Shakespeare's Sonnets (1923) Yale/Text/Sonnet 134

by William Shakespeare

For other versions of this work, see Sonnet 134 (Shakespeare).

Layout 2

134

So, now I have confess'd that he is thine,
And I myself am mortgag'd to thy will,
Myself I'll forfeit, so that other mine
Thou wilt restore, to be my comfort still: 4
But thou wilt not, nor he will not be free,
For thou art covetous and he is kind;
He learn'd but surety-like to write for me,
Under that bond that him as fast doth bind. 8
The statute of thy beauty thou wilt take,
Thou usurer, that putt'st forth all to use,
And sue a friend came debtor for my sake;
So him I lose through my unkind abuse. 12
Him have I lost; thou hast both him and me:
He pays the whole, and yet am I not free.

 

3 other mine: other self
5 nor he will not be free: nor does he wish freedom
7 He learn'd . . . me: he released me by pledging himself as security
9 statute of thy beauty: bond giving possession obtained by thy beauty
10 to use: to interest
11 came: who became
12 my unkind abuse: unnatural wrong done to me