fond foolish/infatuated
1022 hemmed with surrounded by
1024 with false bethinking misguidedly
1026 but late only recently
1027 lure bunch of feathers used by keepers to recall a hawk (i.e. deceptively enticing)
1029 unfortunately ill-fatedly
1038 cabins caves, i.e. eye sockets
1039 office function
1040 disposing direction, management
1041 still always
1043 Who refers to the heart
perplexèd confused/ afflicted
1044 suggestion prompting/incitement
1045 tributary subject one who acknowledges subordination and pays homage
1046 wind … ground thought to be the cause of earthquakes
1048 confound throw into confusion, overwhelm
1049 surprise ambush
1051 threw unwilling light eyes were thought to emit light, which enabled them to see
1052 trenched gouged, dug (but, like flank, the word also had the military sense it does now)
1053 flank fleshy side between ribs and hip
wonted customary
1054 purple blood-red
1056 But stole that did not steal
1059 passions expresses her grief
doteth behaves in a deranged manner (with suggestion of “dotes infatuatedly on him”)
1061 bow bend
1062 till now before now (for a lesser cause)
1064 dazzling blurring (with the intensity of her gaze or with tears)
1065 mangling that mutilates, disfigures
1067 several separate
1079 trim pretty
1081 Bonnet hat
1082 Nor sun nor neither sun nor
1083 fair pale complexion/beauty (puns on fear)
1088 gaudy brilliantly fine
1091 straight straightaway
1094 would not fear did not wish to frighten
1095 To … sung when he entertained himself by singing (the rhyme is stronger with the old spelling and pronunciation “song”)
1098 silly defenseless
1099 shadow reflection
1101 by nearby
1105 foul, grim ugly
urchin-snouted with a snout like a hedgehog
1106 downward directed to the ground (implies literal and moral lowness)
still constantly
1107 beauteous livery i.e. Adonis’ physical beauty
1113 whet sharpen
again in return
1114 persuade him there win him over/persuade him to stay
1115 nuzzling rootling, burrowing with the snout/nestling affectionately
1119 bless … his give himself to me (possibly “give me a child”)
1127 coffer-lids lids of either a treasure chest or a coffin
lids i.e. eyelids
1129 glasses mirrors
1131 virtue power
1132 his its
1139 Ne’er … low never emotionally balanced, always swinging between elation and misery (or perhaps “never between social equals”)
1142 blasted withered, as if by frost
a breathing while the space of a mere breath
1143 o’erstrawed strewn over, concealed
1144 sweets delights
beguile deceive
1147 sparing frugal, modest
riot revelry, debauchery, excess
1148 tread the measures dance
1149 staring bold-faced
1151 silly helplessly, weakly
1153 where is where there is
1156 just honest, upright
1157 Perverse self-willed, stubborn
shows most toward appears most docile, willing to learn
1158 to into
1160 sire father
1161 discontents grievances/malcontents
1162 combustious combustible, easily kindled
1163 Sith since
1168 purple blood-red
1174 reft stolen
1175 breach break
1177 guise manner
1178 issue offspring
1180 grow unto himself i.e. not produce offspring/mature, grow up
1184 next of blood next of kin/literally created from Adonis’ blood
1185 hollow cradle i.e. the cleft between Venus’ breasts
1189 hies hastens
1193 Paphos coastal town in southwest Cyprus; sacred to Venus
1194 immure shut away
1 made of truth all fidelity (made may pun on “maid”)
2 lies quibbles on sense of “has sex (with other men)”
That so that
3 That … think i.e. she thinks
4 false forgeries deceitful stratagems/counterfeits
5 vainly in vain, pointlessly/foolishly/out of vanity
7 credit believe
8 Outfacing defying/putting a brave face on (either way, the implication is of ignoring)
love’s ill rest a lover’s uneasiness
9 wherefore why
11 habit usual behavior/dress, guise
12 told counted/spoken aloud
13 lie fib/have sex
14 smothered kept silent
1 loves lovers/kinds of love
2 suggest tempt, incite
still constantly
3 fair pale-complexioned/beautiful/virtuous
4 coloured ill of ugly complexion/of evil disposition (in terms of color, may suggest a dark complexion, considered unattractive, or use of cos
metics)
8 pride plays on sense of “sexual desire” (often used of female animals)
12 hell plays on the slang term for “vagina”
14 fire … out i.e. drive him out/infect him with venereal disease
1 rhetoric persuasive eloquence
3 perjury in Love’s Labour’s Lost Longaville has vowed to see no woman for three years, but has fallen in love with Maria
5 forswore vowed to renounce
8 grace favor/divine mercy
11 Exhal’st draw up (and burn away, as the sun burns off mist)
In … is she, as the sun, has absorbed the vaporous vow
1 Cytherea or Venus, the Roman goddess of love (from the Greek island of Cythera)
2 Adonis in classical mythology, the beautiful youth loved by Venus (Shakespeare tells their story in Venus and Adonis)
green youthful, blooming
3 lovely amorous/beautiful
6 favours love tokens/her sexual parts
8 still always
9 unripe immature
want conceit lack understanding
10 figured proffer implied offer (of sex)
11 tender young
13 queen may pun on “quean,” i.e. prostitute
toward willing, yielding
14 froward stubborn, contrary
1 forsworn guilty of breaking an oath (Berowne had sworn to see no woman for three years)
4 osiers willows
5 Study the student (i.e. Berowne himself, who has vowed to study for three years)
his bias leaves leaves his rightful course (of learning); bias is a bowling term for the oblique course followed by a ball
6 art knowledge
7 mark target, goal
10 praise credit
parts qualities/physical features
11 Jove supreme Roman god; his weapons were thunder and lightning
dreadful formidable, frightening
12 bent directed
3 Cytherea Venus, goddess of love
4 tarriance waiting, sojourn
Adonis the beautiful youth with whom Cytherea was in love
5 osier willow tree
6 Adon i.e. Adonis
spleen hot body/irritability
7 hotter i.e. with lust
look For await, expect
9 Anon soon
11 glorious splendid/shining
12 wistly longingly
13 bounced in threw himself into the water
whereas where
14 Jove supreme Roman god
flood river
2 dove the bird was proverbially faithful in love
5 damask the red of the damask rose
grace adorn
6 falser more deceitful
deface spoil, make ugly
9 coinèd created (with connotations of counterfeiting)
10 Dreading fearful of
11 protestings declarations
15 framed created
foiled trampled on, destroyed
16 fell plays on sense of “succumbed sexually”
a-turning changing/having sex (with other men)
17 whether which
18 Bad … neither i.e. she was certainly a bad lover, but wasn’t even a particularly good lecher
2 needs necessarily
3 thee this poem appears also in Poems in Diverse Humours (1598), where it is dedicated to “Master R. L.” (thought to be Richard Lynch, a fellow poet)
5 Dowland John Dowland, lutenist and composer
7 Spenser Edmund Spenser, poet, author of The Faerie Queen (1596)
conceit ingenuity/imagination
10 Phoebus Apollo, Greek and Roman god of music and poetry; often depicted carrying a lyre similar to a lute
13 both i.e. music and poetry
feign say in their poetry
14 One knight seems to be a reference to a particular individual, perhaps a patron; no definitive identification has been made
1 queen of love i.e. Venus
2 [ ] indicates a missing line
4 Adon Adonis, the young man Venus loved; he died hunting when a boar wounded him
5 stand defensive position
steep-up steeply inclined
6 Anon soon
7 silly foolish/helpless
will plays on sense of “sexual desire”
10 brakes bushes (with connotations of “pubic hair”)
11 ruth pity
13 more … one i.e. her vagina, as well as the imaginary wound she showed him
3 orient pearl lustrous, most precious (literally, from the Indian Ocean)
timely prematurely
8 For why because
1 Venus Roman goddess of love, enamored of Adonis
2 myrtle evergreen shrub or small tree, sacred to Venus
3 youngling youngster
Mars Roman god of war
try her test her resistance
fell succumbed sexually
4 fell to assailed, tried to seduce
6 clipped embraced
7 unlaced i.e. undressed (literally, unlaced the corset—worn by Elizabethan ladies)
8 like similar
9 seizèd on took possession of/fastened on
11 fetchèd caught (her)
12 take understand/possess sexually
pleasure wish/sexual enjoyment
13 at this bay holding me at bay (like a hunted animal that has been cornered and forced to turn on its pursuers)
14 clip embrace
1 Crabbèd bad-tempered
2 pleasance pleasure, delight
care troubles, anxiety
4 brave finely dressed
5 sport entertainments, activity, fun
11 hie thee hurry
12 stays delay
1 vain conceited, self-regarding/empty, worthless/foolish
3 ’gins begins
4 presently immediately
7 seld seldom
12 physic medicine
painting use of cosmetics
pain effort
3 daffed me cast me off
cabin hut, humble dwelling
hanged with care decorated with sorrow
4 descant … decay enlarge on fears for my death
6 Fare go/eat
8 In … whether whether in scorn or friendship I will not consider
12 As such as, who
pluck the pelf take the spoils, seize the riches
13 throw … east i.e. look for the sunrise
14 charge the watch commands wakefulness, orders me to be on the lookout
15 cite summon
16 office function
17 Philomela the nightingale
mark pay attention, take note
18 lays songs
21 packed dispatched, sent packing
post hasten
24 For why because
27 moon month
28 Yet if
30 Short shorten
length lengthen
Sonnets … Music a separate title within The Passionate Pilgrim; may indicate that these poems were intended for singing
1 lording lord
2 master tutor
5 doubtful of uncertain outcome
7 spite vexation, source of grief
8 silly foolish/helpless
9 mickle great
10 nothing … gain no means could be employed to enjoy both of them
11 wounded with disdain rejected
13 art scholarship
15 lullaby good night
3 passing surpassingly, exceedingly
4 wanton playful/lascivious
5 leaves petals (with labial suggestion)
7 That so that
sick to death made ill from longing (death possibly plays on sense of “orgasm”)
9 Air plays on sense of “musical melody”
12 pluck … thorn plays on sense of “take your virginity”
13 unmeet unfitting, unsuitable
14 sweet i.e. flower
15 Jov
e supreme Roman god
16 Juno Jove’s wife
Ethiope Ethiopian (i.e. dark-complexioned, thought to be unattractive)
17 deny … Jove deny that he was Jove
2 speed flourish
3 defying doubting
4 Heart’s denying her refusal to love me (is the)
6 wot knows
8 without remove irremovably
9 silly simple/foolish, trivial/deserving of pity
cross mistake/misfortune
14 in thrall enslaved
16 speeding fortune
fraughted with gall laden with bitterness
17 no deal not at all
18 wether castrated ram
knell i.e. like a funeral bell
19 curtal with a docked tail
wont was accustomed
21 procures manages
22 wise manner
23 heartless ground the desolate landscape
26 dye color
29 swains rustics
35 Corydon in Virgil’s second Eclogue, the name of a shepherd abandoned by his lover
2 stalled brought to a halt/confined
deer puns on “dear”
strike may play on sense of “have sex with”
3 things worthy blame i.e. the blameworthy passions
4 fancy love/infatuation
partial might the power of (amorous) inclination
6 neither … unwed not young and still unmarried (i.e. pick someone experienced)
8 filèd polished
9 subtle practice crafty ploy
10 find a halt spot a limp, i.e. it takes one to know one
12 set … sale list all her good points (as if you were a salesman)
14 spend money on gifts/words of love
15 desert merit, deserving
16 ringing proclaiming itself/jingling coins
18 golden bullet eloquence/money
21 unjust unfaithful
22 Press strive, be eager
23 slack remiss (plays on the phallic sense of “flaccid, impotent”)
24 put thee back refuse you
26 ere before
28 dissembled disguised
30 put away rejected
32 ban curse
brawl shout
39 toys whims, fancies
40 cock plays on sense of “penis”
treads has sex with (used of the male bird)
42 naught plays on sense of “vagina”
43 Think … saint believe it, women always strive to outdo men in sin rather than virtue
45 There i.e. in women
46 attaint spoil, make ugly
49 soft hush
51 stick hesitate
round hit soundly
54 bewrayed revealed, given away
2 prove try out
8 madrigals part-songs for several voices; often they had pastoral associations
11 kirtle skirt
12 myrtle evergreen shrub sacred to Venus, hence symbolic of love
17 LOVE’S ANSWER this is the first stanza of “The Nymph’s Reply,” usually attributed to Sir Walter Ralegh
The Sonnets and Other Poems Page 26