Sonnet 141

In faith I doe not love thee with mine eyes,

For they in thee a thousand errors note,

But 'tis my heart that loves what they dispise,

Who in dispight of view is pleasd to dote.

Nor are mine eares with thy toungs tune delighted,

Nor tender feeling to base touches prone,

Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited

To any sensuall feast with thee alone:

But my five wits, nor my five sences can

Diswade one foolish heart from serving thee,

Who leaves unswai'd the likenesse of a man,

Thy proud hearts slave and vassall wretch to be:

Onely my plague thus farre I count my gaine,

That she that makes me sinne, awards me paine.

Commentary

Addressed to his hard mistress

In the first quatrain the poet notes that he does not love her because of his eyes, since his eyes note many defects, he loves her with his heart, which, despite all defects, continues to love.

In the second quatrain, the poet continues to canvas the senses, ears, tongue, fingers, taste, smell, none of which feel attracted to her.

In the third quatrain the poet notes that none of his five senses can persuade his heart not to 'serve', that his mistress leaves the mere likeness of a man, having taken his heart, making him a slave and vassal. 'Unswai'd' suggests lack of movement in the body because the heart is out. Perhaps an unusual idea, but the word clearly reonates with 'diswade' in the previous line.

The final couplet expresses the thought that the only gain that he gets from the situation is that the woman who makes him sin also gives him pain (perhaps to atone in part for the sin). Or perhaps there is a suggestion that she has given him more than just a hard time.

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