William Shakespeare is one of the greatest creators in the history of mankind. His activities can not be limited to a single sphere because he dealt with plenty of subjects and succeeded in any field. William Shakespeare lived and worked in England in the 16 – 17th centuries during the period when such kinds of art as theatre, literature, poetry, and some others were at the highest point of their development. William Shakespeare is known for his works as a playwright, writer, theatre actor, and, of course, as a talented author of sonnets. His poetical legacy amounts to over several hundred sonnets which are considered to be the real masterpieces of world literature for their picturesqueness and the real poetic gift they were written with. And the sonnet under consideration is not an exception to this rule. Sonnet 141 is one of the greatest creations by this famous English artist.
To begin the commentary of this sonnet, let us say that all the sonnets by Shakespeare are dedicated to the single but, at the same time, the most important topic – the topic of love. They are all full of stylistic devices such as epithets, metaphors, and picturesque comparisons that make them very pleasant matters to read. Sonnet 141 is also dedicated to the topic of love to a woman that does not notice the love of a man. But this is a rather strange love, which is proved by the very first lines of the sonnet. The author admits that there is nothing in the appearance of this woman that could make a man fell in love with her, but nevertheless, he states that he loves her:
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 spite of view is pleased to dote;
In these lines, we can see that the author does not understand what is happening to him because he loves a woman and does not know the reason for it. Eye of his beloved person does not seem to him charming, her voice is not the sweetest for him, and he can not make out what is going on:
Nor are mine ears with thy tongue’s tune delighted,
As well these words display the sorrow the author felt because of this feeling. His love for this woman can not be explained, and, moreover, that woman does not feel the same towards him; she just does not understand how strong the feelings of the author might be:
Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee,
Who leaves unswayed the likeness of a man*,
It can be seen that the author begs either to answer his feeling or to release him from the pains of unrequited love as it brings him nothing but sorrow. But the final line evidence that he lies when he asks her to dissuade him; in the last four lines of the sonnet under consideration, we can see the real state of the author, we can picture the inner conflict of the author’s personality who is being torn apart by the absolutely opposite feelings. On the one hand, he wants to go away; on the other hand, his feelings are too strong, and he is ready to suffer all the pain that this love brings him:
But my five wits* nor my five senses can
Thy proud hearts slave and vassal wretch to be:
Only my plague thus far I count my gain,
That she that makes me sin awards me pain.