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Shakespeare Sonnets

Sonnet XXIII

As an unperfect actor on the stage,
Who with his fear is put beside his part,
Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;
So I, for fear of trust, forget to say
The perfect ceremony of love's rite,
And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,
O'ercharged with burthen of mine own love's might.O! let my looks be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,
Who plead for love, and look for recompense,
More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.
   O! learn to read what silent love hath writ:
   To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.
Having committed himself perhaps more than he intended, the poet now has to explain why at times he is tongue-tied inhis love's company. It is, he says, mainly due to the magnitude of his love, the hugeness of it being such that it becomes like a burden almost too large to carry. He is like an actor who cannot remember his lines, or a wild beast in a fury thrashing around in futility, unable to achieve anything. Let his love come to the rescue by understanding his looks, how they speak silently, how they foretellthe store of love which is buried within, even more so than that other (poet? lover?) who is so glib with his tongue. Although love is blind, he has the ability, if he wishes, to hear with his eyes.
Commentary
1. As an unperfect actor on the stage,
unperfect = not knowing his lines perfectly, inadequately rehearsed. Perhaps also a poor actor.
2. Who with his fear is put beside his part,with his fear = out of fear; accompanied by fear.
put beside his part = distracted so that he does not remember his part. To be beside oneself is to be in a state of mental turmoil.
3. Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
some fierce thing = some wild animal;
replete with too much rage = being overfull of rage.
4. Whose strength's abundance weakens his ownheart;
The excess of rage gives the wild animal an abundance of strength, but it lacks control or direction, so that effectively it weakens the animal. The image is that of futility in defence.
heart = courage, determination.
5. So I, for fear of trust, forget to say
for fear of trust = fearing to trust myself, or, afraid of the trust you have placed in me.
6. The perfectceremony of love's rite,
perfect - echoes unperfect from l.1.
ceremony of love's rite = the celebration of our love with typical interchange of loving words. There is of course more than a hint here of the marriage ceremony and its declarations. Possibly also a hint of sexual hesitancy, traditional between new lovers, even though the focus is on the inability to speak. Q gives thespelling right, adding the suggestion of marital rights or rites. There could be a humorous side to this confession.
7. And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,
The comparison with the over-angry beast continues. Possibly also a reference to impotence.
8. O'ercharged with burthen of mine own love's might.
O'ercharged with = overladen with; to charge an animal (a pack horse forexample) is to load it.
burthen = burden. An alternative spelling.
mine own love's might = the violence, power, strength of my love. Alternatively, it could be read as a reference to the domineering (sexual?) power of his lover, if one takes mine own love as the youth, rather than as 'the love I have for you'.
9. O! let my looks be then the eloquence
looks - Q gives books,which is retained by many editors. See GBE p.136.n.9 for arguments contra Q's reading. It is not decisive either way, but I find this reading slightly more emotive than the more bookish books. The fact that looks can plead more eloquently than the glib tongue of line 12 is more in tune with the spirit of the sonnets than to suggest that those same sonnets, which elsewhere the poet denigrates, and...