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Sonnets 135 and 136 both focus intensely on punning the word, "Will." The poet, Edward de Vere, uses the nickname "Will" from his pseudonym, William Shakespeare.
The word “will” here means primarily desire, and because the speaker is addressing the object of his intense sexual desire, he conflates his desire with his pseudonymic nickname, “Will,” into a pun. First Quatrain: “Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will” In the opening quatrain of sonnet 135, the speaker tells his dark, attractive mistress that while many other comely women may have mere wishes, she has a strong wish; she has “Will.” The term “will” carries the idea of desire or wish but with an intention, making it a much stronger wish. A mere “wish” may never be acted upon, but a “will” probably will. The expression “the will to live” as opposed to “the wish to live” help the reader understand the difference, that “will” is stronger than “wish.” The speaker seems to think he is flattering the woman by telling her she has the same sexual desire that he does, and he also flatters his own ego by telling her that not only does she have the sexual desire, she also has him and his desire. In his mind, she is thrice blessed: she has her own “will,” she has his “will,” and she has him, who is “Will,” itself. Second Quatrain: “Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious”In the second quatrain, the speaker adds insult to flattery, but at least he frames it as questions: in the first question, he asks her outright for her sexual favors. Avoiding euphemism, he asks her to “vouchsafe to hide my will in thine.“ He then accuses her of promiscuity, which he seeks to offer as an excuse for his own lechery. He reasons that since she satisfies her “will” with others, why should she not do so with him. Third Quatrain: “The sea, all water, yet receives rain still”Seeking to further rationalize the efficacy of the couple’s wills coming together, the speaker compares their wills to the ocean that is “all water,” and still it continues to accept more in the form of rain. The speaker professes that it is a good thing that “abundance addeth to his store.” Seeing that the woman is full of desire, and the speaker is full of desire, the speaker adduces that the combination of all that desire can only multiply the advantages to be had by their coming together to satisfy themselves. The speaker is dramatizing his total immersion in thoughts of the act that he had disdained. He is demonstrating the demonic hold that this worldly “will” has on him and by extension, humankind. The Couplet: “Let no unkind ‘No’ fair beseechers kill”The speaker closes his request by commanding the woman not to turn him down. He insists that his plea is “fair,” and he believes or pretends to fumble about in the idea that he has been perfectly persuasive in his dramatization of desire. He maintains that she should “think all but one, and me in that one Will.” He encourages her to think only of the unity of their strong desires as she includes him in that desire.
The copyright of the article Shakespeare Sonnet 135 in British Poetry is owned by Linda Sue Grimes. Permission to republish Shakespeare Sonnet 135 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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