# XC explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by William Shakespeare.

## What happens

The speaker implores the beloved to hate him now, if ever, while he is already beset by misfortune, rather than adding a final blow after other sorrows have passed. He argues that losing the beloved first would make all subsequent griefs seem trivial by comparison.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Desire

The speaker's plea reveals the depth of his emotional dependence on the beloved's affection.

### Truth and Deception

The speaker anticipates betrayal and asks for honesty in the timing of rejection.

## Character check-ins

### Fortune

Personified as spiteful, joining with the world to make the speaker bow.

### Love

Implied as the beloved whose potential hatred is the speaker's greatest fear.

## Key lines

> Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now; Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross, Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow, And do not drop in for an after-loss

If you must hate me, do it now while I'm already struggling against the world and fortune, rather than adding a final blow later.

_The speaker asks for the beloved's hatred to come at the peak of his troubles, not as a delayed punishment._

> If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last, When other petty griefs have done their spite, But in the onset come; so shall I taste At first the very worst of fortune's might

If you plan to abandon me, do it first, before other small sorrows, so I can face the worst of fortune's power right away.

_The speaker prefers to endure the greatest loss first, making all subsequent woes seem minor._

## Links

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