In sonnet 134, the speaker again is addressing the dark lady, while lamenting her control over his other self. This time the “other self” is not the spiritual persona, not the Muse, but quite specifically he refers to his male member as “he.” It is quite a common vulgar traditional part of coarse conversation, and both male and females engage it, often even giving names to their private parts.
First Quatrain: “So, now I have confess’d that he is thine”
The speaker complained in sonnet 133 that the lady was imprisoning not only the speaker but also alter ego, his soul-Muse-Talent. The speaker’s identity is so closely bound with his writing that even he at times finds distinguishing them unappealing.
The diction of sonnet 134 however cleverly demonstrates that the speaker is referring to his lower nature or his sex drive; thus, the “he” referred to here is his penis. He tells the lady that he has “confess’d that he is thine.” But because the speaker cannot separate himself from this particular “he,” the speaker is also “mortgag’d to [the lady’s] will.”
The speaker’s sexual arousal causes his entire being to respond and bind itself to the lady. The use of financial terms such as “mortgage” and “forfeit” imply and confirm that the speaker is complaining about physical acts instead of spiritual ones.
The speaker says he will “forfeit” himself, his sexual self, so that he will have “restore[d] to him his other self and his comfort. He implies that giving in to woman sexually will dilute the urge and he can become calm again.
Second Quatrain: “But thou wilt not, nor he will not be free”
But then the speaker admits that engaging in sexual intercourse with her will not free him from her clutches, because she is “covetous.” He knows he will give in to her again. His penis has “learn’d but surety-like to write for me, / Under that bond that him as fast doth bind.” That sex organ “write[s]” for or creates in the speaker the motivation that will urge them both to cling to the woman.
Third Quatrain: “The statute of thy beauty thou wilt take”
The lady will continue to flaunt her beauty to keep the speaker and his penis desirous of her. Again the speaker employs diction that indicates the material, worldly nature of his discourse: “the statute” of her beauty, “thou usurer,” “sue a friend came debtor”—all employ legal and/or financial terms that clearly join the speaker’s conversation to worldly endeavors.
The speaker then admits that he lost control over his sexual urges “through [his] unkind abuse,” that is, he allowed his attention to fall below the waist. He allowed his attraction for the woman’s beauty to stir in him the desire to satisfy the drives that are meant for a sacred purpose, not mere entertainment.
The Couplet: “Him have I lost; thou hast both him and me”
The speaker then laments that, “Him have I lost,” meaning that he has lost control over his male organ.” He tells the woman that she possesses both him and his penis, and while the latter “pays the whole,” punning on “hole,” he is certainly not free but is right there with that body part.
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