Poem 002

William Shakespeare

SONNET 138
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 untutor'd youth,
Unlearned 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 suppress'd.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, 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 flatter'd be.

SONNET 138	PARAPHRASE
When my love swears that she is made of truth	When my mistress swears that she is faithful
I do believe her, though I know she lies,	I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutor'd youth,	That she might think I am some inexperienced youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.	Ignorant of all the deceit that exists in the world.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,	Thus foolishly thinking that I am still young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,	Although she knows that my best days are behind me,
Simply I credit her false speaking tongue:	Foolishly I give credit to the untruths she tells about me;
On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd.	So that both of us are supressing the ugly truth.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?	But why does she not tell me that she is unfaithful?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?	And why do I not admit that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,	O, love's best disguise is the pretence of truth,
And age in love loves not to have years told:	And older lovers do not like to have their age pointed out:
Therefore I lie with her and she with me,	That is why I lie to her and she to me*,
And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be.	And the lies we tell each other help us forget our respective faults.

ANALYSIS

[Line 13]* Notice the double meaning of 'lie'. The line can also be interpreted as "That is why I sleep with her and she with me."

In Sonnet 138 the poet candidly reveals both the nature of his relationship with the dark lady and the insecurities he has about growing older. Unlike his intense affair with his other lover -- who is the subject of the earlier sonnets and likely the real-life Earl of Southampton -- the poet's affair with his mistress is (for now) uncomplicated and practical; it fulfills his most basic needs of both sexual pleasure and continual reassurance that he is still worthy of love despite his age. The Sonnets as a whole show us that Time was Shakespeare's great nemesis and, although the dominant theme in Sonnet 138 is the comfort that lies bring to an insecure mind, a discourse on the ravages of time is once again present. A variation of Sonnet 138 was originally included in The Passionate Pilgrim (1599), along with Sonnet 144. There are minor differences between the two poems and for those who wish to do a comparison of the two I reprint it here