# CXXVIII explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by William Shakespeare.

## What happens

The poet envies the jacks of a musical instrument that are touched by the beloved's fingers, wishing that his own lips could receive such intimate contact instead.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Desire

The poet's intense longing for physical intimacy with the beloved, expressed through envy of the instrument's jacks.

### Art and Immortality

The interplay of music and poetry as a medium for expressing and immortalizing desire.

## Character check-ins

### William Shakespeare

The speaker who envies the jacks and longs for the beloved's kiss.

## Key lines

> Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap To kiss the tender inward of thy hand

I envy those wooden jacks that quickly jump to touch the soft inside of your hand.

_The poet's jealousy of the instrument's contact with the beloved._

> Since saucy jacks so happy are in this, Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss.

Since those impertinent jacks are so fortunate in this, let them have your fingers, and give me your lips to kiss.

_A direct plea for the beloved's kiss, contrasting the jacks' privilege with the poet's deprivation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxxviii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_28_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters