Poem by William Shakespeare
| Sonnet 34 |
|---|
 Sonnet 34 in the 1609 Quarto |
 |
|
|
Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day
And make me travail forth without my cloak,
To let base clouds o’ertake me in my way,
Hiding thy brav'ry in their rotten smoke?
’Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break,
To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face,
For no man well of such a salve can speak
That heals the wound and cures not the disgrace;
Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief;
Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss;
Th'offender’s sorrow lends but weak relief
To him that bears the strong offence’s loss.
Ah, but those tears are pearl which thy love sheds,
And they are rich, and ransom all ill deeds.[1]: 179
|
|
|
|
—William Shakespeare
|
| |
Shakespeare's Sonnet 34 is included in what is referred to as the Fair Youth sequence, and it is the second of a briefer sequence (Sonnet 33 through Sonnet 36) concerned with a betrayal of the poet committed by the young man, who is addressed as a personification of the sun.[1]: 178
- ^ a b Shakespeare, William (2010). Duncan-Jones, Katherine (ed.). Shakespeare's Sonnets. Bloomsbury Arden. ISBN 9781408017975.
