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. Sonnet 28 . (original language, but moderately updated) 01. How can I then return in happy plight 02. That am debarred the benefit of rest? 03. When day's oppression is not eased by night, 04. But day by night, and night by day oppressed. 05. And each (though enemies to either's reign) 06. Do in consent shake hands to torture me, 07. The one by toil, the other to complain 08. How far I toil, still farther off from thee. 09. I tell the Day to please him thou art bright, 10. And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven: 11. So flatter I the swart complexioned night, 12. When sparkling stars twire not thou guild'st th' eaven. 13. But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer, 14. And night doth nightly make grief's length seem stronger. |
. Sonnet 28 . (paraphrased) 01. Then how can I go home in cheerful shape 02. When I'm denied the benefit of sleep? 03. When day's hardship is not relieved by night, 04. But my nights make my days worse - and my days make my nights worse; 05. And both (although day and night are like nations at war against each other,) 06. Seem to have reached a truce agreement, between themselves, just to afflict me. 07. The one, day, afflicts me with hard work, and the other, night, afflicts me by making me lament 08. How far away, from you, I work, and it seems I never get any nearer; 09. I tell the Day, to flatter and try to appease him, that you, my ally, shine like the sun, 10. And do him a favor when clouds darken the sky; 11. Similarly, I try to flatter the dark-faced night, 12. That when his sparkling stars don't twinkle, your image, that I visualize, decorates the evening; 13. But Day is not appeased, and every day draws out my sadness, (at being away from you,) 14. And Night, also unappeased, every night makes my sorrow's duration more unendurable. |
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Sonnet 28 Gloss
L1: return = go home. L1: happy = cheerful. With a suggestion of 'fortunate.' L1: plight = condition. Shape. (Note, to the right.) L2: debarred = denied. L2: benefit - the dictionary definition. Implies sleep as a 'good deed' done for a person. L2: rest = sleep. Or, at least restfulness without sleeping. L3: oppression = difficulty, hardship. (Note, to the right.) L3: eased = relieved. L4: (Note, to the right.) L5: each = both. L5: enemies = opposites. (Note, to the right.) L5: reign =rule. (Note, to the right.) L6: in consent = voluntarily. L6: shake hands = agree. L6: torture = afflict, stress, distress. (Note, to the right.) L7: complain = bewail, lament. The word usage is compatible with "grief" in line 14. L8: far = far away. L8: still = always (it seems.) (Note, to the right.) L9: to please him = to try to make peace with him. L9: bright = shining, glowing; like the sun. (Note, to the right.) L10: do grace = do a favor for. (Note, to the right.) L10: blot = darken. Also, 'remove' in the sense of not being able to see the blue sky. L11: swart = swarthy. L11: complexioned = faced. That is, the "face" of the night is dark. L12: twire = twinkle. Secondarily, 'peep' or 'wink.' Poetically, the stars are cast as eyes. L12: twire not - a cloudy night, with the stars hidden, like the cloudy day mentioned. L12: gild'st = decorate. L12: eaven = even, evening. (Note, to the right.) L13: day - personified. L13: draw = draw out. Extend. L14: night - personified. L14: grief - 'mourning' over not being with the addressee. 'Sorrow' at being away. L14: length = duration. L14: stronger = more unbearable, more unendurable. |
Sonnet 28 Notes
Line 12 links back to Sonnet 27, where the Poet wrote of visualizing the addressee before him, like a jewel in the dark night. Sonnets 27 and 28 are written as a pair, and the best candidate for the addressee is certainly Mrs. Shakespeare. The Poet is far from home, working very hard, going back to his room at night, tired, but he's having trouble sleeping because he's homesick and lonely, and his wife is so much on his mind. Going back to line 1, "return ... happy," he doesn't want his wife to see that he's so unhappy and worn out, when he does get home. She'd worry too much. ------- L1: plight = condition. Shape. The word usage suggests distress. The phrase "happy plight" paradoxically implies 'cheerful distress.' Paradoxical language is one of the hallmarks of the Shakespeare plays and poems. L3: oppression = difficulty, hardship. The word usage implies oppression by a tyrannical government, in anticipation of the characterizations of Day and Night as warring rulers. There's also a hint of 'pressing' circumstances. L4: Line 4 has a clever poetic rearrangement of 'day by day, and night by night,' which would mean, 'continuously, every day and every night.' The word rearrangement provides additional meaning, of the Poet's days and nights oppressing each other, that is, 'my days oppress my nights, and my nights oppress my days.' In other words, 'my days make my nights more difficult, and my nights make my days more difficult.' L5: enemies = opposites. The phrasing is exaggerated for poetic effect, as if the Poet's days and nights are at war. L5: reign =rule. Poetically, Day rules people in the daytime, and Night rules people in the nighttime. L6: torture = afflict, stress, distress. 'Afflict' is probably the best equivalent since it's also an astrological term, so it's compatible with the astrological terms elsewhere in the Sonnets. L8: still = always (it seems.) It seems to the Poet that he's always farther from the addressee. It's not necessarily literal, in terms of actual distance. It could be literal, that the Poet's work is taking him farther away, or it could be that the addressee only seems more remote as time goes by. In connection with Sonnet 27, it does appear the travel is literal. L9: bright = shining, glowing; like the sun. The concept is that Day should honor his own kind, and therefore "make peace," so to speak. The train of thought being: since the addressee is the Day's own kind, and the Poet is allied with the addressee, Day should make peace with the Poet, and not afflict him. L10: do grace = do a favor for. The concept being, the addressee "lights up the day," when the sun is hidden, thereby doing Day a favor, and Day should then be grateful. Then, since the addressee is the Poet's ally, Day should be kinder to the Poet, because of the 'favor' the addressee has done for Day. The implicit "alliance" idea, between the Poet and the addressee, indicates the addressee being the Poet's wife. "Man and wife are one flesh." L12: eaven = even, evening. The word "eaven" is the spelling in the original printing. The word was probably so spelled to give an exact rhyme with"heaven." In the Elizabethan view, noon was the "even" time of day, the midpoint, and any time after noon was called "evening." Their "even" or "evening" extended into the dark hours of night. |
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