Introduction: “Sonnet 147: My Love Is as A Fever, Longing Still” by William Shakespeare
“Sonnet 147: My Love Is as A Fever, Longing Still” by William Shakespeare first appeared in 1598 in the collection “The Passionate Pilgrim”. This sonnet explores the overwhelming power of love, comparing it to a consuming fever. The speaker describes the intensity of their longing and the physical and emotional turmoil it causes. The main idea is that love can be both exhilarating and painful, and its effects can be all-consuming.
Text: “Sonnet 147: My Love Is as A Fever, Longing Still” by William Shakespeare
My love is as a fever, longing still
For that which longer nurseth the disease,
Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,
Th’ 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
Desire is death, which physic did except.
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 expressed:
For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.
Annotations: “Sonnet 147: My Love Is as A Fever, Longing Still” by William Shakespeare
| Line | Text | Annotation |
| 1 | My love is as a fever, longing still | The speaker compares their love to a persistent fever, suggesting its intensity and consuming nature. |
| 2 | For that which longer nurseth the disease, | The fever is sustained by the object of the speaker’s love, implying that their desire is self-destructive. |
| 3 | Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill, | The speaker continues to indulge in their passion, even though it is causing them harm. |
| 4 | Th’ uncertain sickly appetite to please. | The fever is likened to a sick appetite, implying that the speaker’s desire is irrational and uncontrollable. |
| 5 | My reason, the physician to my love, | The speaker’s reason, or rational mind, is presented as a physician trying to treat their love. |
| 6 | Angry that his prescriptions are not kept, | The speaker’s reason is frustrated because their desires are not being followed. |
| 7 | Hath left me, and I desperate now approve | Reason has abandoned the speaker, leaving them hopeless and accepting their situation. |
| 8 | Desire is death, which physic did except. | The speaker acknowledges that their desire is ultimately destructive, contrary to what reason might have advised. |
| 9 | Past cure I am, now reason is past care, | The speaker believes they are beyond help, and reason has given up on them. |
| 10 | And frantic-mad with evermore unrest; | The speaker is driven to madness by their constant turmoil and longing. |
| 11 | My thoughts and my discourse as madmen’s are, | The speaker’s thoughts and speech are disordered and irrational, like those of a madman. |
| 12 | At random from the truth vainly expressed: | The speaker’s words are incoherent and do not reflect reality. |
| 13 | For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright, | The speaker has convinced themselves of the beauty and goodness of their beloved. |
| 14 | Who art as black as hell, as dark as night. | However, the beloved is revealed to be truly evil and corrupt. |
Literary And Poetic Devices: “Sonnet 147: My Love Is as A Fever, Longing Still” by William Shakespeare
| Device | Definition | Example from the Text | Explanation |
| Simile | A comparison using “like” or “as.” | “My love is as a fever” | The speaker compares love to a fever, emphasizing its intensity and consuming nature. |
| Metaphor | A direct comparison between two unlike things without using “like” or “as.” | “My reason, the physician to my love” | Reason is compared to a physician, suggesting that reason tries to cure the speaker’s irrational love. |
| Personification | Attributing human characteristics to non-human things. | “My reason… Hath left me” | Reason is personified as a doctor abandoning the speaker, emphasizing the speaker’s lack of control. |
| Alliteration | The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words. | “Feeding… preserve… please” | The repeated “p” sound adds rhythm and emphasis to the destructive nature of the speaker’s love. |
| Anaphora | The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. | “My love… My reason” | The repetition of “My” highlights the conflict between love and reason. |
| Imagery | Descriptive language that appeals to the senses. | “Frantic-mad with evermore unrest” | This line evokes the image of madness, conveying the speaker’s emotional turmoil. |
| Irony | A contrast between what is expected and what occurs. | “Desire is death, which physic did except.” | It is ironic that what should heal (desire) actually leads to death, emphasizing the paradox of love. |
| Oxymoron | A figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear together. | “Sickly appetite” | The combination of “sickly” and “appetite” reflects the unhealthy nature of the speaker’s desires. |
| Paradox | A statement that contradicts itself but reveals a truth. | “Desire is death” | The idea that desire, which is typically life-giving, leads to death, reflects the self-destructive nature of obsessive love. |
| Hyperbole | Exaggeration for emphasis or effect. | “Frantic-mad with evermore unrest” | The speaker exaggerates his mental state to convey the depth of his suffering. |
| Caesura | A pause or break in the middle of a line of poetry. | “Past cure I am, now reason is past care” | The pause in this line emphasizes the speaker’s resignation and despair. |
| Antithesis | The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas. | “Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.” | The contrast between the previously idealized view of the beloved and their current description reflects the speaker’s shift. |
| End Rhyme | Rhyming of the final words in two or more lines. | “unrest… expressed” | Creates a sense of unity and closure in the couplet. |
| Enjambment | The continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next without a pause. | “Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill, / Th’ uncertain…” | This enjambment maintains the flow of the poem, mirroring the speaker’s uncontrollable feelings. |
| Assonance | The repetition of vowel sounds within words. | “Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill” | The long “e” and “i” sounds draw attention to the destructive cycle described. |
| Consonance | The repetition of consonant sounds within or at the end of words. | “Thoughts and discourse as madmen’s are” | The repetition of the “s” sound links “thoughts” and “discourse,” emphasizing their chaotic nature. |
| Pun | A play on words that have multiple meanings or similar sounds. | “Physic” | “Physic” refers to medicine but also hints at physical love, creating a double meaning. |
| Tone | The attitude or feeling conveyed by the speaker or writer. | The tone of despair and madness throughout | The tone reflects the speaker’s inner turmoil and the destructive nature of his love. |
| Volta | A rhetorical shift or dramatic change in thought or emotion. | “For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright…” | The volta occurs when the speaker shifts from idealizing his love to expressing disillusionment. |
| Symbolism | The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. | “Black as hell, as dark as night” | The color black symbolizes evil or despair, representing the speaker’s view of his lover at this point. |
Themes: “Sonnet 147: My Love Is as A Fever, Longing Still” by William Shakespeare
- The Destructive Power of Unrequited Love: Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 147” delves into the profound and often devastating consequences of unrequited love. The speaker’s passion, metaphorically described as a “fever,” consumes them, leading to a state of physical and emotional turmoil. The lines “My love is as a fever, longing still” and “Desire is death” vividly illustrate the destructive nature of this unfulfilled desire. The speaker’s love, like a disease, feeds on itself, perpetuating the suffering and ultimately leading to self-destruction.
- The Conflict Between Reason and Passion: The sonnet highlights the internal struggle between reason and passion, a timeless theme explored by countless artists. The speaker’s reason, represented as a “physician,” attempts to intervene and provide a rational perspective on their situation. However, the overwhelming power of their emotions ultimately triumphs, leading to the abandonment of reason. Lines such as “My reason, the physician to my love” and “Past cure I am, now reason is past care” emphasize this conflict, demonstrating the struggle between logic and desire.
- The Illusion of Love: Shakespeare presents a disillusioned view of love in “Sonnet 147,” challenging the idealized notions often associated with this emotion. The speaker initially believes their beloved to be “fair” and “bright,” only to later realize their true nature as “black as hell, as dark as night.” This stark contrast reveals the deceptive nature of love, highlighting the potential for heartbreak and disillusionment. The sonnet suggests that love can be a powerful illusion, blinding individuals to the reality of their beloved’s character.
- The Madness of Love: The sonnet explores the idea that love can drive individuals to the brink of madness, a theme that resonates with many who have experienced intense and unrequited passion. The speaker’s thoughts and discourse become “as madmen’s are,” reflecting the irrationality and intensity of their emotions. Lines such as “And frantic-mad with evermore unrest” and “My thoughts and my discourse as madmen’s are” emphasize this theme, suggesting that love can be a powerful force that can distort perception and lead to irrational behavior.
Literary Theories and “Sonnet 147: My Love Is as A Fever, Longing Still” by William Shakespeare
| Literary Theory | Explanation | Relevant Lines from Sonnet 147 |
| Psychoanalytic Theory | This theory focuses on the unconscious mind and its influence on human behavior. In “Sonnet 147,” the speaker’s intense love and its destructive consequences can be analyzed through a psychoanalytic lens. The sonnet suggests that the speaker’s unconscious desires are driving their actions, leading to self-destructive behavior. | “My love is as a fever, longing still” |
| New Historicism | This theory examines literature within its historical and cultural context. In “Sonnet 147,” the sonnet can be analyzed in relation to the Elizabethan era’s understanding of love, medicine, and the role of reason. The speaker’s comparison of love to a disease and the conflict between reason and passion reflect the cultural beliefs of the time. | “My reason, the physician to my love” |
| Feminist Theory | This theory examines the representation of women in literature and the power dynamics between genders. While “Sonnet 147” does not explicitly focus on women, it can be analyzed through a feminist lens by considering the speaker’s objectification of their beloved and the portrayal of love as a consuming force that can lead to self-destruction. | “For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright” |
Critical Questions about “Sonnet 147: My Love Is as A Fever, Longing Still” by William Shakespeare
· How does Shakespeare portray the conflict between love and reason in “Sonnet 147”?
- In “Sonnet 147,” Shakespeare vividly portrays the conflict between love and reason through the metaphor of illness. The speaker’s love is described as a “fever” that worsens with time, indicating that it is both irrational and destructive (line 1: “My love is as a fever, longing still”). Reason, which is personified as a “physician” (line 5: “My reason, the physician to my love”), is supposed to cure this irrational affection but fails to do so. The speaker admits that reason has been abandoned, leading to emotional chaos (line 6: “Hath left me, and I desperate now approve”). This breakdown of reason leaves the speaker helpless, consumed by love’s destructive power. The internal struggle between rational thought and uncontrollable passion is at the heart of the sonnet, showing how love can overpower the mind and leave one in a state of emotional disarray.
· How does the metaphor of illness contribute to the overall meaning of the poem?
- The metaphor of illness in “Sonnet 147” serves to underscore the destructive and uncontrollable nature of the speaker’s love. The sonnet opens with the comparison of love to a “fever” (line 1), a metaphor that suggests an intense, consuming, and unhealthy passion. This fever “nurseth the disease” (line 2), meaning that the speaker’s desires only worsen his condition, feeding the very thing that makes him suffer. The metaphor continues with the reference to reason as a physician who can no longer provide a cure, indicating that the speaker’s mental and emotional state is beyond help (line 9: “Past cure I am, now reason is past care”). Ultimately, the metaphor highlights how love, when unchecked by reason, becomes a sickness that destroys the self. The comparison to illness not only emphasizes the intensity of the speaker’s passion but also reflects the self-destructive consequences of love that is irrational and obsessive.
· What role does self-delusion play in the speaker’s experience of love?
- Self-delusion is a key theme in “Sonnet 147,” as the speaker realizes that he has deceived himself regarding the true nature of his beloved. The sonnet’s concluding couplet reveals the speaker’s painful awareness of this self-deception (lines 13-14: “For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright, / Who art as black as hell, as dark as night”). Here, the speaker admits that he once viewed his lover as beautiful and virtuous, but now sees her as deceitful and morally corrupt. The imagery of “black as hell” and “dark as night” contrasts sharply with the earlier idealization of the lover as “fair” and “bright,” emphasizing the depth of the speaker’s disillusionment. This sudden realization speaks to the power of love to cloud judgment and foster self-deception, causing the speaker to live in a fantasy that ultimately leads to emotional destruction.
· How does the sonnet explore the theme of madness in love?
- “Sonnet 147” explores the theme of madness in love by portraying the speaker as someone who has lost control over his thoughts and emotions. The speaker confesses that his “thoughts and [his] discourse as madmen’s are” (line 11), suggesting that his obsession with love has driven him to irrationality and mental instability. His speech and reasoning become disordered, “at random from the truth vainly expressed” (line 12), indicating that he is no longer able to distinguish between reality and the delusions created by his passion. The comparison to madness is further reinforced by the metaphor of illness throughout the sonnet, with the speaker’s feverish love escalating into a form of emotional and psychological breakdown. This descent into madness reflects the destructive power of love when it is unrequited or unhealthy, as well as the speaker’s inability to escape its grasp despite recognizing its harmful effects.
Literary Works Similar to “Sonnet 147: My Love Is as A Fever, Longing Still” by William Shakespeare
- “La Belle Dame sans Merci” by John Keats
This poem shares a theme of destructive, unrequited love, where the speaker is consumed by a fatal obsession with an enchanting yet heartless woman. - “When We Two Parted” by Lord Byron
Like “Sonnet 147,” Byron’s poem conveys the emotional suffering of a speaker who feels betrayed and disillusioned by a former lover. - “Love’s Alchemy” by John Donne
Donne’s poem critiques the false promises of romantic love, much like how Shakespeare’s speaker reflects on the self-deception caused by intense desire. - “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe
Poe’s narrative poem delves into the theme of madness driven by loss and longing, paralleling the speaker’s descent into irrationality in “Sonnet 147.” - “The Sick Rose” by William Blake
This short poem uses the metaphor of a rose being destroyed by a worm, echoing the idea of love as an illness that consumes and destroys, much like Shakespeare’s feverish love.
Representative Quotations of “Sonnet 147: My Love Is as A Fever, Longing Still” by William Shakespeare
| Quotation | Context | Theoretical Perspective |
| “My love is as a fever, longing still” | The speaker introduces the metaphor of love as a consuming illness. | Psychoanalytic: The metaphor reflects unconscious desire and the destructive, uncontrollable nature of love. |
| “For that which longer nurseth the disease” | The speaker reveals that his love continues to fuel the very sickness it creates. | Feminist: Love as a self-destructive force could represent the societal pressures to idealize unattainable women. |
| “Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill” | The speaker admits that his desire perpetuates his suffering. | Deconstruction: This line suggests that love is paradoxical, both life-giving and life-destroying. |
| “My reason, the physician to my love” | Reason is personified as a doctor who tries to cure the speaker’s irrational love. | Rationalist: This line reflects the tension between reason and emotion, a central theme in rationalist philosophy. |
| “Hath left me, and I desperate now approve” | The speaker acknowledges that reason has abandoned him, leaving him in a state of desperation. | Existentialist: The abandonment of reason leaves the speaker in a crisis, reflecting existential isolation. |
| “Desire is death, which physic did except” | The speaker suggests that desire leads to death, rejecting the idea that love can be cured. | Freudian: The line reveals the death drive (Thanatos), a deep association between desire and destruction. |
| “Past cure I am, now reason is past care” | The speaker declares that he is beyond saving, having lost control over his emotions. | Tragic: This line highlights the speaker’s tragic realization of his helplessness, evoking themes of tragic downfall. |
| “Frantic-mad with evermore unrest” | The speaker describes his mental state as frantic, driven to madness by his uncontrolled love. | Psychological: The speaker’s madness can be seen as the result of emotional repression and irrational obsession. |
| “My thoughts and my discourse as madmen’s are” | The speaker compares his thoughts to those of a madman, indicating a break from rationality. | Cognitive Dissonance: The speaker’s mental state reflects the internal conflict between idealized love and reality. |
| “For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright” | The speaker admits that he once idealized his lover, but now sees her true nature. | Romantic Disillusionment: The speaker’s realization points to disillusionment with romantic idealization. |
Suggested Readings: “Sonnet 147: My Love Is as A Fever, Longing Still” by William Shakespeare
- “Sonnets.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 48, no. 5, 1997, pp. 743–48. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2871362. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
- Bates, Ernest Sutherland. “The Sincerity of Shakespeare’s Sonnets.” Modern Philology, vol. 8, no. 1, 1910, pp. 87–106. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/432499. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
- Crosman, Robert. “Making Love out of Nothing at All: The Issue of Story in Shakespeare’s Procreation Sonnets.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 4, 1990, pp. 470–88. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2870777. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
- Schalkwyk, David. “‘She Never Told Her Love’: Embodiment, Textuality, and Silence in Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Plays.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 45, no. 4, 1994, pp. 381–407. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2870963. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.