Sonnet 99: the Forward Violet Thus Did I Chide
Sonnet 99: the Forward Violet Thus Did I Chide - form Summary
A Sonnet of Floral Theft
This poem is a Shakespearean sonnet that uses an extended conceit of flowers as thieves to praise the beloved. The speaker chides violets, lilies, roses and other blooms for borrowing scent, colour, and beauty from his beloved, arguing that the natural world has been robbed and imitated. The floral catalogue reinforces the beloved’s uniqueness while the concluding lines claim every sweet or hue in nature is derived from them.
Read Complete AnalysesThe forward violet thus did I chide: Sweet thief, whence didst thou steal thy sweet that smells, If not from my love’s breath? The purple pride Which on thy soft check for complexion dwells In my love’s veins thou hast too grossly dyed. The lily I condemnèd for thy hand, And buds of marjoram had stol’n thy hair; The roses fearfully on thorns did stand, One blushing shame, another white despair; A third, nor red, nor white, had stol’n of both, And to his robbery had annexed thy breath, But, for his theft, in pride of all his growth A vengeful canker eat him up to death. More flowers I noted, yet I none could see, But sweet or colour it had stol’n from thee.
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