Part 26 (1/2)

And again at the end of the thirteenth sonnet:

”You had a father; let your son say so”

Every one of these sonnets contains siument which is set forth with equal force and far superior pertinence in ”Venus and Adonis”

That is, Shakespeare ive reality to the expression of his affection for the youth No better proof could be iined of the fact that he never loved the youth with passion

In sonnet 18 Shakespeare begins to alter his note He then tells the youth that he will achieve ih Shakespeare's verses Sonnet 19 is rounded with the saht:

”Yet do thy worst, old Ti, My love shall in ”

Sonnet 20 is often referred to as suggesting intimacy:

”A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted, Hast thou, the entle heart, but not acquainted With shi+fting change, as is false woht than theirs, less false in rolling Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth; A , Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth

And for a woht thee, fell a-doting, And by addition

But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure Mine be thy love, and thy love's use their treasure”

The sextet of this sonnet absolutely disproves guilty intimacy, and is, I believe, intended to disprove it; Shakespeare had already fatho minds of his friends, and wanted to set forth the noble disinterestedness of his affection

Sonnet 22 is thens nor rebuts the argument Sonnet 23 is the sonnet upon which all those chiefly rely ish to condemn Shakespeare Here it is:

”As an unperfect actor on the stage, Who with his fear is put beside his part, Or soth's abundance weakens his own heart; So I, for fear of trust, forget to say The perfect cereth seeht

O, let ers ofbreast; Who plead for love, and look for recoue that more hath more express'd

O, learn to read what silent love hath writ: To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit”

We can interpret the phrases, ”the perfect ceremony of love's rite” and ”look for recompense” as ill; but it must be admitted that even when used to the utterly se and hideous a superstructure

But we shall be told that the condemnation of Shakespeare is based, not upon any sonnet or any line; but upon the way Shakespeare speaks as soon as he discovers that his mistress has betrayed him in favour of his friend One is inclined to expect that he will throw the blaain the affections of his mistress Nine men out of ten would act in this way But the sonnets tell us with iteration and most peculiar emphasis that Shakespeare does not condemn the friend As soon as he hears of the traitoris have I seen Flatter the olden face thepale streams with heavenly alchyly rack on his celestial face, And fro unseen to ith this disgrace: Even so my sun one early morn did shi+ne With all triumphant splendour on ion cloud hath mask'd him from me now

Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth; Suns of the world may stain, when heaven's sun staineth”

It is the loss of his friend he regrets, rather than the loss of his mistress; she is not mentioned save by comparison with ”basest clouds”

Yet even when read by Gradgrind and his compeers the thirteenth line of this sonnet is utterly inconsistent with passion

In the next sonnet the friend repents, and weeps the ”strong offence,”

and Shakespeare accepts the sorrow as salve that ”heals the wound”; his friend's tears are pearls that ”ransoins with the line:

”No riev'd at that which thou hast done”;

Shakespeare will be an ”accessory” to his friend's ”theft,” though he admits that the robbery is still sour Then coet all about the wrong he has suffered, and siins:

”Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all; What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?

No love, my love, that thou may'st true love call; All mine was thine, before thou hadst this more”