William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 28 is a deeply introspective piece, focusing on the painful emotional turmoil of separation and the relentless passage of time. It belongs to the Fair Youth sequence of sonnets, and its thematic core revolves around the agony of unfulfilled desire and longing. In this sonnet, the speaker, likely addressing a beloved youth, reflects on how the natural rhythms of day and night mirror his own distress—his sorrow seems to be perpetuated by time itself, as if the universe conspires against his happiness. The poem is imbued with a sense of emotional exhaustion, as the speaker grapples with the dual oppression of day and night, neither of which offer respite.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 28
How can I then return in happy plight
That am debarred the benefit of rest,
When day’s oppression is not eased by night,
But day by night and night by day oppressed;
And each, though enemies to either’s reign,
Do in consent shake hands to torture me,
The one by toil, the other to complain
How far I toil, still farther off from thee?
I tell the day to please him thou art bright
And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven;
So flatter I the swart complexioned night,
When sparkling stars twire not, thou gild’st the even.
But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer,
And night doth nightly make grief’s length seem stronger.
The Structure and Tone of Sonnet 28
Sonnet 28 follows the conventional Shakespearean sonnet structure of 14 lines, divided into three quatrains and a final couplet. It adheres to the traditional rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The meter is iambic pentameter, with ten syllables per line in alternating unstressed and stressed patterns, creating a rhythmic flow that intensifies the speaker’s lamentations.
The tone of the sonnet is one of melancholy and weariness. There is a palpable sense of suffering, with the speaker describing the inescapable torture of separation from his beloved. The use of imagery connected to day and night creates an almost cyclical sense of despair, where time itself becomes the enemy, dragging the speaker further away from solace and peace. There is also an undercurrent of resignation in the speaker’s voice as he tries, but fails, to find relief. The tone oscillates between bitter reflection and a deep, aching sorrow, allowing the reader to feel the weight of the speaker’s emotional and physical exhaustion.
Analysis of Sonnet 28
Lines 1–4
How can I then return in happy plight
That am debarred the benefit of rest,
When day’s oppression is not eased by night,
But day by night and night by day oppressed;
The opening lines immediately establish the speaker’s sense of helplessness. The rhetorical question, “How can I then return in happy plight,” implies a profound state of misery and longing, setting the tone of the entire poem. The phrase “debarred the benefit of rest” suggests that the speaker is denied both physical and emotional rest, perhaps due to the anguish of separation from the person they love. Shakespeare contrasts day and night as oppressive forces that fail to provide relief. The repetition of “day by night and night by day oppressed” introduces a cyclical, almost eternal quality to the speaker’s suffering, suggesting that there is no escape or respite from his emotional turmoil. This cyclical struggle between day and night also mirrors the relentless, ongoing nature of grief or longing.
Lines 5–8
And each, though enemies to either’s reign,
Do in consent shake hands to torture me,
The one by toil, the other to complain
How far I toil, still farther off from thee?
Here, Shakespeare personifies day and night as enemies who, despite being opposites, “shake hands” and collaborate in torturing the speaker. This striking image emphasizes the speaker’s suffering, as the daily toil of life and the long, lonely nights both contribute to his despair. The line “The one by toil” refers to the hardships of the day, while “the other to complain” refers to the solitude and melancholy that night brings. There is a feeling of relentless motion in the speaker’s efforts, yet despite all of this toil, he remains “farther off from thee.” The beloved, who is the object of the speaker’s desire, remains distant and unreachable, further heightening the sense of frustration.
Lines 9–12
I tell the day to please him thou art bright
And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven;
So flatter I the swart complexioned night,
When sparkling stars twire not, thou gild’st the even.
In these lines, the speaker adopts a posture of flattery, trying to appease both day and night by describing the beloved’s beauty in relation to them. The speaker tells the day that the beloved “art bright,” suggesting that their radiance outshines the sun. Similarly, he flatters the night by claiming that the beloved gilds the evening when the stars fail to twinkle. These efforts to praise both day and night, however, are futile; they do not alleviate the speaker’s suffering. These lines emphasize the idealization of the beloved, whose presence seems to improve everything in nature, but the speaker’s longing remains unfulfilled.
Lines 13–14
But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer,
And night doth nightly make grief’s length seem stronger.
In the final couplet, the speaker returns to the theme of unrelenting time. Day exacerbates his sorrow, making it “longer,” while night amplifies his grief. The repetition of “daily” and “nightly” emphasizes the continuity and the inescapable nature of his suffering. There is a sense of time stretching endlessly, with each passing day and night intensifying the speaker’s emotional anguish. The final lines underscore the cyclical nature of the speaker’s pain, trapped within the confines of both time and distance from the beloved.
Conclusion
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 28 explores the tension between the natural world and the human experience of longing. Through the vivid imagery of day and night, the poem reflects on the relentless nature of time and the emotional toll that separation can have. The speaker’s attempts to find solace in the rhythms of day and night are fruitless, as both seem to conspire against him. This sonnet serves as a poignant exploration of the pain of unrequited love or separation, expressing a deep emotional vulnerability while showcasing Shakespeare’s mastery of form and imagery.
