Sonnet 43
Encyclopedia
Shakespeare's Sonnet 43 employs antithesis
and paradox
to highlight the speaker's yearning for his beloved and sadness in (most likely) his absence, and confusion about the situation described in the previous three sonnets.
's Astrophil and Stella, 38.
Stephen Booth notes the concentration of antithesis
used to convey the impression of a speaker whose emotions have inverted his perception of the world.
Edmond Malone
glosses "unrespected" as "unregarded." Line 4 has received a number of broadly similar interpretations. Edward Dowden
has "darkly bright" as "illumined, though closed"; he glosses the rest of the line "clearly directed in the darkness." Sidney Lee
has the line "guided in the dark by the brightness of your shadow," while George Wyndham
prefers "In the dark they heed that on which they are fixed."
In line 11, Edward Capell
's emendation of the quarto's "their" to "thy" is now almost universally accepted.
as part of his Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obligato Instruments and Strings
.
Rufus Wainwright
's "Sonnet 43", the sixth track on his album "All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu
" (2010), is a musical setting of the sonnet.
Antithesis
Antithesis is a counter-proposition and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition...
and paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
to highlight the speaker's yearning for his beloved and sadness in (most likely) his absence, and confusion about the situation described in the previous three sonnets.
Paraphrase
I see best when my eyes are closed. All day I am forced to look on what I do not care about; only at night, when my dreaming eyes see you, do I truly see. For even your image (ie, shadow) brightens all the shadows of a dream, and how much brighter you are in daylight, when you may be seen in reality? How much, then, would it delight me to see you in reality, when already your image in my dreams makes them so bright? Until I can see you again, my days are as dark as night because of your absence, and my nights as bright as day because of your sight in my dreams.Source and analysis
This is one of the poems omitted from the pirated edition of 1640. Gerald Massey notes an analogous poem in Philip SidneyPhilip Sidney
Sir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier and soldier, and is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan Age...
's Astrophil and Stella, 38.
Stephen Booth notes the concentration of antithesis
Antithesis
Antithesis is a counter-proposition and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition...
used to convey the impression of a speaker whose emotions have inverted his perception of the world.
Edmond Malone
Edmond Malone
Edmond Malone was an Irish Shakespearean scholar and editor of the works of William Shakespeare.Assured of an income after the death of his father in 1774, Malone was able to give up his law practice for at first political and then more congenial literary pursuits. He went to London, where he...
glosses "unrespected" as "unregarded." Line 4 has received a number of broadly similar interpretations. Edward Dowden
Edward Dowden
Edward Dowden , was an Irish critic and poet.He was the son of John Wheeler Dowden, a merchant and landowner, and was born at Cork, three years after his brother John, who became Bishop of Edinburgh in 1886. Edward's literary tastes emerged early, in a series of essays written at the age of twelve...
has "darkly bright" as "illumined, though closed"; he glosses the rest of the line "clearly directed in the darkness." Sidney Lee
Sidney Lee
Sir Sidney Lee was an English biographer and critic.He was born Solomon Lazarus Lee at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London and educated at the City of London School and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated in modern history in 1882. In the next year he became assistant-editor of the...
has the line "guided in the dark by the brightness of your shadow," while George Wyndham
George Wyndham
George Wyndham PC was a British Conservative politician, man of letters, noted for his elegance, and one of The Souls.-Background and education:...
prefers "In the dark they heed that on which they are fixed."
In line 11, Edward Capell
Edward Capell
Edward Capell , English Shakespearian critic, was born at Troston Hall in Suffolk.-Biography:Through the influence of the Duke of Grafton he was appointed to the office of deputy-inspector of plays in 1737, with a salary of £200 per annum, and in 1745 he was made groom of the privy chamber through...
's emendation of the quarto's "their" to "thy" is now almost universally accepted.
Musical Setting
The sonnet was set to music by Benjamin BrittenBenjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
as part of his Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obligato Instruments and Strings
Nocturne for tenor, 7 obligato instruments & strings
Nocturne for tenor, seven obbligato instruments and strings, Op. 60, is a song cycle by Benjamin Britten. Premiered in the Leeds Town Hall at the centenary Leeds Festival on 16 October 1958 by Peter Pears and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Rudolf Schwarz, it is his fourth and final...
.
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
's "Sonnet 43", the sixth track on his album "All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu
All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu
All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu is the sixth studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, first released in Canada through Decca Records on March 23, 2010...
" (2010), is a musical setting of the sonnet.