Poetry · Chapter
Sonnet CXXXVII explained
The poet confronts Love as a blind fool, accusing it of corrupting his eyes and heart into perceiving false beauty.
What happens
The poet confronts Love as a blind fool, accusing it of corrupting his eyes and heart into perceiving false beauty. He laments that his judgment is tied to deceptive appearances, mistaking a common place for a unique plot, and transferring his affections to a false plague.
Themes in this chapter
Truth and Deception
The poet's eyes and heart err in perceiving false beauty as true, highlighting the conflict between appearance and reality.
Lust and Morality
The 'false plague' and 'bay where all men ride' suggest a morally corrupting lust that misleads the poet's affections.
Characters to notice
- Love
Addressed as a blind fool who deceives the poet's eyes and heart.
Key passages
“Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes, That they behold, and see not what they see?”
You blind fool, Love, what have you done to my eyes that they look but fail to perceive the truth of what they see?
The poet accuses Love of blinding his perception.
“Why should my heart think that a several plot Which my heart knows the wide world's common place?”
Why should my heart believe that a shared, public space is a private, exclusive one?
The poet questions why his heart mistakes a common lover for a unique one.
“In things right true my heart and eyes have erred, And to this false plague are they now transferr'd.”
My heart and eyes have made mistakes about what is truly right, and now they have turned to this deceptive affliction.
The poet acknowledges his misjudgment and his shift toward a false love.