Sonnet 153

sonnet|153
Cupid laid by his brand, and fell asleep:
A maid of Dian's this advantage found,
And his love-kindling fire did quickly steep
In a cold valley-fountain of that ground;
Which borrow'd from this holy fire of Love
A dateless lively heat, still to endure,
And grew a seething bath, which yet men prove
Against strange maladies a sovereign cure.
But at my mistress' eye Love's brand new-fired,
The boy for trial needs would touch my breast;
I, sick withal, the help of bath desired,
And thither hied, a sad distemper'd guest,
But found no cure: the bath for my help lies
Where Cupid got new fire--my mistress' eyes.

Sonnet 153 is a sonnet by William Shakespeare.

ynopsis

Sonnets 153 and 154 are filled with rather bawdy double entendres of sex followed by contraction of a venereal disease. [(2004)." Sparknotes:No Fear Shakespeare: The Sonnets". New York, NY: Spark Publishing. ISBN 1-4114-0219-7. ] The sonnet is a story of Cupid, who lays down his torch and falls asleep, only to have it stolen by Diana, who extinguishes it in a "cold valley-fountain". The fountain then acquires an eternal heat as a result, and becomes a hot spring where men still come to be cured of diseases. The speaker then states that as his mistress looks at him, Cupid's torch is ignited again, and Cupid tests the torch by trying it on the speaker's heart. The speaker becomes sick with love and wants to bathe in the hot spring to cure himself, but he cannot. The speaker discovers the only thing that can cure his discomfort is a glance from his mistress.

See also: Shakespeare's sonnets

External links

* [http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/153comm.htm Commentary and analysis of the sonnet]
* [http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-169,pageNum-156.html CliffsNotes on the sonnet]

Notes