“Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes” Introduction

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“Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes” Summary

“Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes” Themes

• 

  The Irrationality of Love

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• 

  Pleasure, Pain, and Submission

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes”

• Lines 1-4

  In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes,
  For they in thee a thousand errors note;
  But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise,
  Who, in despite of view, is pleased to dote;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  Nor are mine ears with thy tongue's tune delighted,
  Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone,
  Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited
  To any sensual feast with thee alone:

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  But my five wits nor my five senses can
  Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee,
  Who leaves unswayed the likeness of a man,
  Thy proud heart's slave and vassal wretch to be.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-14

  Only my plague thus far I count my gain,
  That she that makes me sin awards me pain.

  

  

  

  

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“Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Personification

  

  

  

  

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• Irony

  

  

  

  

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“Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• In faith
• Thee
• Mine
• 'Tis
• In despite of
• View
• Dote
• Thy
• Tongue's tune
• Base
• Prone
• Desire
• Sensual feast
• Five wits
• Dissuade
• Unswayed
• Likeness
• Slave
• Vassal wretch
• Plague
• She

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes” Speaker

“Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes”

More “Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Sonnet Aloud — Listen to actor Patrick Stewart recite the poem (with some help from his dog).

  • The Life of William Shakespeare — Watch an A&E documentary about the world's most famous playwright and poet.

  • The Bard's Life and Work — Read a brief biography of Shakespeare at the Poetry Foundation.

  • Introduction to the Sonnets — An introduction to Shakespeare's sequence of 154 sonnets, courtesy of the Folger Shakespeare Library.

  • The Sonnets at the British Library — View the British Library's first edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets and read a brief introduction to the volume.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by William Shakespeare

  • Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds

  • Sonnet 129: Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame

  • Sonnet 12: When I do count the clock that tells the time

  • Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun

  • Sonnet 138: When my love swears that she is made of truth

  • Sonnet 147: My love is as a fever, longing still

  • Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

  • Sonnet 19: Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws

  • Sonnet 20: A woman’s face with nature’s own hand painted

  • Sonnet 27: "Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed"

  • Sonnet 29: When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes

  • Sonnet 30: When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

  • Sonnet 33: Full many a glorious morning have I seen

  • Sonnet 45: The other two, slight air and purging fire

  • Sonnet 55: Not marble nor the gilded monuments

  • Sonnet 60: Like as the waves make towards the pebbl'd shore

  • Sonnet 65 ("Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea")

  • Sonnet 71: No longer mourn for me when I am dead

  • Sonnet 73: That time of year thou mayst in me behold

  • Sonnet 94: "They that have power to hurt"