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. Sonnet 57 . (original language, but moderately updated) 01. Being your slave what should I do but tend, 02. Upon the hours, and times of your desire? 03. I have no precious time at all to spend, 04. Nor services to do till you require. 05. Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour, 06. Whilst I (my sovereign) watch the clock for you, 07. Nor think the bitterness of absence sour, 08. When you have bid your servant once adieu. 09. Nor dare I question with my jealous thought, 10. Where you may be, or your affairs suppose, 11. But like a sad slave stay and think of naught 12. Save where you are, how happy you make those. 13. So true a fool is love, that in your Will, 14. (Though you do any thing,) he thinks no ill. |
. Sonnet 57 . (paraphrased) 01. If I'm to play the role of slave for you, very well, what then should I do but wait on you, 02. At whatever hours, and occasions, you desire me? 03. I have no precious time at all, of my own, to spend on myself, 04. Nor any job to do, until you need something. 05. Nor would I dare to scold the endless "blessed" hour that creeps by, 06. While I - my sovereign - watch the clock waiting for you, 07. Nor would I think the bitterness of your absence an unpleasant thing, 08. After you have bid me, your servant, farewell, (which hasn't happened because I haven't even seen you yet,) 09. Nor would I dare to wonder, with any suspicion, 10. Where you might be, or try to guess what you're doing, 11. But like an unlucky and cheerless slave I'd wait, and think of nothing at all, 12. Except that wherever you are, how happy you're making whoever is with you. 13. Love is such a loyal and genuine fool, that in the mind of "your Will," and as far as your desires go, 14. (No matter what you do,) your loving admirer thinks no bad thoughts of you -- and I really mean that! |
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Sonnet 57 Gloss
L1: tend = attend; wait on. L5: world-without-end = seeming to last forever. It's a prayer book phrase, so there's a religious implication (not serious here.) L6: sovereign - Not necessarily a man, since the great sovereign of the Poet's lifetime was a woman, Queen Elizabeth I. (That does not imply the "sovereign" in this case is the Queen.) Line 6 - (Note to the right.) L7: sour = unpleasant. L9: jealous = suspicious. L10: affairs = business. 'Doings.' L11: sad = unlucky and not cheerful (both.) "Sad" in this use is exactly opposed to "happy," which the Poet often used to mean both cheerful and lucky. L13: true - Double meaning, both 'loyal' and 'truly.' L13: Will = desire. (Note, to the right.) |
Sonnet 57 Notes
The tone of Sonnet 57 is sarcastic. The Poet does have a genuine affection for the addressee. The addressee isn't there as arranged earlier; the appointed time has long gone by. The Poet doesn't think the addressee's absence is for any serious reason. Our Player-Poet is a bit annoyed. But the Poet always had a way to pass the time: write a Sonnet. ------- Line 6 has a double meaning. 06. Whilst I (my sovereign) watch the clock for you First - while I watch the clock waiting for you to arrive. Second - while I watch the clock, instead of you doing so, since you're obviously not watching it. L13: Will = desire. The capitalization is for wordplay on the Poet's name. To the addressee, the Poet is "my Will." Thus the sentiment is, for lines 13 and 14, "within your Will, me, I have no ill thoughts about you." However, the Poet is playing a role of "mindless slave" in the Sonnet. He's doubtful of what the addressee is up to. The Poet was also a player, of course, who performed roles. |
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