# Sonnet XLIII explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by William Shakespeare.

## What happens

The speaker reflects on how his dreams allow him to see the beloved more clearly than his waking eyes, suggesting that the beloved's image shines even in darkness and that true sight comes from the heart's vision.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Desire

The speaker's longing for the beloved is so intense that dreams become a superior mode of seeing.

### Truth and Deception

The paradox of seeing more clearly in dreams than in waking life questions the nature of reality and perception.

## Character check-ins

### William Shakespeare

The speaker who contrasts waking blindness with dream vision.

## Key lines

> When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see

When I close my eyes, I see most clearly.

_The speaker introduces the paradox that true vision comes from shutting out the physical world._

> All days are nights to see till I see thee, And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.

Every day is as dark as night until I see you, and every night becomes as bright as day when I dream of you.

_The beloved's presence, even in dreams, transforms the speaker's perception of time and light._

## Links

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