Poetry · Chapter
XIV explained
The speaker laments a night of restless sorrow after being dismissed by the Dark Lady, who bids him farewell with a smile that may be scorn or friendship, leaving him to wander in pain without reward.
What happens
The speaker laments a night of restless sorrow after being dismissed by the Dark Lady, who bids him farewell with a smile that may be scorn or friendship, leaving him to wander in pain without reward.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Desire
The speaker's longing and pain from the beloved's rejection.
Truth and Deception
The ambiguity of the beloved's smile—whether scorn or friendship—reflects deception.
Characters to notice
- Dark Lady
The speaker's beloved who dismisses him with a mocking smile.
- William Shakespeare
The speaker who suffers from unrequited love and exile.
Key passages
“Good night, good rest. Ah, neither be my share: She bade good night that kept my rest away;”
I cannot have good night or rest, because she who wished me good night is the one who stole my sleep.
The speaker's rest is ruined by the beloved's farewell.
“And daff’d me to a cabin hang’d with care, To descant on the doubts of my decay.”
She sent me to a cabin filled with worry, to dwell on my own decline.
The speaker is left alone to brood over his fading state.
“Yet at my parting sweetly did she smile, In scorn or friendship, nill I construe whether:”
Yet as I left, she smiled sweetly, and I cannot tell if it was mockery or kindness.
The ambiguity of the beloved's smile deepens the speaker's confusion.