Sonnet 94

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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.

[edit] Synopsis

Sonnnet 94 is seen as being a particularly difficult to interpret. Shakespeare describes a restrained and cold person who has the "power to hurt" but who does not exercise that power. The first two quatrains describe a person who is coldly detached and slow to temptation. This person, the speaker argues, is therefore more likely to inherit the gifts of heaven.

They rightly do inherit heaven's graces

And husband nature's riches from expense;

In the third quatrain, the sonnet then shifts abruptly to a description of a flower, which most scholars believe to be one of Shakespeare's patrons. Shakespeare describes the summer as treasuring the flower - "to the summer sweet", with the flower living unaware of its beauty "Though to itself it only live and die,". This quatrain serves as an attempted explanation for the patron's "unmoved, cold" nature to allow Shakespeare to continue loving him and give him peace of mind. However the speaker reluctanly admits that the young man is guilty of harmful deeds, a "base infection", and is therefore lower (smells worse) than weeds.

[edit] See also

Shakespeare's sonnets

[edit] External links

• Sparknotes analysis of Sonnet 94