Sonnet 139

[Harry]

O, call not me to justify the wrong
That thy unkindness lays upon my heart;
Wound me not with thine eye but with thy tongue;
Use power with power and slay me not by art.
Tell me thou lovest elsewhere, but in my sight,
Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside:
What need'st thou wound with cunning when thy might
Is more than my o'er-press'd defense can bide?
Let me excuse thee: ah! my love well knows
Her pretty looks have been mine enemies,
And therefore from my face she turns my foes,
That they elsewhere might dart their injuries:
Yet do not so; but since I am near slain,
Kill me outright with looks and rid my pain.

The theme of the unkind mistress is a fairly conventional sonnet theme. However, usually the unkind mistress is cold and unfeeling. Here, she is all too warm.

The Dark Lady has other lovers (I know--another sign that she might be a prostitute ). This time it's not just the Youth, or at least that's the way I read it. The Poet starts by asking his mistress not to let him see her roving eye (or not to let him see her unfaithful--some lines seem to read that way--maybe there is intentional ambiguity here). He knows she is unfaithful, she's even told him of her infidelity, but that's not as painful as seeing it for himself.

The couplet turns it around and says that, since he's so near death, she might as well finish him off by letting him see her unfaithfulness.

According to Evans, a vision theory of the time was that eyes transmitted rays which enabled vision. This sonnet reflects that theory in several lines where the eyes are said to wound.

This is not one of the "great" sonnets. In fact, I cannot recall reading it before posting here. I find it interesting.

[The_Turtle]

...but words will never harm me
Remarkable that a master of language as Shakespeare does attach lesser value to words than vision, isn't it?

The couplet turns it around and says that, since he's so near death, she might as well finish him off by letting him see her unfaithfulness.

I think you are mistaken here. The poet wants the lady to fix her gaze on him. Her beauty hurts him and she, knowing that, looks away, but he certainly doesn't want that.

[Harry]

Do you really read it that way? What I get is that the first 12 lines have developed the theme, "Wound me not with thine eye but with thy tongue;" The couplet says, "Yet do not so; but since I am near slain,/Kill me outright with looks and rid my pain." That seems pretty much a request for the mistress to put him out of his misery with looks. It is not unusual for a couplet to change the meaning of the rest of the sonnet.

Yes, it is kind of unusual for a man of words to claim that looks are more expressive. Still, Shakespeare was also an actor and must have done more than simply recite words on a stage. An actor would know the value of appearance. Eyes are a continuing sonnet theme. For example, in Sonnet 46 the Poet's eye and heart go to war over the Youth's beauty. (They make it up in Sonnet 47 and do each other favors.) If you think about it, both the Dark Lady and the Youth seem mainly about appearance. The Dark Lady is (or is not) beautiful despite her appearance and the Youth is the epitome of beauty.

[Ganymede]

I agree with The_Turte on this one. I read it the same way. Her beauty seduces him to sin-- trying to resist temptation is painful, so she might as well kill him outright-- a pun on death/orgasm. However, he doesn't want her to turn her head, for in doing so she will snag other men. However, both meanings can exist simultaneously-- I'm sure the lady's unfaithfulness pained him as well.

[Juliet]

It certainly is an interesting contrast. Shakespeare changes his mind in the course of the sonnet. I know the couplet usually brings a twist to the sonnet, but this ending seems rather different--not really a change of direction that brings the sonnet to a new place, but more of a relenting, a total reverse of his wish.

At first he seems to be saying that he wants her to be cruel to him with language, cunning, her tongue, but not with her eyes--in other words, almost: Say what you like to me, but don't really mean it, say nasty things but don't give me nasty looks. I don't care if you tell me you sleep with other men, as long as you still smile, ("Tell me thou lovest elsewhere, but in my sight,
Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside:")

Then he switches gears in the third stanza, saying "Her pretty looks have been mine enemies," or that her kindess (bestowed on others? or just in itself) is painful to him, and that she would be gentler with him by being cruel.

But then (aha!) he switches almost back to where he was at the beginning, wanting those kind glances that kill ( ) him. "Yet do not so; but since I am near slain,
Kill me outright with looks and rid my pain."

So I guess it's not such a switch after all! Boy, writing it all out really helps make it more comprehensible.

This is really a fascinating sonnet. A lot of indecisiveness--echoing, perhaps, that truly confused lovelorn state of infatuation.

~Juliet~

[Juliet]

Ah, and one thing more...while we're on eyes and hearts, I can't resist quoting,

"Drink to me only with thine eyes, and I will pledge with mine/Or leave a kiss but in the cup, and I'll not ask for wine."


~Juliet~

[Harry]

Dear Juliet,

Ah, Ben Jonson.

I agree, writing something down often clears up one's ideas. Or, as a professor of mine once said, "If you are having trouble writing it out, maybe it isn't true." Which, of course, is one reason why I'm doing this. My own ideas can use some clarity.

I really believe that, in part, Shakespeare wrote these sonnets to be puzzled over by literate friends. They are puzzles with gems to be discovered by the persistent. We are the literate friends of this age. Isn't it fun? ;D

[shaxper]

Ganymede has touched upon the sexual double meaning in the final lines of this sonnet, and Harry has touched upon the idea that the dark lady may be a prostitute. Let's try bringing these two ideas into focus.


Wound me not with thine eye but with thy tongue;
Use power with power and slay me not by art.

A bit surprising here that Shakespeare sees using "thy tongue" as the antithisis to using art, when he so often associates the two with one another. Polonius, for example, is instructed, after talking in a round about way, to use more matter and less art. The comparison emerges again in King Lear and Othello, amongst others, where eloquent speach is considered artful and sometimes insincere. Therefore, what if Shakespeare literally means for her to use her tongue. This fits with his whole discomfort about sexual relationships, as well as her impurity. He begs to have it inflicted upon him, but it wounds him. "Don't give me that look. Have your way with me and make me feel bad about it!"

He knows she is unfaithful, she's even told him of her infidelity, but that's not as painful as seeing it for himself.

What better way to attempt to ignore her unfaithfulness than by having her for himself? Change the roving eye of wantonness for the tongue of lust directed solely towards him.

The couplet turns it around and says that, since he's so near death, she might as well finish him off by letting him see her unfaithfulness.

Not necessarily a turn around. As Ganymede has pointed out, "kill," "slain," and other words associated with death are just as easily associated with orgasm. The poet may not be reversing his course at all, but rather taking it to its fruition. To sum up, it hurts me that you're looking at other men, so take your eyes off of them and be with me. Make me orgasm and, in orgasming, die from the impurity and lustfulness.

In a sense, this impurity in the one he is attracted to sends him further over the edge and away from his morals.


Just a thought.