SparkNotes Preferences  |  Shopping Cart  |     |  Checkout  |  Help

No Fear Shakespeare
brought to you by Barnes & Noble
Read the Study Guide: Sonnets
Get the book: Buy it online at Barnes & Noble
Tell a friend: Email this page
Sonnets
No Fear Shakespeare
NAVIGATE  

 Previous Page Next Page 
Original Text Modern Text
 Sonnet 61
  Is it thy will thy image should keep open
  My heavy eyelids to the weary night?
  Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken,
  While shadows like to thee do mock my sight?
  Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee
  So far from home into my deeds to pry,
  To find out shames and idle hours in me,
  The scope and tenor of thy jealousy?
  O no; thy love, though much, is not so great.
  It is my love that keeps mine eye awake,
  Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,
  To play the watchman ever for thy sake.
                  For thee watch I whilst thou dost wake elsewhĂ©re,
                  From me far off, with others all too near.
Sonnet 61
Was it your intention that I should stay awake all night thinking about you? Do you want my sleep to be interrupted while I'm tantalized by mental images of you? Are you sending your spirit far from its home to pry into my dealings, to find out the shameful things I've been up to in idle hours? Are you jealous? Oh, no: Though you love me a great deal, you don't love me that much. It's my love for you that's keeping me awake. My own true love keeps me from sleeping—staying up worrying about you. I stay up for you, while you are awake somewhere else: far away from me, but all too close to certain other people.

 Previous Page Next Page 
IPOD SPARKNOTES
Read SparkNotes on your iPod.
More...
Message Boards
Ask a question on the SparkNotes community boards.
Shakespeare
Staging Shakespeare's Plays

SparkCharts
Printable, portable charts on this subject.
Shakespeare

 
 
It's the only book you'll need to beat the new SAT.
More...
 
Read the complete texts of Shakespeare's plays along with an easy to understand translation.
More...
 
 
No Fear Shakespeare
NAVIGATE