Sonnet 131: Thou Art As Tyrannous, So As Thou Art Poem by William Shakespeare
Sonnet 131: Thou Art As Tyrannous, So As Thou Art
Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;
For well thou know'st to my dear doting heart
Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.
Yet, in good faith, some say that thee behold
Thy face hath not the power to make love groan;
To say they err I dare not be so bold,
Although I swear it to myself alone.
And to be sure that is not false I swear,
A thousand groans but thinking on thy face,
One on another's neck do witness bear
Thy black is fairest in my judgment's place.
In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds,
And thence this slander, as I think, proceeds.
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4/19/2024 4:03:27 AM # 1.0.0.1119
The sonnet is almost a continuation of the previous one. In 130 he stresses that his mistress does not possess any of the traditional beautiful attributes which are usually thought of as belonging to 'the lovely fair', but here he maintains that she does have all the other powers that the Lauras of this world possess, powers to make the poor lover groan and suffer for her sake. The visual beauty is therefore not of the same intensity but the emotional tyranny is not in any way diminished. Finally he suggest that his lover's moral character is not of the purest, a suggestion which haunts him throughout the remainder of the series. Many of the traditional attributes of 'the beloved fair' and the lover's reactions to them are here mentioned, often as a contrast with the supposed reality. shakespeares-sonnets.com/sonnet