Sonnet 138: When my love swears that she is made of truth

Shakespearean sonnets are short love lyrics that consist of three quatrains (groups of four lines) and an ending couplet (two lines). “Sonnet 138” focuses on flattery surrounding the age of the speaker. It is considered one of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady sonnets. The speaker’s beloved (romantic partner) is only referred to with the pronouns she and her, and the speaker is usually read as Shakespeare himself.

In the first quatrain (first four lines), the speaker introduces the theme of Truth and Lies. He believes the lies that his “love” (Line 1), or romantic partner, swears are truths. However, at the same time, he is aware that she is lying. This makes the second line of the sonnet—“I do believe her, though I know she lies” (Line 2)—a paradox. These lies are later revealed to be white lies, or flattery, surrounding his age. In the first two lines, though, the speaker is presented as willingly participating in his beloved’s deception. Lies are something Shakespeare associates with acting, or performance, throughout his work. The Nature of Love is partially a performance of falsehood that is intended to flatter the lover.