Sonnet 165 by Shakespeare focuses on a young lover, whose emotions are deeply connected with whatever his sweetheart says to him. Thus, the entire poem relates the effects of the words "I hate" on the young speaker. The poem is addressed to the reader, and not to a specific listener. The speaker is asking for sympathy, as he evoked sympathy from his lady. The poem thus basically focuses on the fact that the young man's lady says the words "I hate" to him. The effect of this on his emotions is devastating. The intensity of his feelings can be seen in the first line, saying that the lips of his lady are made by "Love's own hand." "Love" here is personified as the goddess Venus. The lady is thus seen as being divinely inspired and loving, which makes her words all the more shocking. There is therefore an intense contrast between what the young man believes of his love and the cruel words she says.

It is also interesting to note the tone of the poem. The speaker is filled only with love and sorrow. Never does he echo the hurtful words spoken to him -- "I hate." Rather, he uses words like "languished" and "woeful" to describe his own state after hearing the lady's cruel words. The words the speaker uses regarding his lady are also significant. She is "ever sweet" and "gentle," despite the cruelty of her words in the first line.

The speaker might thus be suspected to be blind for his love. Nonetheless, his trust and love for the lady seems to be rewarded, as at the end, she withdraws her assertion with the added words "not you." In this way she "saves" her lover's life. The phrase "saved my life" shows just how deeply...

The speaker's life depends on his lady's love and kindness. If she is unkind, his life is in danger.
The speaker shows his lady to not only be cruel, but also filled with the gentleness and mercy that he believes are her stronger qualities. When she sees how her initial words hurt him, she is filled with mercy and kindness. Mercy comes into her heart immediately when she sees his "woeful" state, and she changes her words to a kinder statement with the added phrase "not you."

In telling the story of his love's cruelty and subsequent kindness, the speaker then uses a number of symbolic images and contrasts. The main contrast is between the speaker's mental image of his lady as kind and sweet, and the reality of her cruel words. This contrast is strongly shown in the words "gentle doom," which describe what she did with her statement. The speaker experiences the hate to be leveled at himself and experiences that as damnation. At the end, this is contrasted with his life being saved by the change of her statement. There is therefore a contrast between death and life, as well as salvation and damnation. When the lover's lady is cruel, she emotionally kills him, whereas she saves him with her kindness.

This contrast is further demonstrated with the image of day and night. The damnation image is closely connected with the image of hell. The speaker refers to night as a "fiend" that escapes from heaven to hell when day comes to overtake it. Heaven is then used to describe the speaker's state of renewed love and salvation when his lady changes her statement.

An interesting repetition…