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SONNET 124If my dear love were but the child of state,It might for Fortune's bastard be unfather'd As subject to Time's love or to Time's hate, Weeds among weeds, or flowers with flowers gather'd. No; it was builded far from accident; It suffers not in smiling pomp, nor falls Under the blow of thralled discontent, Whereto the inviting time our fashion calls: It fears not policy, that heretick, Which works on leases of short-number'd hours, But all alone stands hugely politick, That it nor grows with heat nor drowns with showers. To this I witness call the fools of time, Which die for goodness, who have liv'd for crime. NOTES CXXIV. Apparently in continuation. The poet declares that his love for his friend is not subject to the mutations which attend courtiers and state affairs. It was not the result of accident or policy; and it fears not the scythe of Time. 1, 2. If my love were the child of state, it might have yielded up its position in relation to the state to whatever Fortune, in her endless changes, might produce. 3. As subject to Time's love or to Time's hate. That is, as being the "fool of Time" (line 13). 4. To be cut down by the scythe of Time at his pleasure, and accordingly, as hated or loved, to lie a weed among weeds, or a flower among flowers. 5. No; it was builded, &c. Reverting probably to the pyramid spoken of in the last Sonnet. 6. Smiling pomp. Notice that the idea of "state" is still kept in view. 7. Under the blow of thralled discontent. Alluding pretty evidently to the discontent existing after the death of Essex. The discontent was "thralled," as being kept down and held in subjection. 8. The custom and usage of our time invites to such discontent. 9. That heretick. As seeking separately its own interests. 11, 12. But all alone, &c. Here again we have the pyramid of the last Sonnet. Politick seems here equivalent to self-sufficing, desiring no increase or extension, and fearing no enemies, like a well-ordered city or state. Cf. Much Ado, Act v. sc. 2, lines 63, 64, "So politic a state of evil that they will not admit any good part to intermingle with them." 13, 14. The fools of Time, &c. Those whom Time does what he likes with. They "die for goodness," alluding to the popular repute of Essex as the "good Earl," notwithstanding the "crimes" for which he and certain of his companions were executed. Cf. cxvi. 9. How to cite this article:______ Even More...  Stratford School Days: What Did Shakespeare Read? Games in Shakespeare's England [A-L] Games in Shakespeare's England [M-Z] An Elizabethan Christmas Clothing in Elizabethan England Queen Elizabeth: Shakespeare's Patron King James I of England: Shakespeare's Patron The Earl of Southampton: Shakespeare's Patron Going to a Play in Elizabethan London Ben Jonson and the Decline of the Drama Publishing in Elizabethan England Shakespeare's Audience Religion in Shakespeare's England Alchemy and Astrology in Shakespeare's Day Entertainment in Elizabethan England London's First Public Playhouse Shakespeare Hits the Big Time
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