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. Sonnet 61 . (original language, but moderately updated) 01. Is it thy will, thy Image should keep open 02. My heavy eyelids to the weary night? 03. Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken, 04. While shadows like to thee do mock my sight? 05. Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee 06. So far from home into my deeds to pry, 07. To find out shames and idle hours in me, 08. The scope and tenure of thy jealousy? 09. O no, thy love though much, is not so great, 10. It is my love that keeps mine eye awake, 11. Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat, 12. To play the watchman ever for thy sake. 13. For thee watch I, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere, 14. From me far off, with others all too near. |
. Sonnet 61 . (paraphrased) 01. Is it your desire, that your image should keep open 02. My drowsy eyelids, to the long, tired night? 03. Do you want my sleep to be interrupted, 04. While "ghosts," that look like you, make fun of me, in front of my eyes? 05. Is it your spirit, that you send from yourself, 06. So far from home, to look into what I'm doing - 07. To see anything shameful I do, or any waste of time by me, 08. Since I'm the "liberty" and property of your jealous eye? 09. O no, it can't be that; you do love me a lot, but not enough that your spirit would leave your body; 10. It's my own love for you that keeps me awake, 11. My own true love that prevents me from resting, 12. Like I'm always playing a watchman on the stage, for you as my audience. 13. I watch for you, (and wish I could really see you,) while you do your waking and watching elsewhere, 14. Far away from me, with other people all too near me, in this crowded city of London. |
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Sonnet 61 Gloss
L1: Image - (Note, to the right.) L4: shadows = ghosts. The image is cast as the "ghost" of the person. L8: scope = liberty. (Note, to the right.) L8: tenure = estate. (Note, to the right.) L8: jealousy - Observe that for the rhyme, "jealousy" must be pronounced "jealous eye." That is not accidental. L9: not so great - Not so great as to cause the addressee's spirit to leave her body, that is. L12: play the watchman = play the role of watchman in a theatrical performance. L12: for thy sake = for you as my audience. L13: wake - Probably intended to imply "watch" as well. "Wake and "watch" are related words. |
Sonnet 61 Notes
The addressee of Sonnet 61 is Mrs. Shakespeare. The phrase "far from home," by itself, is enough to tell us that. Sonnet 61 is a misplaced companion to Sonnets 27 and 28. The Poet is again, as in those Sonnets, having trouble sleeping, homesick and lonely, with his wife on his mind. ------- L1: Image The word is capitalized in the original, apparently because it has reference to a named person (even though the name of the person is not stated in the Sonnet.) Printing practice of the time often treated a common noun like a name, capitalizing it, if it had reference to a person. L8: scope = liberty. It's partly a figurative usage, since there was a "liberty" of land area by London, outside the purview of London authority. The Globe Theater was built in "the liberty" (full name, Liberty of the Clink.) So, "scope" means 'liberty' in a literal sense, and then there is allusion to being beyond the eye of authority, so to speak, which connects to the Poet being away from the addressee (identifiable as his wife.) L8: tenure = estate. It's the idea of the Poet being treated as the addressee's "property." People are jealous of their own property, of course, and husband and wife are each other's "property" in a way. |
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