Sonnet 50: How Heavy Do I Journey on the Way
Sonnet 50: How Heavy Do I Journey on the Way - meaning Summary
Grief as a Weary Journey
The poem frames separation from a beloved as a physical, exhausting journey. The speaker’s slow progress and his horse’s reluctance mirror inward sorrow: external fatigue reflects internal grief. Even forceful measures fail to quicken travel because the animal senses the rider’s unwillingness to leave. The concluding couplet reframes the pain: sorrow lies ahead while past joys recede, turning travel into an emblem of emotional direction and loss within the Fair Youth sequence.
Read Complete AnalysesHow heavy do I journey on the way, When what I seek, my weary travel’s end, Doth teach that case and that repose to say, Thus far the miles are measured from thy friend! The beast that bears me, tired with my woe, Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me, As if by some instinct the wretch did know His rider loved not speed being made from thee. The bloody spur cannot provoke him on That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide, Which heavily he answers with a groan, More sharp to me than spurring to his side; For that same groan doth put this in my mind: My grief lies onward and my joy behind.
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