EN200
Dr. Howe

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 23 and the Imagery of Parts and Wholes

By Tonya Howe

Shakespeare, Sonnet 23

As an unperfect actor on the stage

Who with his fear is put besides his part,

Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,

Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart.

So I, for fear of trust, forget to say[5

The perfect ceremony of love's rite,

And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,

O'ercharged with burden of mine own love's might.

O, let my books be then the eloquence

And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,[10

Who plead for love and look for recompense

More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.

O, learn to read what silent love hath writ:

To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.

Describing himself as “unperfect” (1) in his ability to express the forms and “ceremon[ies]” (6) of love, the poet pleads with his beloved to read his love in his poetry, which more perfectly expresses what he cannot. But what about the curious pattern of images? What does the poem do that summary cannot?What is the effect of this play of part and whole?

Locating the motifs of part and portion, excess and deficiency, incomplete and overloaded helps us understand the concept of the whole Shakespeare creates. By looking up key words in a historical dictionary, we can more clearly grasp the nuances and subtleties of these motifs.

Shakespeare could be suggesting that only in poetry—or creative expression—can love be perfected. “Perfection” is an illusion, something that the lovers create. Perhaps it is even something that the poet and reader create, together, almost as if they are the real lovers? Perfection is a function of poetry, of “learn[ing] to read…love’s fine wit” (13-14).

Works Cited

"beside, adv and prep." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 24 Nov. 2008 <

"fine, a." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 24 Nov. 2008 <

"overcharge, v." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 24 Nov. 2008 <

"perfect, v." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 24 Nov. 2008 <

"recompense, n." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 24 Nov. 2008 <

Shakespeare, William. “Sonnet 23.” Shakespeare’s Sonnets. By Helen Vendler. Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1999. 45.