Sonnet 27
Weary with toyle, I hast me to my bed,
The deare repose for lims with travaill tired,
But then begins a journy in my head
To worke my mind, when boddies work's expired.
For then my thoughts (from far where I abide)
Intend a zelous pilgrimage to thee,
And keepe my drooping eye-lids open wide,
Looking on darknes which the blind doe see.
Save that my soules imaginary sight
Presents thy shaddoe to my sightless view,
Which like a jewell (hunge in gastly night)
Makes blacke night beautious, and her old face new.
Loe thus by day my lims, by night my mind,
For thee, and for my selfe, noe quiet finde.
Commentary
Address to a young man who is far away
Changes to the original text: line 10, 'their' changed to 'thy'.
In the first two quatrains, the poet establishes the fact that he is working far away from the young man, and that, each night, when he has finished his work, his imagination takes him back to his loved one.
In the third quatrain, the poet notes that his darkness is not completely dark, like the dark of a blind man, but is rather illuminated by the image of his beloved.
The final couplet makes the observation that he (the poet) finds rest neither by night nor by day.