Literary Analysis of William Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 147"
In sonnet 147, Shakespeare presents a disparaging account of love — or rather, lust — as a source of suffering and sickness. He carries this conceit throughout the poem, building upon it in a logical procession, but ending with an unexpected twist. He uses a concrete example to understand abstract ideas, such as the tension between reason and desire and the loss of speech and thought.
Ultimately, through this use of conceit, Shakespeare gives us a compelling sonnet about the dangers of desire. Shakespeare begins this sonnet with an explicit simile: “My love is as a fever.” These first words serve as the dominant metaphor of the poem, introducing its main idea and framing the subsequent metaphors. He separates this first metaphor with a comma, strengthening the statement by making it stand out. His use of the word “long,” repeated in both lines one and two, makes it clear that this illness has been with the speaker for an extended amount of time. He longs for his beloved and has done so for a long time. The word “still” adds to the same effect. He continues the sickness metaphor with the phrases “nurseth the disease” and “preserve the ill.” While the speaker refers specifically to his beloved, the poem can also be interpreted as a criticism of sexual desire in general. Wording such as “fever” and “uncertain sickly appetite” suggest the speaker means lust over love.
Moreover, indulging in this lust only strengthens the desire. The speaker recognizes that his relationship with his beloved is unhealthy, toxic even, yet his desire is overpowering. The overpowering nature of desire is explored further in the second quatrain. The speaker appeals to his reason, introducing a secondary metaphor that builds off his first. He personifies his reason as the “physician to [his] love.” Just as physicians heal bodily afflictions, the speaker’s reason should remedy the afflictions of his heart. However, his reason has abandoned him because he has ignored his advice or rejected his “prescriptions.” The speaker is now desperate, lacking any guidance from his intellect. Such desperation makes him realize that “desire is death.” This declaration is a strict metaphor, stronger than the simile “my love is as a fever.” He does not say desire leads to death, or desire is as death; he says desire is death. He again uses a comma to separate this idea, making it stand out and contributing to its conviction. This line is also his second use of personification. The double personification — that of desire and reason — emphasize the two competing forces in the speaker’s mind. In this stanza, the speaker builds upon the previous by continuing the sickness conceit. However, he completes the metaphor in this stanza by stating that love is fatal, just as diseases, when uncured, lead to death. Ultimately, this use of metaphor is successful because it is clear and builds upon itself in a logical progression. Moreover, it relates something abstract to something physical, making the complicated tension between desire and reason as simple as a common illness. The speaker truly believes himself to be incurable, as expressed in the third quatrain. Because his reason is no longer there, there is no hope of recovery or of stopping the indulgence of his desire. His demeanor has changed upon this recognition. He is frantic and distressed, much as a feverish patient would be.
Moreover, he has lost his clarity of thought and speech. No longer can he express truth; instead, he ineffectually blurts out falsehoods. There is no point to his incoherent speech, which, for a poet, is certainly a tragic symptom. It is important to note the order of the three stanzas. There is meaning behind the order, as they build upon each other thematically. However, it is unusual that this stanza follows the previous, considering the finality of death. It seems that death would be the final symptom of a disease, but the speaker appears to make the claim that there is something worse, a symptom beyond death. Namely, loss of speech and thought is a greater loss than death.
In the couplet, Shakespeare concludes his sonnet with a description of his beloved. This volta is fitting because finally we see the source of his disease. However, it is simultaneously unfitting because the sonnet thus far has been primarily an internal reflection on the soul. Although the woman is the object of his desire, she is not the desire itself, which is the problem.
Regardless, the speaker ceases his lament and harshly blames her for his sickness. He thought his beloved to be “fair” and “bright,” meaning both physically beautiful and morally good. In truth, he calls her “black as hell” and “dark as night.” However, is this accusation accurate? We saw in the previous stanza that the speaker has lost the ability to express truth, calling in to question his reliability as a narrator. Can we trust him when he criticizes her so? Is his anger directed at her or at himself, who cannot contain his lust or listen to his reason.
