Poetry · Chapter
LXXI explained
The speaker urges the beloved not to mourn his death, asking to be forgotten rather than cause sorrow, and warns that the world may mock the beloved for grieving.
What happens
The speaker urges the beloved not to mourn his death, asking to be forgotten rather than cause sorrow, and warns that the world may mock the beloved for grieving.
Themes in this chapter
Time and Mortality
The speaker contemplates his own death and the decay of the body into clay and worms.
Love and Desire
The speaker's love is so deep that he wishes to be forgotten to spare the beloved pain.
Characters to notice
- William Shakespeare
The speaker who addresses the beloved about his own death and legacy.
- Youth
The beloved friend whom the speaker urges to forget him to avoid sorrow.
Key passages
“No longer mourn for me when I am dead Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell Give warning to the world that I am fled”
Do not grieve for me after my death any longer than it takes for the funeral bell to announce my passing.
The speaker asks for a limited period of mourning.
“Nay, if you read this line, remember not The hand that writ it; for I love you so That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot If thinking on me then should make you woe.”
In fact, if you read this line, forget the hand that wrote it; I love you so much that I would rather be forgotten if remembering me causes you sorrow.
The speaker prioritizes the beloved's happiness over his own memory.
“Do not so much as my poor name rehearse, But let your love even with my life decay, Lest the wise world should look into your moan And mock you with me after I am gone.”
Do not even speak my name; let your love die along with me, so that the judgmental world does not see your grief and mock you for loving me after I am dead.
The speaker fears public scorn directed at the beloved for mourning him.