Sonnet 133: Beshrew That Heart That Makes My Heart To Groan Poem by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 133: Beshrew That Heart That Makes My Heart To Groan

Rating: 3.1


Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan
For that deep wound it gives my friend and me!
Is't not enough to torture me alone,
But slave to slavery my sweet'st friend must be?
Me from my self thy cruel eye hath taken,
And my next self thou harder hast engrossed.
Of him, myself, and thee I am forsaken—
A torment thrice threefold thus to be crossed.
Prison my heart in thy steel bosom's ward,
But then my friend's heart let my poor heart bail;
Whoe'er keeps me, let my heart be his guard,
Thou canst not then use rigour in my jail.
And yet thou wilt; for I, being pent in thee,
Perforce am thine, and all that is in me.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Fabrizio Frosini 07 November 2015

Critics generally agree that Sonnet 133 addresses the complex relationship between the speaker and an unidentified woman. Josephine Roberts interprets the sonnet in that the poet expresses a “fractured sense of self” as a result of his toxic relationship with the dark lady. Her interpretation of the relationship as toxic is evident in the emotional plea that resounds throughout the sonnet. The sonnets prior to this address a young man referred to as a close friend of the speaker who is thus addressed as well in sonnet 133. According to critic A. L. Rowse, this sonnet gives the speaker's view of both his relation of the young man as his friend and the mistress. Rowse's interpretation is supported by how the sonnet clearly describes the pain the unknown woman has inflicted upon both the young man and the speaker, For that deep wound it gives my friend and me! [from Wikipedia]

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Fabrizio Frosini 07 November 2015

In this sonnet the poet introduces a further complication in his entanglement with his mistress, for it appears that his friend, the beloved youth, has also fallen for her, and is totally engrossed by her sexual charms. The poet hopes to ease the situation by pleading that his own heart can stand surety for his friend, and that it is enough for one of them only to be imprisoned by her. But even as he expresses this wish, he realises that it is a vain one, and that his mistress will be as harsh and frivolous with the friend as she is with him. He therefore feels a triple loss, of his mistress, for the friend has taken her, of the friend, for she has taken him, and of himself, for he no longer controls his own feelings. This loss is further increased since each of the participants suffers in a similar way, or exercises destructive power in a threefold relationship. The situation described is possibly the same as that dealt with in sonnets 40-42. - - in shakespeares-sonnets.com -

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Brian Jani 26 April 2014

Awesome I like this poem, check mine out

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