Sonnet 154

sonnet|154
The little Love-god lying once asleep
Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand,
Whilst many nymphs that vow'd chaste life to keep
Came tripping by; but in her maiden hand
The fairest votary took up that fire
Which many legions of true hearts had warm'd;
And so the general of hot desire
Was sleeping by a virgin hand disarm'd.
This brand she quenched in a cool well by,
Which from Love's fire took heat perpetual,
Growing a bath and healthful remedy
For men diseased; but I, my mistress' thrall,
Came there for cure, and this by that I prove,
Love's fire heats water, water cools not love.

Sonnet 153 and Sonnet 154 are based upon a poem attributed to the Greek poet Marcianus Scholasticus. The poem describes how Cupid has his love brand stolen by nymphs. Sonnet 153 and Sonnet 154 are described as Anacreontic, after the name of a Greek writer who wrote love poems.

The poem not only presents a different version of the traditional Petrarchan mistress, but rather a Dark Lady (from sonnet 127-154). This sonnet also flouts the idea that the poet can make the subject immortal through the authorship of their work. [Duncan-Jones, Katherine. "Playing Fields or Killing Fields: Shakespeare's Poems and Sonnets." Shakespeare Quarterly 54(2003): 127-141. p.141] The portrayal of the mistress in this work is different than those of any previous Renaissance sonneteers because it abandons the courtly love tradition where the poet elaborately celebrates the worth of his unattainable lover.. [Duncan-Jones, Katherine. "Playing Fields or Killing Fields: Shakespeare's Poems and Sonnets." Shakespeare Quarterly 54(2003): 127-141. p.141]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/154comm.htm Shakespeare's sonnet guide to Sonnet 154]