The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #58995   Message #937456
Posted By: Helen
21-Apr-03 - 09:25 PM
Thread Name: Shakespeare... Sonnet 22
Subject: RE: Shakespeare... Sonnet 22
Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day,
And make me travel forth without my cloak,
To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way,
Hiding thy bravery in their rotten smoke?

'Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break,
To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face,
For no man well of such a salve can speak,
That heals the wound, and cures not the disgrace:

Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief;
Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss:
The offender's sorrow lends but weak relief
To him that bears the strong offence's cross.

Ah! but those tears are pearl which thy love sheds,
And they are rich and ransom all ill deeds.


That's my favourite. Such sadness, such a sense of betrayal, but still totally attached to the lover so that your heart melts in forgiveness even when he/she has done you wrong.

But the first lines.... they say it all.

I loved the sonnets when I first read them all, from start to finish. As a story with a timeline they are even more beautiful than singly. Then when I heard about the speculations about the real story behind them they became even more interesting.

Helen