Sonnet 111
O For my sake doe you with fortune chide,
The guiltie goddesse of my harmfull deeds,
That did not better for my life provide,
Then publick meanes which publick manners breeds.
Thence comes it that my name receives a brand,
And almost thence my nature is subdu'd
To what it workes in , like the Dyers hand,
Pitty me then, and wish I were renu'de,
Whilst like a willing patient I will drinke,
Potions of Eysell gainst my strong infection,
No bitternesse that I will bitter thinke,
Nor double pennance to correct correction.
Pittie me then deare friend, and I assure yee,
Even that your pittie is enough to cure mee.
Commentary
Address to his friend
Changes to the original text: line 1, 'wish' changed to 'with'
In the first quatrain, the poet asks his beloved to chastise (chide) the goddess Fortune for his harmful deeds (whatever they might be), committed because she did not provide him better in life than to have to seek to earn his living the hard way (public means), a situation which causes him to have bad manners (publick manners).
In the second quatrain, the poet continues to explain that it is for this reason, his lack of good fortune and a proper education (!), that his name receives a brand, and his nature almost subdued to the nature of his 'trade', like the dyer's hand to the dye he works in.
In the third quatrain, the poet undertakes to take potions of vinegar (eysell) as a medication: vinegar was recommended against the plague, and was also recognised as a stain remover. He will not complain that the remedy is bitter, and will serve a double penance to doubly correct himself (correct correction).
In the final couplet, the poet asks his friend to pity him, which accorded, is sure to cure him.
It is to be noted that in this sonnet, the poet ceases to talk of love.