Sonnet 147

• This will be your final opportunity to go over answers in class.

• Final overall instructions:

• Answer the questions as written!! (pay attention to line numbers)

• Reference specific evidence by using quotes

• Write in full complete sentences

• The last question is an extended response! Write a full paragraph!

According to lines 1-4, is the speaker in love with the

subject of the sonnet? Why or why not? (Refer to specific

evidence from the section to best support your answer)

Yes, he is in love with her. He uses a simile to

compare his love to a “fever longing still”

which means that it persists, and also that he

“nurseth the disease” and “preserve[s] the ill”,

showing he is trying to stay sick, ie, stay in love.

According to the speaker in lines 5-8, what is the

speaker’s problem? Explain in full. (refer to specific

evidence from the section to best support your answer)•His problem is his reason, or ability to think, has

left him because he did not listen to it and cure himself of his love. He says his “reason is my physician” and he “hath left me”; as a result, he knows that “desire is death” and knows his love will be the death of him.

In the space below, translate lines 9-10. Then, provide

explanation as to how these lines represent the turn of

the sonnet.

• Past cure I am, now reason is past

care,

And frantic-mad with evermore

unrest,

• I am past the point of being

cured, and no longer care about it

And I am crazy with unending

anxiety and lack of rest

• He has now accepted

that his love is bad for

him, and has realized it

has hurt him beyond

bearing.

What is the speaker’s purpose in comparing

himself to someone to a “mad man” in line 11?

•A mad man is a crazy person, and this is how he views himself as a result of his love. He is emphasizing that his love has driven him crazy. “Mad man” also has negative connotations, which furthers that he does not like that this has happened to him.

In lines 13-14, what does the speaker compare the

subject to and why does he make this comparison?

•For I have sworn

thee fair, and thought

thee bright,

Who art as black as

hell, as dark as night.

• He compares her to something “fair”

and “bright” ie, beautiful things, but

then states she is in reality “black as

hell, as dark as night”. He does this

to demonstrate that he originally

thought she was wonderful, but now

has had an epiphany and realizes she

is terrible.