Sonnet 133: Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan
Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan
For that deep wound it gives my friend and me:
Is’t not enough to torture me alone,
But slave to slavery my sweet’st friend must be?
Me from myself thy cruel eye hath taken,
And my next self thou harder hast engrossed;
Of him, myself, and thee I am forsaken,
A torment thrice threefold thus to be crossed.
Prison my heart in thy steel bosom’s ward,
But then my friend’s heart let my poor heart bail;
Whoe’er keeps me, let my heart be his guard:
Thou canst not then use rigour in my jail.
And yet thou wilt; for I, being pent in thee,
Perforce am thine, and all that is in me.
Summary of Sonnet 133
- Popularity of “Sonnet 133”: This is another sonnet written about fair youth by Shakespeare. Interestingly, it also appeared with several other sonnets in First Quarto in 1609. However, its presentation demonstrates a conflict in the poet about the dark lady and the fair youth or friend. This also shows the constraints on the poet while living in a heteronormative society. However, its popularity lies more in the use of puns and less in this conflict.
- “Sonnet 133” As a Representative of Friendship and Love: The speaker of the poem, who happens to be the poet himself, talks about the heart of the dark lady that has pained his own heart. Thus, it has caused injury to the heart of his friend as well. He puts this argument into a rhetorical question, saying whether it was not enough to torture the poet instead of making his friend a slave to this pain. He voices his opinion about the eyes of the lady, saying that they have enslaved his close friends and that yet he has been left out as the dark lady; his friend has abandoned him, while he has neglected himself as well. Therefore, in this triplet abandonment, he pleads with the lady to bar his heart but permits it to bail out the heart of his friend. This plea comprises another plea that the poet must be the guard of his friend’s heart – an act that would deliver him from the pain of the torture of his heart in slavery. Yet, he tells the lady that as his heart is her slave and as his heart is in her heart, therefore, everything he has belongs to her.
- Major Themes in “Sonnet 133”: Love, friendship, and desire for love are three major themes of this sonnet. Although Shakespeare has presented a highly twisted argument that the lady has hurt him and thus has hurt his friend and vice versa, it clarifies his point of love and friendship. The poet is caught in the web of love where he cannot leave his beloved, the dark lady, or his friend, the fair youth. This conflict between emotions continues until the end of the sonnet, where he expresses his strong desire he cannot to leave the lady and also cannot leave his fair youth. Therefore, she must allow him to love his friend as well. Despite these heterosexual tendencies that Shakespeare expresses in this sonnet, it shows the emotions of love running high.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Sonnet 133
William Shakespeare used various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of his poem. Some of the major literary devices in this sonnet are as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan” and the sound of /i/ in “Is’t not enough to torture me alone.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick successions, such as the sound of /t/ “to torture” or /h/ in “hardest hast” or /th/ in “thrice threefold thus.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t/ and /th/ in “A torment thrice threefold thus to be crossed” and the sound of /s/ in “But slave to slavery my sweet’st friend must be.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. William Shakespeare used imagery in this poem, such as “For that deep wound it gives my friend and me”, “Of him, myself, and thee I am forsaken” and “But then my friend’s heart let my poor heart bail.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poet used the metaphor of prison for the heart of his lady.
- Rhetorical Question: It means to pose a question not to elicit an answer but to stress upon a point. This sonnet shows the use of a rhetorical question, such as “But slave to slavery my sweet’st friend must be?”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as heart, slavery, slave, prison, and bosom to show love and conflict in the sonnet.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Sonnet 133
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows good use of formal and poetic diction.
- End Rhyme: It means to use verses having matching end words, such as groan/alone and me/be.
- Quatrain: It is a Persian stanza having four verses. The sonnet shows the use of a quatrain, such as given below.
- Rhyme Scheme: This sonnet shows a typical Shakespearean rhyme scheme ABABCDCD in its octave and EFEFGG in its sestet.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are two stanzas; the first one is an octave, and the second is a sestet, as pointed out in the Rhyme Scheme.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a conflictual, intense, and loving tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when talking about the intensity of love with a person.
Whoe’er keeps me, let my heart be his guard:
Thou canst not then use rigour in my jail.
And yet thou wilt; for I, being pent in thee,
Perforce am thine, and all that is in me.