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Sonnet 138

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sonnet 127

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Sonnet 152

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Sonnet 12

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Sonnet 66

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Sonnet 71

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Sonnet 137

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Rhyme Scheme
Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes, a
That they behold, and see not what they see? b
They know what beauty is, see where it lies, a
Yet what the best is take the worst to be. b
If eyes, corrupt by over-partial looks, c
Be anchored in the bay where all men ride, d
Why of eyes' falsehood hast thou forged hooks, c
Whereto the judgment of my heart is tied? d
Why should my heart think that a several plot, e
Which my heart knows the wide world's common place? f
Or mine eyes, seeing this, say this is not, e
To put fair truth upon so foul a face? f
In things right true my heart and eyes have erred, g
And to this false plague are they now transferred. g
Stanza Analysis
"Sonnet 137" includes three quatrains and a couplet giving it 14 lines. The first three stanzas are setting up the message the speaker is trying to convey by using a personal experience along with the questions he asks himself. In these quatrains, he talks about his infatuation with a woman that leads him to love her. However, the couplet answers the questions by saying that he has been a fool the whole time but still loves her. The first three stanzas are similar, but the couplet has a different tone.
First Stanza
Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes,
That they behold, and see not what they see?
They know what beauty is, see where it lies,
Yet what the best is take the worst to be.
Second Stanza
If eyes, corrupt by over-partial looks,
Be anchored in the bay where all men ride,
Why of eyes' falsehood hast thou forged hooks,
Whereto the judgment of my heart is tied?
Third Stanza
Why should my heart think that a several plot,
Which my heart knows the wide world's common place?
Or mine eyes, seeing this, say this is not,
To put fair truth upon so foul a face?
Conclusion
Shakespeare uses the same rhyme scheme and meter as usual in this sonnet to show how deceiving looks can be and how dangerous infatuation is to the human heart. Infatuation leads the speaker to fall for the wrong woman who cannot be faithful to one man. He lost his chance to find a faithful woman because he was so bias to looks.
Background
This sonnet comes from the second part of his sequence where he describes a young woman and the way he sees her. Though it seems that the speaker is talking to one specific woman, he could be speaking about all promiscuous women in general.
Fourth Stanza
In things right true my heart and eyes have erred,
And to this false plague are they now transferred.
Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes,
That they behold, and see not what they see?
They know what beauty is, see where it lies,
Yet what the best is take the worst to be.
If eyes, corrupt by over-partial looks,
Be anchored in the bay where all men ride,
Why of eyes' falsehood hast thou forged hooks,
Whereto the judgment of my heart is tied?
Why should my heart think that a several plot,
Which my heart knows the wide world's common place?
Or mine eyes, seeing this, say this is not,
To put fair truth upon so foul a face?
In things right true my heart and eyes have erred,
And to this false plague are they now transferred.
Sonnet 137
Kirsten Broussard
Structure
"Sonnet 137" is written in classical sonnet form because it contains 14 lines. Shakespeare also uses iambic pentameter as his meter which is also common to other sonnets.
By personifying Love, the speaker blames him (Love) misleading him through outer beauty. However, Cupid was thought to be blind, so he could be referring to Cupid doing this to him. Either way, Love interferes with him seeing beauty correctly through his own eyes.
The speaker's vision has been corrupted because he is bias to the looks of the woman. However, he is spending all of his time looking at a woman who attracts all men. He also expresses that the woman has used her looks to make her love him although she is the wrong person to love.
Here, the speaker asks himself why he has fallen for a woman who will never belong to one man alone. She belongs to all men because she's so promiscuous. He also ask himself why he's acting like her promiscuity does not exist. She has a beautiful face but a rotten virtue
In the couplet, he resolves his problem by saying that his eyes have fooled his heart, but it's too late because he already loves the woman despite her promiscuous ways.
Shakespeare makes this sonnet along with his others specific to his style by using his own unique rhyme scheme. "Sonnet 137" is no exception.
u / u / u / u / u /
Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes

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Rhyme SchemeThou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes, aThat they behold, and see not what they see? bThey know what beauty is, see where it lies, aYet what the best is take the worst to be.

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