All our pleasure known to us poor swains, Thy like ne'er was For a sweet content, the cause of all my moan: Poor Corydon Must live alone; Other help for him I see that there is none. XIX. When as thine eye hath chose the dame And stall'd the deer that thou shouldst strike, As well as fancy partial might: Take counsel of some wiser head, And when thou comest thy tale to tell, But plainly say thou lovest her well, What though her frowning brows be bent, That which with scorn she put away. What though she strive to try her strength, And to her will frame all thy ways; Where thy desert may merit praise, The strongest castle, tower, and town, Serve always with assured trust, Press never thou to choose anew: When time sha'l serve, be thou not slack The wiles and guiles that women work, A woman's nay doth stand for nought? Think women still to strive with men, But, soft enough, too much, I fear; [xx.] Live with me, and be my love, There will we sit upon the rocks, And see the shepherds feed their flocks, There will I make thee a bed of roses, A belt of straw and ivy buds, LOVE'S ANSWER. If that the world and love were young, And truth in every shepherd's tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move To live with thee and be thy love. [xxI.] As it fell upon a day In the merry month of May, Sitting in a pleasant shade Which a grove of myrtles made, Beasts did leap, and birds did sing, Trees did grow, and plants did spring; Save the nightingale alone; She, poor bird, as all forlorn, And there sung the dolefull'st ditty, Senseless trees, they cannot hear thee; All thy friends are lapp'd in lead; All thy fellow birds do sing, Careless of thy sorrowing. Even so, poor bird, like thee. Faithful friends are hard to find; They have him at commandement: SONNETS. WRITTEN BETWEEN 1595-1605.) INTRODUCTION. The Sonnets of Shakespeare suggest, perhaps, the most difficult questions in Shakespearean criticism. In 1609 appeared these poems in a quarto (published almost certainly without the authors' sanction), which also contained "A Lover's Complaint." The publisher, Thomas Thorpe, dedicated them "To the onlie begetter of these ensuing sonnets, Mr. W. H." Does "begetter" mean the person who inspired them and so brought them into existence, or only the obtainer of the "Sonnets" for Thorpe ? Probably the former. And who is Mr. W. H. ? It is clear from sonnet 135 that the Christian name of Shakespeare's friend to whom the first 126 sonnets were addressed was William. But what William ? There is not even an approach to certainty, in any answer offered to this question. Some have supposed that W. H. is a blind to conceal and yet express the initials H. W. i. e Heury Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare's patron. Others hold that William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke (to whom, together with his brother, the first folio was dedicated), is here addressed. When were the "Sonnets" written? We know that Meres in 1598 spoke of Shakespeare's "sugred sonnets among his private friends," and that in 1599 two (138 and 144) were printed in "The Passionate Pilgrim." Some, to judge by their style, seem to belong to the time when "Romeo and Juliet was written. Others-as for example 66-74-echo the sadder tone which is heard in "Hamlet" and "Measure for Measure." The writing of the "Sonnets" certainly extended over a considerable period of time, at least three years (see 104), and perhaps a longer period. They all, probably lie somewhere between 1595 and 1605. The Sonnets consist of two series, the first (from 1 to 126) addressed to a young man; the other (from 127 to 154) addressed to or referring to a woman. But both series allude to events which connect the two persons with one another and with Shakespeare. The young friend, whom Shakespeare |