SONNETS 34-45
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Sonnet 34
Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day,
And make me travel forth without my cloak,
To let base clouds o'er-take 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 sheeds,
And they are rich, and ransom all ill deeds.
In the previous sonnet, the Poet looks to Nature to characterise the human
condition. He contrasts the �glorious morning� with the �ugly rack� of �basest
clouds�. He argues that it is natural for the idealistic youth, who represents
the �Suns of the world�, to have a darker side. As sonnet 34 develops, the
metaphor of light and dark is transformed into a concern for right and
wrong. The beauty of the youth, like the beauty of the day, conceals his
contrary nature.
In sonnet 34, the potential for deception developed in sonnet 33
(�disgrace�, �stain�) is apparent in the first line where the �promise� of a
�beauteous day� is doubted. The sonnet examines the logical implication
when a �promise� cannot be honoured, as with the religious promise of an
idealised heaven. Instead of the promised sunshine, the idealistic youth �lets
base clouds� hide �thy bravery in their rotten smoke� (34.4). The Poet says
it is not �enough� to �dry the rain� from his face when the sun shines through
gaps in the clouds. He cannot �speak well� of a �salve� that merely �heals his
wound� without addressing the �disgrace� (34.8).
In life or Nature, youthful potential gives way to old age just as clouds
affect the beauteous day. The Poet argues that the heavenly �promise� of
eternal youth or the lure of �heavenly alchemy� (sonnet 33) to relieve the
effects of age are a �disgrace�. The natural logic of the Sonnets gives the lie
to such overwrought �promises�.
Though the youth feels �shame� (34.9) and �repents� (34.10), the Poet still
has �the loss�. The �offender�s sorrow� gives only �weak relief � to those who
�bear� the �strong offence�s cross� (34.12). The allusion to the cross of Christ,
a symbol of unfulfillable promise, is an offence against natural logic when
it offers to provide a heaven without clouds.
The couplet provides the solution to the idealistic �offence�. Using a
sexual image that recovers the possibility of increase, the Poet says that the
�tears� that �thy love sheeds� are �pearls� that are �rich� and will �ransom all ill
deeds�. Tears occur again with sexual intent in sonnet 148.
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Roger Peters Copyright © 2001
Introduction
1-9
10-21
22-33
34-45
46-57
58-69
70-81
82-93
94-105
106-117
118-129
130-141
142-153
154
Emendations
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