Sonnet 105
Let not my love be cal'd Idolatrie,
Nor my beloved as an Idoll show,
Since all alike my songs and praises be
To one, of one, still such, and ever so.
Kinde is my love to day, to morrow kinde,
Still constant in a wondrous excellence,
Therefore my verse to constancie confin'de,
One thing expressing, leaves out difference.
Faire, kinde, and true, is all my argument,
Faire, kinde and true, varrying to other words,
And in this change is my invention spent,
Three theams in one, which wondrous scope affords.
Faire, kinde and true, have often liv'd alone.
Which three till now, never kept seate in one.
Double equestrian portrait of the Earl of Oxford and the Earl of Southampton.
Southampton's motto : Ung Par Tout et Tout Par Ung
Commentary
Address to his beloved
Changes to the original text
In the first quatrain, the poet objects to his love for his beloved being called idolatry, and of his beloved being an idol, since all his verses (songs) are to one and of one viz his beloved. (Idolatry was considered to be the worship of many different gods). The fourth line is a rendering of Southampton's heraldic device Ung partout tout par ung.
In the second quatrain, the poet drives home the point that his beloved is constant, and his verse reflects that constancy.
In the third quatrain, the poet says that his verse is limited to 'faire, kinde and true', but that these three themes offer a wide choice (wondrous scope). He further asserts that his imagination (invention) is limited to simply varying the words he uses on these three themes.
In the final couplet, the poet observes that these qualities (faire, kinde and true) have often been found in others singly (have often lived alone), but never all three in one person.