Sonnet III (by William Shakespeare)


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III.

Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewest
Now is the time that face should form another,
Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest
Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother.
For where is she so fair whose uneared womb
Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry?
Or who is he so fond will be the tomb
Of his self-love, to stop posterity?
Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime;
So thou through windows of thine age shall see,
Despite of wrinkles this thy golden time.
But if thou live remembered not to be,
Die single, and thine image dies with thee.



-*-

   

Posted by Jesus Crisis at 3/1/2009 8:08 AM
Categories: British, Writing, 1600s, Shakespeare (William)
Tags: Sonnets English Literature William Shakespeare Sonnet III
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  • 3/1/2009 8:46 AM Elena wrote:
    Truer words have never been written...
    except for one error: uneared womb? Is that a fetus without ears? Or is it UNEARNED womb? lol
    Otherwise I see a beautiful truth of motherhood and aging in this sonnet. The looking glass of time will take its toll but even more so if childless. I love this sonnet!!
    Reply to this
    1. 3/1/2009 5:31 PM Jesus Crisis wrote:
      It's not an error.

       Helen Shepard at 10:23am March 1
      Read my blog on Shakespeare on My Space. It's an amusing article by Phillip Adams from the Australian Weekend Magazine. I love this Sonnet.

       Charles Robert Hice at 3:46pm March 1
      perhaps eneared a closer look at uneared come quick poor William was just using Ye OLDE Kings Englias to explain just poor and plain and dumbe unearned methinks the lass meant unlearned perhapsless count to tene
      and try againe

       Charles Robert Hice at 3:58pm March 1
      eye am freaked out sorry John
      3/1/2009 3:52 PM charlaxshakespeare wrote:
      perhaps eneared a closer look at uneared come quick poor William was just using Ye OLDE Kings Englias to explain just poor and plain and dumbe unearned methinks the lass meant unlearned perhapsless count to tene
      and try againe
      this is here because eye cant link from facebook the thing wont work the securtiy numbers go figure and eye cant fint the link here to the lieberry go figure it out im soRRy John
      Reply to this
      Charlock7Android1

       John Burroughs at 4:04pm March 1
      Some editions spell it "unear'd" - by it he seems to mean "without ears"

       Helen Shepard at 4:14pm March 1
      Go back to the sonnet in the library. If this is an unear'd womb I aint never heard of it. Maybe it is an unheard womb. lol. Do youse guys know what the heck you are talking about? What do you know about wombs since you both lack one. lol

       John Burroughs at 4:17pm March 1
      The ears he's referring to are ears of corn. The word "uneared" means untilled or uncultivated.

       Helen Shepard at 5:11pm March 1
      OK so it's an uncultivated womb. Did Shakespeare eat ears of corn? Did they even grow corn that came from the American Indians in England at that time? Maybe Shakespeare was just being corny or maybe horny? lol

       Helen Shepard at 5:16pm March 1
      Well I haven't written a blog in ages but I recommend the Phillip Adams article I blogged comparing Shakes;peare to Christ. That should be a must for Jesus Crisis. At least your Jesus has had a sense of humor.

       John Burroughs at 5:20pm March 1
      I said corn tongue-in-cheek. But you're right about maize, methinks. Perhaps it was ears of wheat. Or dog ears on printed pages. Or "let he who has ears hear" (you know some say Will contributed to the King James Bible). Or none of the above... but it's definitely uncultivated, if not uncultured or unctuous.

       John Burroughs at 5:21pm March 1
      I don't know that Jesus ever shook a spear, but I hear he was quite handy with spikes.

      Reply to this
  • 3/1/2009 6:29 PM chris wrote:
    Unear'd means unused.. or something similar... I'm still thinking about this poem...

    Because you do not have to have children to leave a legacy or mark on the world.

    Thinking of spiritual teachers and the like...

    But I'll be back..
    Reply to this
  • 3/1/2009 10:06 PM Pinky P wrote:
    Just to add something more to the stew about unear'd.

    I went to check my old Riverside Shakespeare and the annotation there says: unear'd: unploughed. The sexual metaphor is very common.

    As for corn. Corn as we know it here in the U.S. is actually maize. Corn in Europe was really any grain.

    The word corn actually goes all the way back to an Indo-European root and went through a similar sound shift c-h [corn to horn] (think cornucopia and horn of plenty) like century and hundred. This is, if I remember correctly and JC can probably correct me if I'm wrong, part of Grimm's Law... the linguistic rules the Brothers Grimm documented along with recording old wives' tales.

    (This is what happens when you spend years and years taking English classes...)
    Reply to this
    1. 3/2/2009 6:27 AM Elena wrote:
      Grimm's law...something I learned from years of listening to my husband who taught linguistics at Oberlin. Of course, grain is corn, maize is corn, and Shakespeare had a vocabulary larger than any of us can imagine, over 20,000 words used in his writings. I remember these rules, example: pater changes to father (p to f) paternity etc. (padre in Spanish.) The English language is very complex and I am learning why children have a hard time learning to read or spell. (bear, bare, for example are pronounced the same but have totally different spellings and meanings. Why isn't night spelled nite?
      Reply to this
    2. 3/2/2009 9:01 AM Jesus Crisis wrote:
      I applaud you and thank you, Pinky!  Very enlightening....

      I don't think I've heard Grimm's Law  mentioned since I took that "History and Development of the English Language" course via correspondence from the University of South Carolina in 1996.

      I think I might have heard what you said about corn before - but I forgot it.

      I want to say "meat" and/or "bread" underwent a similar narrowing of meaning.  I should consult the OED and not rely on my failing memory.
      Reply to this
  • 4/12/2009 6:12 AM Ally wrote:
    'to ear', in English at the time this was written, meant 'to plough' - this line, together with the next, is an agricultural metaphor. A lucky virgin ought to be 'ploughed' by the object of the poem, his seed planted and his beauty perpetuated by a resulting son. - Apparently, because of his beauty any woman would WANT to be that virgin bride - no-one would refuse him. - Hope this helps.
    Reply to this
    1. 4/12/2009 7:12 AM Jesus Crisis wrote:
      Ah!  Thanks for your illuminating comment, Ally.  And welcome to the Online Library!
      Reply to this
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