Sonnet 92: but Do Thy Worst to Steal Thyself Away
Sonnet 92: but Do Thy Worst to Steal Thyself Away - meaning Summary
Dependency as Destiny
The speaker accepts that the beloved could abandon or betray him, arguing that his life is so bound to that love that losing it would simply end his life’s meaning. He reframes dependency as a kind of blessing: to possess the beloved’s love is worth dying for. Yet the poem ends with uneasy doubt, admitting that even the most perfect-sounding devotion can hide a fault the speaker may never discover.
Read Complete AnalysesBut do thy worst to steal thyself away, For term of life thou art assured mine; And life no longer than thy love will stay, For it depends upon that love of thine. Then need I not to fear the worst of wrongs, When in the least of them my life hath end. I see a better state to me belongs Than that which on thy humour doth depend: Thou canst not vex me with inconstant mind, Since that my life on thy revolt doth lie. O what a happy title do I find, Happy to have thy love, happy to die! But what’s so blessed-fair that fears no blot? Thou mayst be false, and yet I know it not.
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