Sonnet 150: O from What Power Hast Thou This Powerful Might
Sonnet 150: O from What Power Hast Thou This Powerful Might - meaning Summary
Love's Irrational, Self-defying Power
The speaker marvels at the beloved's uncanny power to make him deny his own senses and love despite clear faults. He describes attraction that turns the beloved's worst qualities into virtues in his mind and increases his love even as others find cause for hate. The closing paradox claims that if the beloved's unworthiness creates love in him, then he must be even more deserving of that beloved’s love.
Read Complete AnalysesO, from what power hast thou this powerful might With insufficiency my heart to sway? To make me give the lie to my true sight, And swear that brightness doth not grace the day? Whence hast thou this becoming of things ill, That in the very refuse of thy deeds There is such strength and warrantise of skill That, in my mind, thy worst all best exceeds? Who taught thee how to make me love thee more, The more I hear and see just cause of hate? O, though I love what others do abhor, With others thou shouldst not abhor my state. If thy unworthiness raised love in me, More worthy I to be beloved of thee.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.