William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 45 explores themes of love, separation, and the impact of the passage of time on human emotions. Through the metaphor of the “elements” — air, fire, and the speaker’s life-force — Shakespeare crafts a poignant narrative of longing and the cyclical nature of happiness and sorrow. This essay offers a detailed analysis of the structure, tone, and content of the sonnet, focusing on each quatrain and the concluding couplet.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 45
The other two, slight air and purging fire,
Are both with thee, wherever I abide;
The first my thought, the other my desire,
These present-absent with swift motion slide.
For when these quicker elements are gone
In tender embassy of love to thee,
My life, being made of four, with two alone
Sinks down to death, oppressed with melancholy;
Until life’s composition be recured
By those swift messengers returned from thee,
Who even but now come back again, assured
Of thy fair health, recounting it to me.
This told, I joy; but then, no longer glad,
I send them back again and straight grow sad.
The Structure and Tone of Sonnet 45
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 45 follows the traditional form of the English or Shakespearean sonnet, comprising 14 lines divided into three quatrains and a final rhymed couplet. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, and the meter is iambic pentameter, which gives the poem a rhythmic flow and adds to its emotional resonance.
The tone of the sonnet fluctuates between melancholy and joy, encapsulating the complexity of love. The speaker expresses a deep sense of yearning and longing for the beloved, as well as the transient nature of their emotional states. There is a sense of despair when the beloved’s presence is absent, but this is contrasted with fleeting moments of happiness when the beloved’s well-being is assured.
Analysis of Sonnet 45
Lines 1–4
“The other two, slight air and purging fire,
Are both with thee, wherever I abide;
The first my thought, the other my desire,
These present-absent with swift motion slide.”
In the opening quatrain, Shakespeare introduces the “elements” as metaphors for the speaker’s internal state. The “slight air” and “purging fire” represent two vital forces: thought and desire. The speaker suggests that both of these elements — thought (air) and desire (fire) — are always with the beloved, regardless of where the speaker physically resides. This connection emphasizes the speaker’s preoccupation with the beloved, where even the most ethereal and intangible aspects of the mind are constantly linked to them. The phrase “present-absent” indicates the paradoxical nature of these emotions: they are always with the speaker in thought and desire, yet absent in physical presence.
Lines 5–8
“For when these quicker elements are gone
In tender embassy of love to thee,
My life, being made of four, with two alone
Sinks down to death, oppressed with melancholy;”
The second quatrain shifts to a more somber mood, focusing on the absence of the beloved. The “quicker elements” — air and fire — are temporarily gone, as they leave on a “tender embassy of love” to the beloved. The speaker’s life, which is metaphorically composed of four elements (earth, air, fire, and water), becomes incomplete when only two elements — earth (body) and water (emotion) — remain. The loss of thought and desire leads to an overwhelming sense of “melancholy” and the speaker’s metaphorical death. This emphasizes the deep emotional void that is felt when the beloved is absent.
Lines 9–12
“Until life’s composition be recured
By those swift messengers returned from thee,
Who even but now come back again, assured
Of thy fair health, recounting it to me.”
The third quatrain introduces a shift in the tone as the “swift messengers” (thought and desire) return from the beloved, bringing news of their “fair health.” These messengers are metaphorical representations of the speaker’s mental and emotional faculties, which are “recured” or restored upon receiving confirmation of the beloved’s well-being. The return of the messengers symbolizes the renewal of hope and joy in the speaker, as the assurance of the beloved’s health alleviates their anxiety and melancholy.
Lines 13–14
“This told, I joy; but then, no longer glad,
I send them back again and straight grow sad.”
The closing couplet illustrates the cyclical nature of the speaker’s emotions. While the news of the beloved’s health initially brings joy, this joy is fleeting. As soon as the messengers leave to return to the beloved, the speaker’s happiness evaporates, and they are once again overwhelmed by sadness. This cyclical pattern of emotional highs and lows mirrors the transient nature of love and the constant struggle between joy and sorrow in the human experience.
Conclusion
Sonnet 45 delves into the emotional complexities of love, longing, and the search for reassurance from the beloved. Through the use of metaphorical elements such as air, fire, and life’s composition, Shakespeare conveys the speaker’s deep emotional dependency on the beloved. The alternating moods of joy and melancholy, exemplified through the arrival and departure of the “swift messengers,” highlight the ever-changing nature of human emotions in love. This sonnet encapsulates the vulnerability of the speaker and the delicate balance between hope and despair that accompanies unfulfilled longing.
