Sonnet 36

Commentary

Address to a guilty young man

In the first quatrain, the poet proposes that, though he and the young man are as one in love, they must remain as two persons, so that he (the poet) can take all the blame for the evil they commit together.

In the second quatrain, the poet observes that though they are one in love, they must live separate lives, and that, though this changes nothing in regard to their mutual love, it does take time from their enjoyment of it.

In the third quatrain, the poet recognises that he may not publicly acknowledge the young man because he would dishonour him in doing so by associating him with his (the poet's) own guilt.

In the final coouplet, the poet urges the young man not to acknowledge him publicly because his (the young man's) reputation (good report) belongs to him (the poet).

The mutual guilt expressed here surely relates to sodomy, or rather the fact that their sodomitic relationship had become known publicly, at least in the circles in which the two men moved. Hence the insistence on no more public acknowledgement.

Sodomy was punishable by death in England until the mid nineteenth century, but in the circles in which Henry Wriothesley moved it was nevertheless fairly common, and, as a lord, he knew that he could do pretty much as he liked without fear of censure. The publication of Greek texts during the course of the sixteenth century had also brought background philosophical justification to homosexual love.