Sonnet 14: Not from the Stars Do I My Judgement Pluck
Sonnet 14: Not from the Stars Do I My Judgement Pluck - meaning Summary
Knowledge from Beloved's Eyes
Shakespeare’s speaker rejects astrology as a source of judgment and claims instead to read fate in the beloved’s eyes. He says those eyes show a rule: truth and beauty will flourish if the beloved converts their self into offspring or legacy. If the beloved refuses, the speaker predicts that both truth and beauty will meet their end with them. The sonnet links personal love to cultural survival.
Read Complete AnalysesNot from the stars do I my judgement pluck, And yet methinks I have astronomy But not to tell of good or evil luck, Of plagues, of dearths, or seasons’ quality; Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell, ‘Pointing to each his thunder, rain, and wind, Or say with princes if it shall go well By oft predict that I in heaven find. But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive, And, constant stars, in them I read such art As truth and beauty shall together thrive If from thy self to store thou wouldst convert; Or else of thee this I prognosticate: Thy end is truth’s and beauty’s doom and date.
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