Sonnet 35
No more bee greev'd at that which thou hast done,
Roses have thornes, and silver fountaines mud,
Cloudes and eclipses staine both Moone and Sunne,
And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.
All men make faults and even I in this,
Authorising thy trespas with compare,
My selfe corrupting, salving thy amisse,
Excusing thy sins more than thy sins are:
For to thy sensuall fault I bring in sence,
Thy adverse party is thy Advocate,
And gainst my selfe a lawfull plea commence,
Such civill war is in my love and hate,
That I an accessary needs must be,
To that sweet theefe which sourely robs from me.
Commentary
Address to a repentant young man
Changes to the original text: line 7, comma added after 'corrupting'; line 8, 'their' changed to 'thy' twice; line 14, final comma changed to full stop.
In the first quatrain, the poet tells the repentant young man to no longer grieve about the wrong he has done.
In the second quatrain, the poet admits that even he has faults, one of which being to excuse the young man for what he has done.
In the third quatrain, the poet sets himself up as the young man's advocate, against himself, thereby beginning a civil war of love and hate within himself.
The final couplet makes the point that the poet himself has become an accessory to the young man (sweete theefe) who transgresses (sourely robs).