Sonnet 20

A Woman's face with natures owne hand painted,

Hast thou, the Master Mistress of my passion,

A womans gentle hart but not acquainted

With shifting change as is false womens fashion:


An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rowling,

Gilding the object where-upon it gazeth,

A man in hew all Hews in his controwling,

Which steales men's eyes and womens soules amaseth.


And for a woman wert thou first created,

Till nature as she wrought thee fell a dotinge,

And by addition me of thee defeated,

By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.


But since she prickt thee out for womens pleasure,

Mine be thy love, and thy loves use their treasure.

Commentary

Address to a fair young man

Changes to the original text: Line 4, comma changed to colon, line 5 colon changed to comma. Line 14 comma added after 'love'.

An important sonnet for those wishing to analyse more closely the poet's attitude to the fact that his love is directed to a man. The first thing to note is that the poet is attracted to the fair young man because he resembles a woman. Secondly that the concluding couplet resolves the problem of the existence of a penis by dividing the young man, allowing that his penis might be used for 'women's pleasure', while his love belongs to the poet.

In the first quatrain, the poet sets out the fact that the young man has a woman's face, but that he does not have the traditional attribute of a woman's inconstancy. Best of both worlds.

In the second quatrain, the poet observes that the fair young man's eyes are brighter than a woman's, and less prone to wander (less false in rowling). He also observes that his complexion or appearance (hew) attracts men's looks and amazes women. Sense can be made of the line 'in hew all Hews in his controwling' by postulating that the young man's appearance controls the appearance of others by the changes in their countenance on seeing him, though, since the second 'hew' is capitalised and italicised, this would tend to suggest that a certain Hew, Hugh, Hewe, Hughes or Hewes is here intended. In fact, perhaps more than one. It is perhaps a joke shared between the poet and the fair young man that several 'Hughs' have fallen in love with him (the fair young man).

Line 8 is a rich compound of associated ideas centring around the young man's erotic potency,. The idea that the poet's appearance (hew) 'steales men's eyes' and 'women's soules amaseth' clearly reflects the fact that he appeals to both men and women, but the attributes of men and woman are reversed; thus the woman has a 'soule' and the man an 'eye'. The 'soule' is, in one of its meanings common in Shakespeare's time, a pole, staff or stick, and is frequently used ambiguously by Shakespeare to indicate the penis, while the meaning of 'eye' is clear to us even today in its use in the expression the 'eye of a needle'. It indicates the vagina. As well as making the point about his young friend's attractiveness to both sexes, the poet is also further confusing male and female in this potent and beautifully crafted line.

In the third quatrain, the poet notes that the young man was first intended by nature for a woman, who then made a mistake by adding a penis (one thing to my purpose nothing).

In the final couplet, the poet tries to square the circle by apportioning the young man's attributes, suggesting the uneasy compromise that he will retain the young man's love, while women may enjoy his physical attributes.

Put succinctly, the poet finds himself in love with and sexually attracted to the fair young man because he resembles a woman, but he (the poet) is not, at this point, prepared to consummate his passion carnally.