Thin Line Between Love And Lust Sonnet 128

4 Pages 968 Words

There is a Thin Line Between Love and Lust

In Shakespeare’s sonnets the idea of love is a frequent topic. The love he normally speaks of is disclosing a sense of purity. However in sonnet 128 Shakespeare proclaims a pure love that can be viewed as promiscuous and lustful.
At first sight sonnet 128 seems to contain an unalloyed love and desire for someone else. Nothing in the sonnet seems to have a negative tone intently. Actually the words written are flattering. Yet the poet turns the flattering to lust when the compliments are more gratifying for his sexual desire than any love that may be present.
The sonnet is full of compliments of this sort. Ten of the fourteen lines that make up the sonnet are devoted to compliments. Except the compliments, instead of being gratifying are obsessive and sexual. “I envy those jacks that nimble leap to kiss the tender inward of thy hand” (128.5-6). He is addressing his wish to be the keys on the virginal she is playing exhibiting his over obsessiveness. The sexual desire found here is also evident in line 12 “Making dead wood more blessed than living lips”. By finding the keys that touch her hand more blessed than his lips that stand alone the line simultaneously shows his vulgar want of the woman’s body.


Clark 2

“Since saucy jacks so happy are in this” (13). He is in a sense putting down her in a vulgar manner by telling the woman playing the instrument that her keys are irrelevant to the situation. As if she needs to quit the playing that she is enjoying doing and pay attention to him. Along with the obscene vulgar ness he displays an unfulfilled longing for the woman he feels the need to control and jealously of the keys that get the chance to touch her body. “Whilst my poor lips, which should that harvest reap...