Sonnet 95: How Sweet and Lovely Dost Thou Make the Shame
Sonnet 95: How Sweet and Lovely Dost Thou Make the Shame - meaning Summary
Beauty Masks Corrupting Faults
The speaker observes that the beloved’s beauty makes their faults seem attractive, so that even shameless acts become sweetened and criticism becomes a backhanded compliment. Public talk of the beloved both names and praises them, turning stains into allure. The poem moves from ironic admiration to a quiet warning: repeated indulgence of vice dulls even the sharpest rebuke, so the beloved should beware the corrupting power of flattering appearance.
Read Complete AnalysesHow sweet and lovely dost thou make the shame Which, like a canker in the fragrant rose, Doth spot the beauty of thy budding name! O, in what sweets dost thou thy sins enclose! That tongue that tells the story of thy days, Making lascivious comments on thy sport, Cannot dispraise, but in a kind of praise, Naming thy name, blesses an ill report. O, what a mansion have those vices got Which for their habitation chose out thee, Where beauty’s veil doth cover every blot, And all things turns to fair that eyes can see! Take heed, dear heart, of this large privilege; The hardest knife ill-used doth lose his edge.
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