THY SENSUAL FAULT

I shall continue to touch on some of Shakespeare's Fair Youth sonnet sequence, with sonnet 35. Here Shakespeare is addressing his young friend and refers to a sin he committed against him; a sin the poet struggles to forgive.

He tells the youth not to upset himself because of this bad deed. He reminds him that bad things are everywhere… Roses have thorns; clear fountains have mud; both the sun and moon are shadowed by clouds and eclipses; and horrible disease is found in the sweetest flowers.

No more be grieved at that which thou hast done.

Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;

Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,

And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.

The poet tries to console the youth by telling him that all men do bad things. He actually admits to having done them himself. The poet talks of sinning. He says he is guilty of sin because he authorised his friend's trespass. The religious connotation here with the use of words like sin and trespass (reminiscent of the Lord’s Prayer) mix the sacred with the profane. Shakespeare admits he knows that he is corrupting the Fair Youth as well, and forgives his “sins” out of love. As a prosecutor, he strives for reason.

All men make faults, and even I in this,

Authórizing thy trespass with compare,

Myself corrupting, salving thy amiss,

Excusing these sins more than these sins are.

Shakespeare highlights the sensual by referring to the sins of his young friend as being physical urges. He says that he looks at these sensual sins and tries to defend him, to protect him, and in so doing he is obviously working against himself. The poet feels that he is torn between love and hate, but he cannot resist helping that “sweet thief” who bitterly robbed him of his peace of mind.  

For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense—

Thy adverse party is thy advocate—

And 'gainst myself a lawful plea commence.

Such civil war is in my love and hate

That I an áccessory needs must be

To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me.

This sonnet reiterates Shakespeare’s fraught feelings towards love. He paradoxically acts as a hypothetical lawyer to defend the one he loves and who has betrayed his trust. The poet uses an array legal imagery by choosing connotative words in this regard, like “adverse party”, “advocate”, “lawful” plea” and “accessary”.  Shakespeare defends his friend even though he himself is the injured party. This extended metaphorical picture also helps to shed light on the poet’s tormented understanding of love, with all its irrationality and enigmatic forces. “Such civil war is in my love and hate”, reveals the intricacy of the painful emotions he has felt, and his painful struggle in dealing with them.

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No more be grieved at that which thou hast done.

Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;

Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,

And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.

All men make faults, and even I in this,

Authórizing thy trespass with compare,

Myself corrupting, salving thy amiss,

Excusing these sins more than these sins are.

For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense—

Thy adverse party is thy advocate—

And 'gainst myself a lawful plea commence.

Such civil war is in my love and hate

That I an áccessory needs must be

To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me.