Shakespeare Sonnet 119
What potions have I drunk of Siren tears
The speaker in sonnet 119 does not directly address his Muse, but instead is lamenting to himself his faults and griefs, while intending that the Muse overhear his confession.
First Quatrain: “What potions have I drunk of Siren tears”
The reader will note that both the first and second quatrains are exclamatory questions, something like the outburst, “What is wrong with me!” He exclaims that he has been a loser in times when he thought he would win, and he blames the losing outcome on having “drunk of Siren tears / Distill’d from limbecks foul as hell within.”
He metaphorically describes his inner failure of thought as a concoction that an alchemical sorcerer would manufacture in attempting to turn a base metal into gold. The speaker, of course, is referring to his thoughts and feelings: he has tried to turn “fears to hopes” and “hopes to fears.” Yet for all his inner turmoil, he has only become bogged down in error.
Second Quatrain: “What wretched errors hath my heart committed”
The “wretched errors” of his heart allowed him to overlook that well-known fact he has always been “blessed.” He has allowed himself to lose his intuition while engaging in superficiality. This whorl of flaws seemed to cause “[his] eyes out of their spheres to be fitted,” that is, misplaced. He has allowed himself to become sidetracked by a “madding fever.” Out of gross error, he has looked in the wrong places for the inspiration that he needs to complete his work.
Third Quatrain: “O benefit of ill! now I find true”
The third quatrain finds the speaker exclaiming again, but this time his exclamation answers his earlier exclamatory questions. He discovers that the illness caused by his earlier errors is actually helpful, and he exclaims, “O benefit of ill!” He understands again that the pairs of opposites that operate on the physical level of existence can, in fact, become valuable teachers.
He finally understands, “That better is by evil still made better.” In order to comprehend the good and the true, the artist needs to have the contrast of the bad and the false, which is evil. The speaker continues his analogy by likening the comparison to love: “ruin’d love, when it is built anew, / Grows fairer than at first, more strong, far greater.”
The Couplet: “So I return rebuk’d to my content”
The speaker then avers that he after comes back to his “content” which is his own level of spiritual understanding and his own conscience, he realizes how much he has gained. His own sphere of activity, including his Muse, offers him at least three times the enjoying of other worldly endeavors.
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