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

“Sonnet 138” by William Shakespeare was part of his sonnet sequence, originally published in 1609, comprising 154 sonnets. Prior to this, some of Shakespeare’s sonnets, including sonnets from his play Love’s Labour’s Lost (1597), appeared in a poetry anthology called The Passionate Pilgrim, published by William Jaggard in 1598 or 1599. By the time the sonnets were published as a complete sequence, Shakespeare had become a noteworthy figure in the London theater scene.

Shakespearean sonnets follow a specific rhyme scheme and meter within 14 lines. A key figure in the English Renaissance, Shakespeare was influenced by a number of Italian and English sonneteers (writers of sonnets), including Francesco Petrarch, Thomas Wyatt, Philip Sidney, and Edmund Spenser. “Sonnet 138” explores the themes of Truth and Lies, Age and Experience, and The Nature of Love.

Poet Biography

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1564. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582, and they had three children: Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet. Hamnet, who was twin to Judith and Shakespeare’s only son, died in 1596 at the age of 11, possibly due to the bubonic plague. By 1592, still a young man under 30, Shakespeare was well-known as an actor and playwright in London.

Shakespeare is primarily known for his plays. While his first literary publication was the poem Venus and Adonis in 1593, Titus Andronicus was his first play to be published, in 1594. Starting in 1599, Shakespeare’s acting company was based in the Globe Theatre. This company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, eventually became the King’s Men when James I took the throne. Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are just a few examples of Shakespeare’s plays that have endured—they have been, and continue to be, read and performed frequently.

Shakespeare also earned patronage through his poetry. His narrative poetry includes Venus and Adonis, as well as Lucrece, which were dedicated to the Earl of Southampton. The Earl, Henry Wriothesley, became Shakespeare’s patron after the publication of these poems, and the poems were generally popular in Renaissance England. Shakespeare’s sonnets, which are now more famous than his narrative poems, were originally not as well received.

Some scholars believe that Shakespeare’s sonnets contain clues about his life. For example, there has been much speculation over the identities of the Rival Poet, Fair Youth, and Dark Lady featured in Shakespeare’s sonnets. Shakespeare may have been bisexual, or pansexual, in that he writes love poetry to both the Fair Youth and the Dark Lady. Other scholars argue that the sonnets are not autobiographical.

Shakespeare died in 1616. The first complete collection, or folio, of his works was published posthumously in 1623.

Poem Text

When my love swears that she is made of truth,

I do believe her, though I know she lies,

That she might think me some untutored youth,

Unlearnèd in the world’s false subtleties.

Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,

Although she knows my days are past the best,

Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:

On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.

But wherefore says she not she is unjust?

And wherefore say not I that I am old?

Oh, love’s best habit is in seeming trust,

And age in love loves not to have years told.

   Therefore I lie with her and she with me,

   And in our faults by lies we flattered be.

Shakespeare, William. “Sonnet 138.” 1609. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

“Sonnet 138,” like most Shakespearean sonnets, contains 14 lines. The speaker of the poem addresses a beloved, the Dark Lady, who is referred to with only the pronouns she and her. In the first line, the speaker, who is generally considered to be Shakespeare himself, describes how his unnamed beloved claims to be telling the truth.

In the second line, the speaker asserts the opposite. Even though he is aware that she is lying, he believes her.

In the third line, the speaker considers his beloved’s lies, which currently include her opinion of his age. The speaker pretends to believe the lies so that she might perceive him as uneducated and immature, or younger than his years.

The fourth line is a continuation of the third. The speaker wants his beloved to think that he is an innocent youth, that he has not experienced such subtle deceptions before.

In the fifth line, the speaker explains that his vanity is what makes him want his beloved to perceive him as young.

The sixth line reveals the truth: The speaker is past his prime.

In the seventh line, the speaker describes how he supports his beloved’s lies about his age.

In the eighth line, the speaker acknowledges that they are both lying about his age.

The ninth line presents a question: Why does the beloved not admit to lying and being unjust?

In the 10th line, the speaker asks why he does not simply admit to being old himself.

The 11th line offers an answer to these questions: One of the best qualities of love is that it includes the appearance of honesty and fidelity.

This idea is continued in the 12th line. Love also contains the desire for secrecy, or flattery, about aging.

In the 13th line, the speaker uses the word “lie” in two senses: He and his beloved lie about his age, as well as lie in bed together.

The 14th line is an assertion that flattery makes them both feel good about their faults.