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. Sonnet 66 . (original language, but moderately updated) 01. Tir'd with all these for restful death I cry, 02. As, to behold desert a beggar born, 03. And needy Nothing trimmed in jollity, 04. And purest faith unhappily forsworn, 05. And gilded honor shamefully misplaced, 06. And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted, 07. And right perfection wrongfully disgrac'd, 08. And strength by limping sway disabled, 09. And art made tongue-tied by authority, 10. And Folly (Doctor-like) controlling skill, 11. And simple-Truth miscalled Simplicity, 12. And captive-good attending Captain ill. 13. Tir'd with all these, from these would I be gone, 14. Save that to die, I leave my love alone. |
. Sonnet 66 . (paraphrased) 01. World-weary, because of all the following, I long for the restful peace of death, 02. I mean: to see persons whom fate ought to reward, born into poverty, instead, 03. And some greedy person who deserves nothing, bestowed, by fate, with all kinds of pleasures, 04. And faith of the purest kind sadly renounced, 05. And highest honors shamefully awarded to the wrong persons, 06. And virtuous maidens coarsely treated as strumpets, 07. And true refinement wrongly stigmatized, 08. And physical strength disabled by a crippled leg, 09. And good intellectual ability censored by political power, 10. And foolishness, acting like a doctor, prescribing to reason, 11. And plain honesty falsely called naiveté, 12. And good persons bound to serve bad leadership. 13. Tired of what I've seen of all that in this world, I'd rather be gone from it, 14. Except, if I died, my beloved friend would be without me. |
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Sonnet 66 Gloss
L2: desert = a deserving person; one who ought to be rewarded. L3: needy = greedy. Refers to a pretense of being needy. In modern printing, "needy" would be in quotes. L3: Nothing = one who deserves nothing. L3: trimmed = dressed. Figurative. L3: jollity = pleasure. L4: unhappily = sadly and unluckily (both.) L5: gilded honor = "golden" honor; highest honor. L8: strength = physical strength. L8: limping sway = (the gait of) a crippled leg. L9: art = intellectual ability. L9: tongue-tied = silenced; censored. L11: simple-Truth = plain honest truth. L11: Simplicity = naiveté. L12: captive-good = bound goodness. Refers to good persons being bound, or obligated. L12: Captain ill = bad leadership. L14: love = beloved friend. |
Sonnet 66 Notes
Sonnet 66 was written by Edward de Vere, to William Shakespeare. Some capitalization in the original - Nothing, Folly, Truth, Simplicity - indicates roles, as in an emblematic stage performance. "Doctor" in line 10 may have some undertone of allusion to Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. Certainly Faustus' presumption to control "skill" was the height of Folly, for his soul. ------- |
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