Free College Essays - Analysis of Shakespeares Sonnet 75 :: Sonnet essays

Analysis of Sonnet 75 SONNET 75 So are you to my thoughts as food to life, Or as sweet-seasond showers are to the strand And for the peace of you I hold such encounter As twixt a miser and his wealth is found Now proud as an enjoyer and anon disbelieve the filching age volition steal his prise, Now counting best to be with you alone, Then betterd that the world may see my pleasure Sometime completely full with feasting on your sight And by and by peck starved for a look Possessing or pursuing no delight, make it what is had or must from you be took. Thus do I smart and surfeit day by day, Or gluttoning on exclusively, or all away.   PARAPHRASE OF SONNET 75 As food is to the body so are you to my soul and mind, Or as spring showers are to the fuzee And for the contentment you bring me I allow such inner strife As the conflict between a miser and his money Who takes joy in his wealth, but soon Fears that ruthless competitors will steal his treasure, Now sentim ent it best to have you alone, Then thinking that the world should see how clever I am At one moment wholly satisfy by feasting on your sight And the next moment dead starved for a look at you Having or seeking no pleasure Except what you have given me or what I will demand. And so I starve or feed to excess depending on the day, Either gorging on you, or not having you at all.   COMMENTARY The sonnet opens with a seemingly joyous and innocent tribute to the young peer who is vital to the poets emotional well being. However, the poet quickly establishes the negative aspect of his dependency on his beloved, and the complimentary metaphor that the friend is food for his soul decays into fearful imagery of the poet alternating between starving and gorging himself on that food. The poet is disgusted and frighten by his dependence on the young friend. He is consumed by delinquency over his passion. Words with implicit sexual meanings permeate the sonnet -- "enjoyer&q uot, "treasure", "pursuing", "possessing", "had" -- as do allusions to five of the seven "deadly" sins -- avaritia (4), gluttony (9, 14), pride (5), lust (12), and envy (6).