Sonnet 102: My Love Is Strengthened, Though More Weak In Seeming Poem by William Shakespeare

Awesome I like this poem, check mine out

.shakespeares-sonnets.com/ The poet continues to excuse his recent silence by saying that it is a sign of his increased love. Even the nightingale's song would become tedious if it were spread throughout the entire summer, when every other common bird was singing. It is noticeable in this sonnet that the imagery almost takes command, and what in the beginning started as praise of the youth becomes a separate delight in the manifestations of early summer, as the days ripen, and birds sing from every tree. Finally the poet puts an end to it all, and insists that silence is best, since the beauty of their love does not need a prattling tongue to enliven it with song.

.shakespeares-sonnets.com/ 1. My love is strengthened, though more weak in seeming; My love = my affection for you. However, it could mean 'you, the beloved, you, whom I love', and could include a suggestion of deterioration in the appearance of the youth. The words seeming, and show are echoes of the concluding line of the previous sonnet. They usally carry overtones of hypocrisy and false covering for something which is not all well within. Here however the opposite is the case, or so the poet declares, in that his love shows itself as weak, and seems to be less than before, but in reality it has become stronger. Whether one believes this declaration or not is perhaps not relevant. Within the conventions of sonneteering the lover's words are gospel and the beloved is faultless. But the mere fact that the protestations occur as justifications for a period of silence, and that they are set in a group of sonnets which follow on from some in which abandonment, (87-9) , hatred (90) , deception (94-6) and separation (97-8) are the themes, leads one to suspect that the protestations themselves are mere show, a failing or tired love which is covered over with elegant and skillful wordplay. 2. I love not less, though less the show appear; See the note above. The poet claims that the ostentatious show of his love, which in former times was evidenced by frequent sonnets (and other declarations?) , he now considers to be superfluous, and he does not wish to cheapen his love by making it too public and shallow. 3. That love is merchandized, whose rich esteeming, That love = any love (which is advertised, publicised, put up for sale by the owner): is merchandized = is made into a commodity, is reduced to the level of an object of trade (or prostitution) . whose rich esteeming = the precious worth of which. 3-4: 'Any love, when its preciousness is broadcast to the world as if it were a piece of merchandise, has its value reduced to that of a mere commodity on the market place'. 4. The owner's tongue doth publish every where. publish = make public, broadcast, make known to the world. There is a strong suggestion in these two lines (3-4) of pimping and prostitution. Compare for example the prostitution scene in Pericles, where Marina's qualities are trumpeted to the world: Bawd Boult, take you the marks of her, the colour of her hair, complexion, height, age, with warrant of her virginity; and cry 'He that will give most shall have her first.' Such a maidenhead were no cheap thing, if men were as they have been. Get this done as I command you. Boult Performance shall follow. [Exit] ............................. Marina The gods defend me! Bawd If it please the gods to defend you by men, then men must comfort you, men must feed you, men must stir you up. Boult's returned. [Re-enter Boult] Now, sir, hast thou cried her through the market? Boult I have cried her almost to the number of her hairs; I have drawn her picture with my voice. Bawd And I prithee tell me, how dost thou find the inclination of the people, especially of the younger sort? Boult 'Faith, they listened to me as they would have hearkened to their father's testament. There was a Spaniard's mouth so watered, that he went to bed to her very description. Bawd We shall have him here to-morrow with his best ruff on. Boult To-night, to-night. Per.IV.2.56-105

.. 9. Not that the summer is less pleasant now Not that = it is not because etc. I.e. I have not ceased writing sonnets to you because the summer of our love is less pleasurable than the springtime was, when the nightingale etc.. 10. Than when her mournful hymns did hush the night, her - through the influence of the legend the singing nightingale was thought of as female. It may not have been known at the time that it was the male which was the chief songster. mournful hymns - sad tunes, (because of Philomela's tragic story) . Bird song at night however would be considered mournful, in harmony with the darkness of night. hush the night - the night appeared to become hushed as if listening to the song of the nightingale. This is a frequent experience, even today, of those who actually do listen to a nightingale singing. 11. But that wild music burthens every bough, But that = but because. wild = savage, uncultured. In contrast to the measured chants of the nightingale the undisciplined songs of other birds were wild and savage. Note however that wild and vile (vild) were interchangeable words of unfixed spelling (See OED wild, a.4-6) . Hence wild could here be tinged with the meanings of vile - 'base, vulgar, commonplace, despicable'. burthens every bough = makes every bough heavy. The imagery tends to make one think of birds sitting on boughs and singing. Every bough is crammed full with tedious birds in full song, birds more common than the nightingale. burthen, which is an old spelling of burden, also had the meaning of 'chorus, refrain'. (OED.10.) This adds an additional richness to the line. Cf. Ariel's song in The Tempest: Come unto these yellow sands, And then take hands: Courtsied when you have and kiss'd The wild waves whist, Foot it featly here and there; And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear. Hark, hark! [Burthen, dispersedly, within] Bow-wow The watch-dogs bark! [Burthen] Bow-wow... Tem.I.2.375-383. There may also be a reference to the rival poets, who 'burthen every bough' with their commonplace praises of the youth.

.. 12. And sweets grown common lose their dear delight. sweets grown common = sweet things that have become common place, vulgar, widespread. dear delight = precious and valuable ability to give pleasure. The thought is almost proverbial, although recorded proverbs do not match these words. The rarity of a thing often makes it precious 13. Therefore like her, I sometime hold my tongue: like her = like the nightingale; sometime = at times, for some periods of time. hold my tongue = refrain from writing verse in praise of you, or praising you in speech. 14. Because I would not dull you with my song. I would not = I prefer not to, I choose not to; dull you = bore you, make you endure the tedium of my song. Also, make you lose your shine by using repetitious praise. The poet wishes to avoid the fault of over-praising the youth, which would have the effect of making all praise vulgar, dull, and as common as birdsong.

.....a beautiful sonnet singing praises of love ★