Shakespeare's Sonnets: O call not me to justify the wrong

Shakespeare's Sonnets: O call not me to justify the wrong

Sonnet 139

Original Text
SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS (London: G. Eld for T. T. and sold by William Aspley, 1609): i1v-i2r.
1O call not me to justify the wrong
2That thy unkindness lays upon my heart;
3Wound me not with thine eye but with thy tongue;
5Tell me thou lov'st else-where, but in my sight,
6Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside.
7What need'st thou wound with cunning when thy might
9Let me excuse thee: ah, my love well knows
10Her pretty looks have been mine enemies,
11And therefore from my face she turns my foes
13    Yet do not so but, since I am near slain,
14    Kill me out-right with looks and rid my pain.

Notes

4] pow'r with pow'r] power with power Q. with power] candidly. Back to Line
8] bide] endure. Back to Line
12] dart] shoot with an arrow. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1609
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2008
Form