Sonnet 94

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Sonnet 94

by William Shakespeare

They that have power to hurt and will do none,
That do not do the thing they most do show,
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow,
They rightly do inherit heaven's graces
And husband nature's riches from expense;
They are the lords and owners of their faces,
Others but stewards of their excellence.
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,
Though to itself it only live and die,
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

[edit] Synopsis

Sonnnet 94 is seen as being a particularly difficult to interpret. Shakespeare describes a restrained and cold person who has the "power to hurt" but who does not exercise that power. The first two quatrains describe a person who is coldly detached and slow to temptation. This person, the speaker argues, is therefore more likely to inherit the gifts of heaven.

They rightly do inherit heaven's graces

And husband nature's riches from expense;

In the third quatrain, the sonnet then shifts abruptly to a description of a flower, which most scholars believe to be one of Shakespeare's patrons. Shakepeare describes the summer as treasuring the flower - "to the summer sweet", with the flower living unaware of its beauty "Though to itself it only live and die,". This quatrain serves as an attempted explanation for the patron's "unmoved, cold" nature to allow Shakespeare to continue loving him and give him peace of mind. However the speaker reluctanly admits that the young man is guilty of harmful deeds, a "base infection", and is therefore lower (smells worse) than weeds.

[edit] See also

Shakespeare's sonnets

[edit] External links

Sparknotes analysis of Sonnet 94

Shakespeare's 154 Sonnets

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154