1. When most I wink then do mine eyes best see,

2. For all the day they view things unrespected,

3. But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,

4. And darkly bright are bright in dark directed.

5. Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,

6. How would thy shadow's form, form happy show,

7. To the clear day with thy much clearer light,

8. When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so?

9. How would (I say) mine eyes be blessed made,

10. By looking on thee in the living day,

11. When in dead night their fair imperfect shade,

12. Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay?

13. All days are nights to see till I see thee,

14. And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.

Thy Shadow

Dedication: To Henry

An expression of how Henry’s “shadow” is so much different from that of his dreams. He should be contrastingly illuminating the world as a King.

1^st Quatrain: (1-4)

Alluding to Henry in line to 2 with things not respected but that sees Henry as he truly is in his sleep (as that of King). Further contrasting how Henry in life is “darkly bright” (hidden but still shining) while in Oxford's sleep is really bright despite the conspiracy against him ("bright in dark directed")

2^nd Quatrain: (5-8)

Playing on Henry's hidden nature even further telling him is illuminated by other shadows, presumably the conspiracy to conceal him. How his coming to light would be such a joyous show. Reflecting on what a great surprise it would be for those unknowing.

3rd Quatrain: (9-12)

Further attesting to the joy of seeing him recognized and seen in the day when even hidden his fairness shown through.

couplet (13-14),

Thus the days are nights because Henry is unseen, while the nights are bright days because he dreams of the day light upon Henry and every night brings the day when at least he can see him.

Commentary:

This sonnet returns again to the notion of not seeing things as they are. Which is of course a clear allusion to the underlying secret of Henry and ties back to the beginning and illustrates the connectedness of the story.

It is my belief that this sonnet is both one most enigmatic from the traditional view and one of the clearest from the perspective provide by this combination of Oxford’s authorship and his advocation of Henry fulfilling his rights defined by the Prince Tudor theory. The usage of the metaphor of a shadow explored in this sonnet should now be much more insightful in terms of understanding that the poet is communicating that only a portion of the subject (Henry) is visible to others to which the poet dreams of seeing completely. And indeed it should be much better understood as the culmination of this allusion that the poet began in sonnet 58 and remarked on by others but in a reverse sequence so much more difficult to understand especially without the knowledge of what the allusion actually represents.

An important sonnet for revealing the metaphors of both the sun and shadow in referencing Henry.

The repeated references to shade and the clever reference to the shade shining are another usage of the metaphor a shadow representing Henry. The shade shining is a play on his other metaphor of the sun shining.

Line 11 contains one of the instances where “their” frequently appears as “thy”. Here it reflects the metaphorical eyes has possession of the fair imperfect shade which is an allusion to Henry.

Vendler understands as a general “absence-poem”, where the poet “would prefer the beloved’s presence, but lacking that presence, will make do with dreams in which the beloved can be seen.

I would argue that the presentation offered here provides a much better rationale for the metaphor of the shadow and the reason for the separation as well as what the orthodox fail to realize that this poem is completely unromantic. Which offers an opportunity again to point out that in this poem as in the rest addressed to Henry there is no mention of the word love to refer to the subject.