Sonnet 43

“Sonnet 43” (“When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see”) was written by William Shakespeare between 1593 and 1594. It was first published in a 154-sonnet volume titled Shakespeare’s Sonnets, in 1609. Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest English authors of all time, and worked steadily as prominent playwright and poet from 1592 to 1613. Often called the Bard-of-Avon, or the Bard, Shakespeare’s fame rests mostly on his output as a writer of 39 plays—including Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and Macbeth. However, early in his career—due to the bubonic plague that caused the shuttering of London theatres—Shakespeare wrote a significant amount of poetry. From 1593 to 1594, he published two epic poems Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. These latter poems gained him patronage, reputation, and wealth, which was then solidified by the reopening of the theatres and his subsequent prolific output of drama.

Shakespeare’s plays feature songs, sonnets, and other poems. “Sonnet 43” is contained in a subgroup of 126 sonnets that are known as the “Fair Youth” portion of the Shakespeare’s Sonnets collection. This sequence is addressed from a speaker to another young man, a friend or lover of the speaker, who eventually betrays the speaker by seducing the speaker’s mistress. The poems detail the speaker’s feelings on love and loss. There is much speculation on whether the sonnets are autobiographical or a fictional rendering. Regardless of the speaker’s identity, “Sonnet 43” is a close study of desire, absence, and longing.

Note: This guide makes references to the common phrasing regarding characters in the sonnets (The Fair Youth, The Dark Lady, and The Rival Poet) as if they reoccur (See: Background).

Poet Biography

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England in 1564, to John Shakespeare, a bailiff and glove-maker, and Mary Arden, the wealthy daughter of a landowner. His exact birthdate is unrecorded, but it is traditionally observed as April 23. It is believed he was educated at the King’s New School in Stratford.

In November of 1582, 18-year-old Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years his senior. Six months later, Anne gave birth to their first child, Susanna. Their twins, Hamnet and Judith, arrived in 1585, although Hamnet would die at age 11. Besides the birth of his children, little is known of Shakespeare’s life at this time, other than he may have served as a schoolmaster or law clerk.

By 1592, records appear that show Shakespeare was working in London on the professional stage as an actor or writer. Due to the bubonic plague, the theatres were shuttered from 1592 to 1594. In the meantime, Shakespeare turned to poetry. His epic poem Venus and Adonis appeared in 1593 and earned patronage from the young Earl of Southampton, Henry Wriothesley, to whom Shakespeare dedicated the poem. This work proved to be popular and earned favor from other established poets of the day, including Sir Walter Raleigh. The Earl of Southampton also sponsored The Rape of Lucrece (1594). Some of Shakespeare’s sonnets were also composed during this time, although they were not published until 1609.

In 1594, after the lifting of quarantine, Shakespeare joined a group of players named the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, who exclusively performed his work. By 1597, Shakespeare was a wealthy and renowned playwright and actor and his name began appearing on title pages as a selling point for print editions. He divided time between London and Stratford. In 1599, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men built their own theatre called the Globe. From 1590 to 1609, most of Shakespeare’s key plays were performed—including, but not limited to, the historical Henry plays, Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus, The Taming of the Shrew, Love Labour’s Lost, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Hamlet, Measure for Measure, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. In 1603, when the theatre group was awarded a royal patent by King James I, they became the King’s Men.

From 1603 to 1610, however, the bubonic plague again intermittently shut down theaters during outbreaks, especially in 1609, the year Shakespeare’s Sonnets was published. Unlike Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece in his early career, the collection of sonnets was not republished and met with little notice at the time. After the quarantine, Shakespeare returned to the theatre, but production slowed. He wrote only Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest, from 1609 to 1610. Henry VIII, The Two Noble Kinsmen, and a lost play, Cardenio, were co-written with John Fletcher for the King’s Men. Shakespeare retired in 1613, just months before the Globe theatre burned down in June.

On March 26, 1616, Shakespeare revised his will. He died approximately one month later, on April 23, 1616, due to unknown causes. He was 52. He was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Poem text

When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,

For all the day they view things unrespected;

But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,

And darkly bright are bright in dark directed.

Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,

How would thy shadow’s form form happy show

To the clear day with thy much clearer light,

When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so!

How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made

By looking on thee in the living day,

When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade

Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay!

All days are nights to see till I see thee,

And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.

Shakespeare, William. “When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see (Sonnet 43).” 1609. Poets.org.

Summary

The speaker notes that when they sleep, they feel they have the truest vision of their life and emotions. Throughout the day, they view what surrounds them as lacking passion or value. However, in their sleep, they are visited by their absent beloved, who lights up the night. The beloved’s brilliance chases away the other shadows, both physical and emotional, and becomes omnipresent. The speaker loves seeing the beloved this way, so much so that they doubt whether they would prefer seeing the beloved in flesh and blood. In their sleep, the lover stays with the speaker, and the latter can forget that they are alone. For the speaker, days and nights are reversed—they live for their imaginary reunion with their beloved during their dreams.