Sonnet CXLI
In faith I do not love thee with mine eyes,For they in thee a thousand errors note;But ’tis my heart that loves what they despise,Who, in despite of view, is pleased to dote.Nor are mine ears with thy tongue’s tune delighted;Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone,Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invitedTo any sensual feast with thee alone:But my five wits nor my five senses canDissuade one foolish heart from serving thee,Who leaves unsway’d the likeness of a man,Thy proud heart’s slave and vassal wretch to be:Only my plague thus far I count my gain,That she that makes me sin awards me pain.
Words in this poem
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- dote n.
- A marriage portion. See 1st Dot, n. Wyatt. [See Dot dowry.]
- delighted a.
- Endowed with delight.
- dissuade v. t.
- To advise or exhort against; to try to persuade (one from a course). [L. dissuadere, dissuasum; dis- + suadere to advise, persuade: cf. F. dissuader. See Suasion.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CXLI is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shakespeare's Sonnets, Project Gutenberg ebook #1041; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Shakespeare, Sonnet CXLI, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-141.html, id L00159.
Form and metre
Sonnet CXLI is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCDEFEFGG eyesA · noteB · despiseA · doteB · delightedC · proneD · invitedC · aloneD · canE · theeF · manE · beF · gainG · painG
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In faith I do not love thee with mine eyes, | 10 | ·········· |
| For they in thee a thousand errors note; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| But ’tis my heart that loves what they despise, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Who, in despite of view, is pleased to dote. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Nor are mine ears with thy tongue’s tune delighted; | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited | 11 | ····˘/··˘/˘ |
| To any sensual feast with thee alone: | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| But my five wits nor my five senses can | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Who leaves unsway’d the likeness of a man, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Thy proud heart’s slave and vassal wretch to be: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Only my plague thus far I count my gain, | 10 | /˘········ |
| That she that makes me sin awards me pain. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
Notes from the edition 4
Notes by William J. Rolfe, Shakespeare's Sonnets (New York, 1905), Internet Archive scan
- Line 8 Sensual feast. Gratification of the senses.
- Line 9 Five wits. The wits, or intellectual powers, seem to have been reckoned as five to correspond with the five senses, which were also called wits. Cf. Chau.er, Persones Tale : " the five wittis ; as sight, hereing, smelling, savouring, and touching." Boswell quotes a prayer by Sir Thomas More, in which he asks to be forgiven for his sins " in mispending of my five wittes." Schmidt says that "the proverbial five wits" were "common wit, imagination, fantasy, estimation, memory." In the present pas- sage we find the two meanings distinguished.
- Line 11 Who leaves unsway'd, etc. " My heart ceases to govern me, and so leaves me no better than the likeness of a man — a man without a heart — in order that it may become slave to thy proud heart " (Dowden).
- Line 14 Pain. "In its old etymological sense of punishment" (Walker) ; but though the word implies that the suffering was right and fitting, "we need not give it the special sense of penalty" (Tyler).
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