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Sonnet 94 by William Shakespeare

Analysis

"Sonnet 94" is a poem written by William Shakespeare. In this poem, Shakespeare talks about his love of a young man. Sonnets from 87-96 are considered as part of the "Fair Youth" sonnets where Shakespeare speaks of a young man who was ready to abandon him and not go through with his promises and being unreliable. This is why he says "For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds".

"Sonnet 94" is written in the rhyme scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGG and each line is written in iambic-pentameter. This type of poem is known as the Shakespearean Sonnet in modern times.

Poem

Sonnet 94
By William Shakespeare

They that have power to hurt, and will do none,
That do not do the thing they most do show,
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow;
They rightly do inherit heaven's graces,
And husband nature's riches from expense;
They are the lords and owners of their faces,
Others, but stewards of their excellence.
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,
Though to itself, it only live and die,
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds.

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Next: Sonnet 116

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