QUICK SUMMARY
Shakespeare portrays himself as a devoted servant to the youth, waiting endlessly and unquestioningly for affection or attention.
Full Poem: Sonnet 57 (1609) By William Shakespeare
Being your slave, what should I do but tend
Upon the hours and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend,
Nor services to do, till you require.
Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour,
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,
Nor think the bitterness of absence sour
When you have bid your servant once adieu.
Nor dare I question with my jealous thought
Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,
But, like a sad slave, stay and think of nought
Save, where you are how happy you make those.
So true a fool is love that in your will,
Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.
Analysis
Sonnet 57 examines the emotional inequality between Shakespeare and the youth, revealing a relationship defined by deep affection, unbalanced devotion, and quiet suffering. Shakespeare portrays himself as someone whose identity, time, and emotional energy revolve entirely around the beloved. The sonnet reflects love at its most vulnerable: steadfast, patient, and painfully unreciprocated.
Devotion Framed as Servitude
The sonnet opens with the striking declaration, “Being your slave,” a phrase that shapes the emotional atmosphere of the poem. Shakespeare positions himself in a role of complete obedience, suggesting that his life’s purpose is to tend to the youth’s desires. This language of servitude is not merely dramatic; it reveals a deep emotional submission, presenting love as something that renders the speaker powerless.
This devotion also strips the poet of autonomy. He claims to have “no precious time” of his own and no duties except those assigned by the youth. His identity is entwined with the beloved’s wishes, reflecting a love that demands constant availability.
The Burden and Beauty of Waiting
Time becomes an important symbol. Shakespeare describes waiting as a “world-without-end hour,” a phrase that captures both the weight and expansiveness of longing. The poet watches the clock, measuring absence minute by minute, yet insists he dares not “chide” the delay. Through disciplined patience, he tries to convert loneliness into loyalty.
This portrayal highlights a central tension: love motivates the waiting, but love also intensifies the pain of it. The youth’s absence becomes a space where devotion must prove itself through endurance.
Jealousy Without Accusation
In the third quatrain, Shakespeare acknowledges his own jealousy but refuses to act on it. He will not question where the youth goes, nor imagine what he might be doing. His promise not to interrogate or speculate shows a kind of emotional restraint that feels both noble and tragic. The poet chooses silence, even when silence wounds him.
This self-imposed suppression deepens the sense of inequality. The beloved is free, while the poet is bound. The youth’s movements remain unchallenged, while the poet remains stationary, absorbed in thoughts of the joy the youth brings to others.
The Self-Blinding Nature of Love
The final couplet delivers the poem’s most revealing insight:
“So true a fool is love that in your will, / Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.”
Here Shakespeare admits that love is irrational and self-deluding. No matter what the youth does—even if he acts with indifference or cruelty—love will interpret it kindly. The poet is aware of his own emotional blindness, yet the awareness does not free him from its hold.
This ending elevates the sonnet from a personal confession to a universal observation about human desire. Love makes fools even of those who understand its power.
Why This Sonnet Resonates Today
Sonnet 57 continues to speak to modern readers because its emotional experiences are timeless. Anyone who has loved more intensely than they were loved in return recognizes the feeling of waiting, hoping, and excusing. Shakespeare captures the paradox of devotion: it is simultaneously beautiful and self-negating. Through restrained language, compact imagery, and emotional honesty, the sonnet reveals how love can elevate the beloved while diminishing the lover.
