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SHAKESPEARE: Sonnet 147

My love is as a fever, longing still like

For that which longer nurseth the disease,

Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,
The uncertain sickly appetite to please.
My reason, the physician to my love,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve realise

Desire is death, which physic did except. which (i.e. sexual desire) medicine forbade

Past cure I am, now reason is past care,

And frantic-mad with evermore unrest; constant

My thoughts and my discourse as madmen's are,

At random from the truth vainly express'd; haphazardly, far from the truth, foolishly expressed

For I have sworn thee fair and thought thee bright,

Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.

1. Identify what kind of sonnet this is, and comment on its rhyming scheme and major
structural divisions. [4]

Sonnet 147 is classified as a Shakespearean sonnet. It is divided into two parts. The
first part consists of three quatrains (a set of four lines) and the second part consists of a
couplet (two lines). This structure allows Shakespeare to establish the conceit of his thought
which is conveyed through a metaphor. The metaphor is presented in the first line of Sonnet
147; My love is as a fever, longing still. Throughout the quatrains, the metaphor is developed
effectively by describing the episodes of a high fever. Quatrain one describes the fever,
quatrain two explains the persona seeking for medical treatment and quatrain three tells the
consequences faced by the persona for abandoning his common sense. Due to the developing
quatrains, Shakespeare can delay the volta in his sonnet to the couplet unlike Petrarchan
sonnet which volta (thematic turn) comes after the sestet. Thus, the couplet of Sonnet 147
concludes Shakespeare’s thought by describing the lover’s true colour. The division of
meaning is parallel to the division of rhyme in this sonnet. Each quatrain portrays different

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meaningful images and has different repetitive rhyme. The rhyme scheme for the first
quatrain is ABAB, CDCD for the second quatrain followed by EFEF for the third quatrain.
The couplet on the other hand is equal in rhyme; GG. The overall rhyming scheme is ABAB
CDCD EFEF GG.

2. Copy out the first four lines and scan them. [4]

× / × / × / × / × /
My love| is as| a fe|ver, long|ing still
× / × / × / × / × /
For that| which lon|ger nur|seth the| disease,
× / × / × / × / × /
Feeding| on that| which doth| preserve| the ill,
× / × / / × / × × /
The un|certain| sickly| appetite| to please.

Hale (1992) once elucidated that “a word was sometimes pronounce differently when its
poem was compose” (p.8). Thus, I am of the opinion that the fourth foot of line 4 |appetite|
should be pronounced as /'æptaɪt/ instead of /'æpɪtaɪt/. Perhaps the sound [ɪ] was elided by the
speakers of English during Shakespeare’s time making it being pronounced as a disyllabic
word rather than a trisyllabic word. This manner of pronunciation also makes the pentameter
of Shakespearean sonnet possible.

3. Using the appropriate terminology, identify and comment on the dominant

meter. [2]

The dominant meter in sonnet 147 is iambic pentameter which characterised almost
all Shakespeare’s sonnet. Iamb is a foot (division) with two syllables composed of an
unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (×/). Each line in Sonnet 147 is constituted
by five repetitive metrical feet (mostly iambs) known as pentameter.

4. Using the appropriate terminology, identify two examples of a metrical foot anywhere in

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the sonnet which deviate from the dominant beat. Explain what effect these disruptions have
on the sonnet’s meaning. [3]

The first three lines in Sonnet 147 are regular in meter reflecting the introduction to
the conceit of this sonnet which is the persona’s passionate, destructive love towards his
beloved. Most irregularities occur in the second quatrain as the persona realises that he is not
using his good judgement when his beloved is concerned. This can be seen in the first foot of
line 6 and 7. Trochee: Angry which is opposite of iamb can stand on its own to create the
powerful effect of rage that the physician laid on the persona for disregarding his common
sense. Due his reckless action, the persona’s common sense is said to have left him. Thus
spondee: Hath left takes effect. Spondee: Hath left is further emphasised by the pyrrhic: and
me to show the seriousness of the situation described.

5. From the first four lines identify the major image or conceit and show how it is developed
in the rest of the poem. [4]

The first quatrain of sonnet 147 introduces the persona’s inability to prevent himself
from falling more deeply in love with his beloved. The major image in the first quatrain is a
fever. Shakespeare equalised the persona’s destructive love to a fever that can make his body
ached all over. The word fever is used well as it can be associated to an illness or a medical
condition in which you have a very high temperature or to a situation in which you feel very
excited or feel very strongly about. (Fox et al., 2005). The word fever and sickly appetite in
this sonnet are possibly metaphors that refer to the persona’s sexual desire towards his
beloved.

My love is as a fever, longing still

For that which longer nurseth the disease,
Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,
The uncertain sickly appetite to please.

In the second quatrain, the persona tries to reason his feeling using his common sense
but failed. The image of a fever is expanded as Shakespeare likened the persona’s reason to a

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physician who will treat his fever. The physician is said to be infuriate with the persona for
not following his prescription thus left the persona with a high fever. Later, the persona with
self loathing feeling becomes conscious that his sexual desire towards his beloved will bring
him to death since no medicine in the world can cure him.

My reason, the physician to my love,

Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve
Desire is death, which physic did except.

The third quatrain dramatises and intensifies the persona’s destructive love as he is
explained without hope. He cannot be cured from his obsession since he is incapable of
listening to reason. Here, Shakespeare presented the image of a mad man corresponds to the
metaphor: fever. This is because those who suffer from fever or other illnesses often
hallucinate and babble. The persona’s fever is probably getting worse and without the aid of a
physician to cure him, he started imagining things and babbling like a mad man.

Past cure I am, now reason is past care,

And frantic-mad with evermore unrest;
My thoughts and my discourse as madmen's are,
At random from the truth vainly express'd;

6. Offer an interpretation of the final couplet and discuss its relationship to what has gone
before. [3]

The couplet in Sonnet 147 is a closed couplet as it completes the thought and syntax
(indicated by a period) within it and serves as a conclusion to this sonnet. Shakespeare
summed up this sonnet by giving a reason to the persona’s madness (as explained in the third
quatrain) which is most likely his lover’s betrayal. Shakespeare conveyed the reason by
providing a twist as the persona spoke of the untruth he once believed is true. He thought his
lover is an impeccable lady but she is actually evil and unfaithful. Similar to the three
quatrains above, Shakespeare also used imagery in the couplet. He exploited the light and

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dark images to represent the lover’s morality. The use of a simile is also present in the
couplet. Even though there are many forms of contradictory figures of speech, simile is
probably chosen because the comparison used is always limited to our common impression.
Therefore it is able to enhance the concentratedness of the meaning that Shakespeare
intended to suggest.

For I have sworn thee fair and thought thee bright,

Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.

REFERENCES

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Fever. (2005). In C. Fox, E. Manning, M. Murphy, R. Urbom, K.C. Marwick, & S. O’shea
(Ed.), Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (p. 585, 4th ed.). Letterpart: Pearson
Education Limited.

Hale, J. K. (Ed.). (1992). Sonnet of Four Centuries 1500-1900: An Anthology for Students of
English. Dunedin: Department of English Publication.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fox, A. (Ed.). (2005). How to Study Literature in English: A Guide for the Advancing
Student (3rd ed.). Dunedin: University of Otago Press.

Hernandez, C. A. (2009). A Guide to Shakespeare's Sonnet 147. Retrieved July 19, 2009,
from Helium: http://www.helium.com/items/995092-a-guide-to-shakespeares-sonnet-147

Nickerson, L. A. (2009). A Guide to Shakespeare's Sonnet 147. Retrieved July 19, 2009, from
Helium: http://www.helium.com/items/357973-a-guide-to-shakespeares-sonnet-147

What is: Shakespearean, Spencerian and Petrarchan Sonnet. (2009, April 23). Retrieved July
21, 2009, from PoemShape: A New England Poet writes Poetry, Haiku, Fables & Criticism:
http://poemshape.wordpress.com/2009/01/11/what-is-shakespearean-spenserian-amp-
petrarchan-sonnets/