Shakespeare Sonnet 113

Shakespeare Sonnet 113

Aleksandra Szewczyk

Metaphor

"Since I left you, mine eye is in my mind"

Couplet

Shakespeare compares the eye's function to the mind's function. By saying that his eye is in his mind, he is inferring that his eye lost its ability to work properly and is influenced by his mind. The eye sees what the mind wants it to see.

Incapable of more, replete with you,

My most true mind thus maketh mine eye untrue.

The narrator's mind and eyes are not capable of anything besides thinking/envisioning his/her beloved. As a result, the narrator's mind corrupts his/her vision as the mind dictates what the narrator sees.

5 Literary Devices:

Quatrain 2

Extended Metaphor

Juxtaposition

For it no form delivers to the heart

Of bird, of flower, or shape which it doth latch,

Of his quick objects hath the mind no part,

Nor his own vision holds what it doth catch

• mine eye is in my mind
• For it no form delivers to the heart
• Nor his own vision holds what it doth catch
• My most true mind thus maketh mine eye untrue.

Shakespeare juxtaposes unlike things next to each other to emphasize how everything he sees reminds him of his beloved.

The narrator's eye does not process what it sees, and the things the eye sees do not have any effects on his mind. His/her eyes and mind cannot settle on what he/she is actually seeing. The narrator's eyes have trouble holding on to their visions.

Shakespeare uses the functions of eyes and mind interchangeably throughout the sonnet. As a result, if one of the body parts fails to work, the other one is greatly effected.

Because the narrator is upset as he/she is no longer with his/her love, his/her mind is not functioning well which impairs his/her vision. Everything he/she sees reminds him/her of the loved one.

Rhyme Scheme

Quatrain 3

The rhyme scheme of the Sonnet is : ABAB

CDCD EFEF GG.

Every other line in each quatrain rhymes and the last two lines (the couplet) rhyme with eachother.

Ex:

For if it see the rud'st or gentlest sight,

The most sweet favour or deformed'st creature,

The mountain, or the sea, the day, or night:

The crow, or dove, it shapes them to your feature.

For if it see the rud'st or gentlest sight,

The most sweet favour or deformed'st creature,

The mountain, or the sea, the day, or night:

The crow, or dove, it shapes them to your feature.

Ex.

Since I left you, mine eye is in my mind,

And that which governs me to go about,

Doth part his function, and is partly blind,

Seems seeing, but effectually is out

Anything the eye sees, whether the vision is something beautiful or not, is morphed into the narrator's beloved. The narrator sees his/her love in everything he/she encounters.

Overall theme:

Because the mind and eyes impact one another in a similar way, the absence of the narrator's lover causes him/her to be blinded by love.

Metonymy

Doth part his function, and is partly blind,

Seems seeing, but effectually is out:

For it no form delivers to the heart

Of bird, of flower, or shape which it doth latch,

The heart (an organ most associated with love) plays the role of the brain (an organ that controls bodily functions) in the line above. Shakespeare states that the eyes do not send the visions they see to the "heart"/brain.

Quatrain 1

Since I left you, mine eye is in my mind,

And that which governs me to go about,

Doth part his function, and is partly blind,

Seems seeing, but effectually is out:

Ever since the narrator left his/her beloved, his/her vision was corrupted by his/her mind. Although his/her eyes appear to be working, they are not properly functioning.