Say that thou didst forsake me for some fault,
And I will comment upon that offence:
Speak of my lameness, and I straight will halt,
Against thy reasons making no defense.
Thou canst not, love, disgrace me half so ill,
To set a form upon desired change,
As I'll myself disgrace; knowing thy will,
I will acquaintance strangle, and look strange;
Be absent from thy walks; and in my tongue
Thy sweet beloved name no more shall dwell,
Lest I, too much profane, should do it wrong,
And haply of our old acquaintance tell.
For thee, against my self I'll vow debate,
For I must ne'er love him whom thou dost hate.
This is Shakespeare's Sonnet 89, which I was asked to do a presentation about in high school. Want to know a secret though? I did not understand a thing about it then! I mean not enough to really appreciate it!
As I now revisit this lovely poem, I realize what it is really portrays. The narrator is speaking to his lover, who evidently is defaming him, and supporting all that this person has to say about him. The narrator states that he will agree with any fault that the listener bestows upon him, even adding that he will further chastise himself for whatever his lover finds wrong with him. He says this without even knowing what charge his lover will place upon him, which in my opinion is a great sign of his devotion, and perhaps his desperation when sensing that his lover plans to leave him. The narrator, furthermore, states that he will separate himself from his lover, and pretend they were never acquaintances for his sake. Now this, conversely, points to the narrator's selflessness, in that he isn't thinking about how a separation might injure him, only thinking of what is best for his love's sake. In the couplet, the narrator finally says that he will even hate himself, knowing that he cannot love anything that his lover hates.
I am very glad that I revisited this sonnet, because I am much more able to understand it and really see it's beauty. Have any of you recently had an experience in which you see something different now from another stage of your life?
This happens rather often in life. Good literature has a way of opening up in layers and revealing itself, and as we experience more we see and feel a little deeper. That can be an amazing.
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