Sonnet 56: Sweet Love, Renew Thy Force, Be It Not Said
Sonnet 56: Sweet Love, Renew Thy Force, Be It Not Said - meaning Summary
Love Renewed by Absence
The speaker urges love to refresh its intensity rather than grow dull through constant fulfillment. Using appetite as a metaphor, he warns that immediate satiation weakens desire, so lovers should allow intermittent absence. That temporary separation—likened to an ocean between shores or to winter—preserves longing and makes the lovers’ return more joyous. The poem argues that restraint and pauses strengthen affection and renew passion.
Read Complete AnalysesSweet love, renew thy force! Be it not said Thy edge should blunter be than appetite, Which but today by feeding is allayed, Tomorrow sharpened in his former might. So, love, be thou, although today thou fill Thy hungry eyes, even till they wink with fulness, Tomorrow see again, and do not kill The spirit of love with a perpetual dullness. Let this sad interim like the ocean be Which parts the shore where two contracted new Come daily to the banks, that, when they see Return of love, more blest may be the view; As call it winter, which being full of care Makes summer’s welcome thrice more wished, more rare.
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