Sonnet 141

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Sonnet 141 in the 1609 Quarto
Q1 Q2 Q3 C In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes, For they in thee a thousand errors note; But ’tis my heart that loves what they despise, Who, in despite of view, is pleas’d to dote; Nor are mine ears with thy tongue’s tune delighted; Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone, Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited To any sensual feast with thee alone: But my five wits nor my five senses can Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee, Who leaves unsway’d the likeness of a man, Thy proud heart’s slave and vassal wretch to be: Only my plague thus far I count my gain, That she that makes me sin awards me pain. 4 8 12 14 —William Shakespeare

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Q2



Q3



C

In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes,
For they in thee a thousand errors note;
But ’tis my heart that loves what they despise,
Who, in despite of view, is pleas’d to dote;
Nor are mine ears with thy tongue’s tune delighted;
Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone,
Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited
To any sensual feast with thee alone:
But my five wits nor my five senses can
Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee,
Who leaves unsway’d the likeness of a man,
Thy proud heart’s slave and vassal wretch to be:
Only my plague thus far I count my gain,
That she that makes me sin awards me pain.

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12

14

Sonnet 141 is the informal name given to the 141st of William Shakespeare's 154 sonnets. The theme of the sonnet is the discrepancy between the poet's physical senses and wits (intellect) on the one hand and his heart on the other. The "five wits" that are mentioned refer to the mental faculties of common sense, imagination, fantasy, instinct, and memory. The sonnet is one of several in which the poet's heart is infatuated despite what his eyes can see.

In Sonnet 141, Shakespeare discusses his desires for the woman that conflict with what his senses tell him. He is aware of all of her physical flaws, does not enjoy her voice, smell, or touch, but his heart is still completely enthralled by her. His focus on sense is overwhelming in the poem, but his senses cannot prevent him from loving her. The pain he endures for loving her is soothing, and he feels like he is a slave to it.

Sonnet 141 is an English or Shakespearean sonnet. The English sonnet has three quatrains, followed by a final rhyming couplet. It follows the typical rhyme scheme of the form abab cdcd efef gg and is composed in iambic pentameter, a type of poetic metre based on five pairs of metrically weak/strong syllabic positions. The 11th line exemplifies a regular iambic pentameter:

Line 5 (potentially) exhibits all three of iambic pentameter's most common metrical variants: an initial reversal, the rightward movement of the third ictus (resulting in a four-position figure, × × / /, sometimes referred to as a minor ionic), and a final extrametrical syllable or feminine ending: