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Sonnet XXVII is one of the 154 sonnets writen by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is a member of the Fair Youth sequence in which Shakespeare proclaimed his love to a young man. Sonnets 1-126 are addressed to this young man. The main theme of this sonnet is lust. In the first quatrain of Sonnet No 27 Shakespeare describes his tiredness after travelling when all he wants to do is hurry into his bed so that it can provide his limbs with “dear repose”. But he finds that this is going to be difficult as his mind is quite awake and “starts a journey” in his head.
He cannot stop the thoughts that are entering his mind which are continuing to make his mind work even though his “body’s work” has expired. He uses words like “weary”, “repose” and “expired” to describe how his body is feeling and one could easily imagine a person who has had a hard day at work coming back home and all they want to do is go to bed. He starts thinking about someone in the second quatrain who might be far from where he is but his thoughts travel to that person with the intention of a “zealous pilgrimage”.
The word “zealous” indicates how strong his thoughts are and no matter how much he tries they will keep on thinking about this person. His eyes are heavy with sleep and his eyelids are “drooping” but his thoughts are awake and will not let his eyes sleep but are keeping them wide open. In the third quatrain the night around him is very dark and he cannot see much he uses his “soul’s imaginary sight” to try and see. He compares himself to a blind person and through this “sightless” vision he sees the person of his affections as a shadow.
The shadow despite the darkness reminds him of a “jewel” in the “ghastly night”. It is as if the love of this person brings light into his life. . The poet writes of the young man in romantic and loving language, a fact which has led several commentators to suggest a homosexual relationship between them, while others read it as platonic love. Often, when one is in lust all they can think about is that certain someone in their life. The mind never sleeps, it is active all day, everyday.
Shakespeare is supposed to be talking about love in this poem, but in reality it is more infactuation or lust, that is the main theme in this sonnet. Lust is defined as a yearning or desire; to have a strong or excessive craving for. Shakespeare describes this in great detail, the thought alone of the certain individual is enough to keep him laying awake in bed all night. He is very exhausted, but cannot get to sleep. Often in today’s day young children, individuals in elementary school start engaging in relationships with the opposite sex.
These relationships are often very immature as these kids do not really understand the true meaning of a relationship. They claim to be “in love” and make everything they do in life for that person. They cover personal belongings with the name of their significant others in hearts, and obsess over their significant other. These kids are in actuality, in lust. As people grow older, and mature they learn the real meaning of love. Adults learn to control their lust through experience.