William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 40 is a complex and emotionally charged poem from his sequence of 154 sonnets. Addressed to the “Fair Youth,” the poem belongs to the group of sonnets that explore themes of love, betrayal, forgiveness, and the tangled emotional life of the speaker. Sonnet 40 in particular presents a deeply personal moment in which the speaker confronts a painful betrayal: his beloved has been unfaithful, seemingly with one of the speaker’s own lovers. This betrayal, however, is met not with fury, but with a mix of melancholy, philosophical resignation, and a poignant willingness to forgive.
The poem’s richness lies not only in its emotional complexity but also in its formal mastery. In traditional Shakespearean sonnet form, the poet guides the reader through layers of emotional transformation, balancing accusation and affection. This sonnet is both a lament and an appeal — a cry of hurt layered with continued devotion. Below, we examine the structure, tone, and content of the poem in detail.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 40
Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all;
What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?
No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call;
All mine was thine before thou hadst this more.
Then if for my love thou my love receivest,
I cannot blame thee for my love thou usest;
But yet be blamed, if thou thyself deceivest
By wilful taste of what thyself refusest.
I do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief,
Although thou steal thee all my poverty;
And yet, love knows, it is a greater grief
To bear love’s wrong than hate’s known injury.
Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows,
Kill me with spites, yet we must not be foes.
Structure and Tone of Sonnet 40
Structure
Sonnet 40 follows the classic Shakespearean sonnet form: it comprises three quatrains (four-line stanzas) and a rhymed couplet at the end. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The poem is written in iambic pentameter, the standard meter for Shakespeare’s sonnets, giving it a rhythmic and musical quality that heightens the emotional expressiveness.
The poem unfolds in a logical progression:
- Quatrain 1 introduces the central betrayal and poses a rhetorical question.
- Quatrain 2 delves into philosophical reasoning about the nature of love and ownership.
- Quatrain 3 shifts into a more emotional, plaintive tone as the speaker offers forgiveness.
- The final couplet provides a paradoxical resolution, where love remains despite injury.
Tone
The tone of Sonnet 40 is wounded but restrained, accusatory but affectionate. Shakespeare conveys a blend of grief, sarcasm, bitterness, and ultimately reluctant forgiveness. Though the speaker has been wronged, he continues to address the beloved tenderly (“my love,” “gentle thief”), suggesting that love endures even when it has been betrayed. The poem avoids open anger, leaning instead into a tone of resigned sorrow and emotional complexity.
Poetry Analysis: Line-by-Line Breakdown
Lines 1–4 (Quatrain 1)
Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all;
What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?
No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call;
All mine was thine before thou hadst this more.
Summary: The speaker begins with a striking gesture of generosity — telling the beloved to “take all my loves.” However, this gift is ironic and sorrowful. He argues that nothing new has been gained because his love was already wholly given. The speaker questions whether the love now acquired — through betrayal — can be considered “true love.”
Analysis:
- The repetition of “love” plays on its multiple meanings: romantic partner, affection, and the beloved person.
- The tone is layered with sarcasm (“What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?”) — suggesting a betrayal that added nothing of true value.
- The logic here is paradoxical: if the speaker already loved the youth completely, what purpose was there in taking more?
Lines 5–8 (Quatrain 2)
Then if for my love thou my love receivest,
I cannot blame thee for my love thou usest;
But yet be blamed, if thou thyself deceivest
By wilful taste of what thyself refusest.
Summary: Here, the speaker distinguishes between love as feeling and love as possession or action. He seems to absolve the beloved of blame for loving someone the speaker also loved. However, he notes that if the beloved knowingly indulged in this betrayal, he is guilty of self-deception and moral failing.
Analysis:
- There is a philosophical debate at play: if all love is shared, is there room for jealousy?
- The clever repetition of “my love” in various contexts creates ambiguity: is the speaker referring to his affection, his lover, or both?
- The phrase “wilful taste” implies conscious wrongdoing, suggesting that while the act may be forgiven, the intention behind it is not.
- This quatrain shifts toward more explicit criticism, albeit couched in logical reasoning.
Lines 9–12 (Quatrain 3)
I do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief,
Although thou steal thee all my poverty;
And yet, love knows, it is a greater grief
To bear love’s wrong than hate’s known injury.
Summary: The speaker continues with the metaphor of theft, calling the beloved a “gentle thief” who has stolen what little he had — his love. He forgives the act but expresses that betrayal in love causes more pain than open hatred.
Analysis:
- The oxymoron “gentle thief” expresses the contradictory feelings of the speaker: hurt yet affectionate.
- “All my poverty” suggests emotional vulnerability — the speaker had little left, and even that was taken.
- The couplet within the quatrain (“it is a greater grief / To bear love’s wrong…”) encapsulates the emotional core of the sonnet — betrayal by a beloved wounds more deeply than enmity.
- The poem here approaches the height of emotional expression, laying bare the speaker’s inner suffering.
Lines 13–14 (Final Couplet)
Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows,
Kill me with spites, yet we must not be foes.
Summary: In the final couplet, the speaker addresses the beloved as a paradox: someone who makes even vice appear virtuous (“lascivious grace”). Despite the pain caused, the speaker insists that they “must not be foes.”
Analysis:
- The term “lascivious grace” encapsulates the speaker’s conflicted view of the beloved: morally flawed but irresistibly charming.
- “Kill me with spites” conveys the emotional destruction the speaker suffers, yet the poem ends not in anger, but in a plea for continued connection.
- The conclusion is deeply tragic — the speaker seems to accept continued harm in exchange for love.
Conclusion
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 40 offers a stunning exploration of emotional contradiction: love persists even amid betrayal. The poem’s rhetorical sophistication, tightly woven metaphors, and deft use of tone create a psychological portrait of a lover torn between pain and devotion. Structured with classical precision and charged with raw emotional undercurrents, Sonnet 40 reminds us that the heart rarely follows logic — it forgives even when it breaks.
This sonnet stands as a testament to Shakespeare’s ability to articulate the most intimate of human experiences in just fourteen lines — with elegance, complexity, and enduring power.
Related topic:
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29: Full Analysis