Shakespeare's Sonnets: So now I have confess't that he is thine

Shakespeare's Sonnets: So now I have confess't that he is thine

Sonnet 134

1So now I have confess't that he is thine,
2And I my self am mortgag'd to thy will,
3My self I'll forfeit, so that other mine
4Thou wilt restore to be my comfort still,
5But thou wilt not, nor he will not be free,
6For thou art covetous, and he is kind.
7He learn'd but surety-like to write for me
8Under that bond that him as fast doth bind.
9The statute of thy beauty thou wilt take,
10Thou usurer that put'st forth all to use,
11And sue a friend, came debtor for my sake,
12So him I lose through my unkind abuse.
13    Him have I lost, thou hast both him and me,
14    He pays the whole, and yet am I not free.

Notes

2] will] volition; sexual desire. Back to Line
3] forfeit] submit to confiscation. other mine] other self of mine (my friend). Back to Line
7] surety-like] like a guarantor, one supplying bail. Back to Line
9] statute] "Applied to certain legal instruments or procedures based on the authority of a statute .... a bond or recognizance by which the creditor had the power of holding the debtor's lands in case of default" (OED, "statute," n., 4). Back to Line
11] sue] complain against; possibly, woo. came] who became. Back to Line
12] my unkind abuse] the unkind abuse of me. Back to Line
14] pays the whole] pays my entire debt; gives you sexual pleasure. Back to Line
Publication Notes
SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS (London: G. Eld for T. T. and sold by William Aspley, 1609): h4v-i1r.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2008
Rhyme
ababcdcdefefgg
Form
sonnet