Poetry concepts and forms

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 he loves her. 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 is the word "gentle," first used as a contrast with "doom" in line 7, and further used as a strengthening force for the image of "day" in line 10. "Gentle doom" is then used to show the speaker's warring emotions: he loves his lady deeply, but her cruelty has confused and hurt him. Still, he refuses to reciprocate with similar cruelty. He is then rewarded with "gentle day." This reward comes with his never-ending devotion and love for his lady. She sees this and changes her statement, because she pities him.

There is also a contrast between the lady and the words she speaks. This is what brings about the speaker's confusion. The question is, how could she? This is voiced in line 3 of the poem: the words "I hate" were spoken "To me that languished for her sake." It is as if the speaker is wondering, how could she say this to him, who has done nothing but love her with complete devotion. It is as if the lady is oblivious to his feelings. It is only when he shows his/her pain that she changes her utterance. She may have been looking for a demonstration of his love for her, and when she saw it through his pain, she modified her statement and saved the speaker's life.

Another contrast could therefore be the lady's faith in the speaker's love. Her initial statement could have been a test for the truth of the speaker's feelings for her. Her doubt then contrasts with his faith. He never doubts her better qualities, despite the fact that she hurts him. All that he has to say about her is that she is kind, sweet and gentle. Even her cruelty and the doom that she speaks are "gentle." This also contrasts the attitude of the speaker and his lady towards each other. His is an attitude of perfect love and faith, whereas she is blindly cruel and doubtful of his love.

The religious references in the poem are also interesting. Heaven and hell, as well as day and night are frequently used in the Bible to show salvation and damnation. This shows how intense the speaker's feelings for his love are. He almost worships her like a goddess. Hence also the reference to Love as a goddess in the first line.