William Shakespeare‘s Sonnet 31, part of the Fair Youth sequence, explores the complex themes of love, loss, and remembrance. Through rich imagery and poetic devices, the sonnet expresses the speaker’s intense emotions, contemplating the nature of love and the immortality of affection through time. By examining its structure, tone, and specific lines, we can gain a deeper understanding of Shakespeare’s exploration of the emotional consequences of love and its transcendence.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 31
Thy bosom is endearèd with all hearts
Which I by lacking have supposèd dead,
And there reigns love and all love’s loving parts,
And all those friends which I thought burièd.
How many a holy and obsequious tear
Hath dear religious love stol’n from mine eye,
As interest of the dead, which now appear
But things removed that hidden in thee lie.
Thou art the grave where buried love doth live,
Hung with the trophies of my lovers gone,
Who all their parts of me to thee did give;
That due of many now is thine alone.
Their images I loved I view in thee,
And thou, all they, hast all the all of me.
The Structure and Tone of Sonnet 31
Sonnet 31 follows the traditional Shakespearean sonnet form, comprising 14 lines written in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, which is typical of Shakespeare’s sonnets. The structure is divided into three quatrains and a concluding couplet, which is consistent with Shakespeare’s use of this form to present a problem or situation and then resolve it in the final two lines.
In this sonnet, the first 12 lines are a reflection on love and its persistence beyond death, while the final couplet offers a resolution of sorts—highlighting the immortality of love through the speaker’s enduring feelings. The shift from contemplation to conclusion is evident, mirroring the speaker’s emotional journey.
The tone of the poem is melancholic yet affectionate. The speaker mourns lost love but simultaneously finds solace in the idea that love transcends death. The speaker conveys a deep reverence for love that is lost but not forgotten, with the tomb imagery suggesting that love, though seemingly “dead,” continues to live in memory. There is a tender devotion in the tone, underscoring the enduring nature of love.
Analysis of Sonnet 31
Lines 1–4
“Thy bosom is endearèd with all hearts
Which I by lacking have supposèd dead,
And there reigns love and all love’s loving parts,
And all those friends which I thought burièd.”
In these opening lines, the speaker begins by addressing the subject of the poem (likely the Fair Youth, a young man whom Shakespeare often addressed in his sonnets). The phrase “Thy bosom is endearèd with all hearts” suggests that the speaker’s love is being kept alive by the person to whom the poem is addressed. The speaker claims that the heart of the addressee has become a vessel of all the love that the speaker once thought was lost. The phrase “by lacking have supposèd dead” refers to the speaker’s belief that, by being apart from the addressee, love and friendships had died, but this perception is contradicted by the presence of love “reigning” in the bosom of the youth.
The “friends which I thought burièd” are those who have passed away or disappeared, but the speaker finds them alive within the person he loves. Here, Shakespeare introduces a paradox: although love may appear to be gone, it is sustained and revived through memory and through the enduring affection the speaker holds.
Lines 5–8
“How many a holy and obsequious tear
Hath dear religious love stol’n from mine eye,
As interest of the dead, which now appear
But things removed that hidden in thee lie.”
The speaker reflects on the tears he has shed, describing them as “holy and obsequious,” suggesting that they are the product of deep reverence and submission to love. These tears, he implies, were shed in mourning for a love that seemed lost (“interest of the dead”). However, the tears are not just expressions of sorrow—they also reveal an ongoing connection to the past. The phrase “things removed that hidden in thee lie” evokes the idea that the love and memories of the past, though outwardly gone, are “buried” or hidden within the person addressed in the poem. This speaks to the persistence of love across time, suggesting that the speaker’s deep feelings for those who have passed away are now encapsulated in the love of the living person.
Lines 9–12
“Thou art the grave where buried love doth live,
Hung with the trophies of my lovers gone,
Who all their parts of me to thee did give;
That due of many now is thine alone.”
These lines introduce the metaphor of the addressee as a “grave” in which “buried love doth live.” While the word “grave” may initially suggest death and finality, here it represents a repository for the speaker’s past loves—memories that continue to reside in the person he loves. The “trophies of my lovers gone” refer to the emotions, memories, and experiences the speaker has had with previous lovers, which are now preserved in the addressee. The phrase “Who all their parts of me to thee did give” suggests that the speaker’s past lovers have contributed their affections, pieces of their identities, and love to the addressee. By this logic, the love of many is now concentrated in this one person, making the speaker’s feelings for them uniquely complete.
This section emphasizes that the speaker’s past loves are not forgotten but are revived and “live” in the form of the person to whom the poem is addressed.
Lines 13–14
“Their images I loved I view in thee,
And thou, all they, hast all the all of me.”
In the final lines, the speaker concludes by stating that he sees the images of his past lovers in the person he loves. This is a profound declaration that the beloved has become a repository for all the emotions, identities, and experiences the speaker has had. The use of “all the all of me” suggests that the speaker has invested every part of his being—his love, his identity, and his emotions—into the person he addresses. The beloved is not only the physical embodiment of these past loves but also the keeper of the speaker’s entire emotional life.
This final couplet reinforces the idea that love, while it may seem to die, is never truly lost but continues to live on in new forms and through new connections.
Conclusion
Sonnet 31 is a reflection on the enduring nature of love, even in the face of death and loss. Shakespeare uses powerful imagery and metaphor to convey the persistence of affection and the way memories and past relationships are incorporated into the present. By exploring the relationship between the speaker and the person he addresses, the poem offers a poignant meditation on love’s capacity to transcend time and death, suggesting that all forms of love are ultimately unified in a shared experience of remembrance and connection. Through this sonnet, Shakespeare affirms that love, once given, continues to live on in different forms, whether through memory or through the living person who carries that love forward.
