Poetry · Chapter
III explained
The speaker argues that breaking a vow made to a woman is justified because the beloved is a goddess, and the heavenly love absolves any earthly oath.
What happens
The speaker argues that breaking a vow made to a woman is justified because the beloved is a goddess, and the heavenly love absolves any earthly oath. The broken vow is likened to a vapor exhaled by the sun, rendering the speaker blameless in seeking paradise.
Themes in this chapter
Truth and Deception
The speaker rationalizes perjury as justified by the beloved's divine nature, blurring the line between truth and falsehood.
Love and Desire
The speaker's love is portrayed as a heavenly force that overrides earthly vows, emphasizing the power of desire.
Key passages
“Did not the heavenly rhetoric of thine eye, ’Gainst whom the world could not hold argument, Persuade my heart to this false perjury?”
Didn't the divine eloquence of your eyes, which the whole world could not argue against, convince my heart to commit this false oath?
The speaker attributes his broken vow to the irresistible power of the beloved's gaze.
“My vow was breath, and breath a vapour is; Then, thou fair sun, that on this earth doth shine, Exhale this vapour vow; in thee it is: If broken, then it is no fault of mine.”
My vow was merely breath, and breath is a vapor; so you, like the fair sun shining on earth, can evaporate this vapor vow. If it is broken, it is not my fault.
The speaker uses a metaphor of the sun evaporating vapor to absolve himself of responsibility for breaking his oath.