Sonnet 47

Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is tooke,

And each doth good turnes now unto the other,

When that mine eye is famisht for a looke,

Or heart in love with sighes himselfe doth smother;

With my loves picture then my eye doth feast,

And to the painted banquet bids my heart:

An other time mine eye is my hearts guest,

And in his thoughts of love doth share a part.

So either by thy picutre or my love,

Thy selfe away, are present still with me,

For thou nor farther then my thoughts canst move,

And I am still with them and they with thee.

Or if they sleepe, thy picture in my sight

Awakes my heart, to hearts and eyes delight.

Commentary

Address to an absent beloved

In the first quatrain, the poet explains that his eye and his heart now co-operate with each other.

In the second quatrain, the poet explains how this works in practise: he has a picture of the loved one which his eye shares with his heart, and his heart shares thoughts of love with his eye.

In the third quatrain, the poet observes that his beloved is always with him since he is always in his thoughts.

The final couplet concludes that if his (the poet's) thoughts of the loved one sleep, his picture reminds him (the poet) or him (the beloved) again.

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