Sonnet 24

Commentary

Address to a fair young man

Changes to the original text: line 1, steel'd changed to stell'd; line 3, ti's changed to 'tis;

There seems to be a sense of uncertainty running through this sonnet. The dominant metaphors are painting and looking into each other's eyes, and these two visual occupations are compared and contrasted, but the final line brings in the more important aspect of the heart. More important in terms of the poet and his love for the young man, that is. In summary, the poet is saying 'all this visual stuff is very interesting, but what really matters is the heart'. Behind this observation is perhaps the suspicion that the fair young man's heart is not entirely faithful.

In the first quatrain, the poet makes a comparison between the method of painting and his own method of making an image of the young man and framing it in his body. 'Stell'd' means 'portrayed' or 'delineated'. No doubt the young man has been the subject of a portrait painter. The poet is, perhaps, a little jealous, and tries to find a way of downplaying the importance of the portrait. Much more important is the image of you that I have in my heart. All very clever this perspective stuff, but what really matters is the heart.

In the second quatrain, the poet plays again with the idea of a picture / portrait, and the physical reality of looking into the young man's eyes. The sense bounces backwards and forwards between metaphor and reality.

In the third quatrain, the conceit of eyes looking into eyes is drawn out further.

The final couplet registers the fact that all this play of eyes, and therefore the painter's art, falls short. Again, what is important is the heart.

The poet is possibly reacting to the portrait of Henry Wriothesley by Nicholas Hilliard.