William Shakespeare‘s Sonnet 118 is a reflection on the complexities of love, self-deception, and the consequences of trying to anticipate or prevent perceived problems in a relationship. As part of the Fair Youth sequence, the sonnet explores themes of self-inflicted harm through an overreaction to a potential issue, using medical and culinary metaphors to emphasize the dangers of premature intervention in love.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 118
Like as to make our appetites more keen
With eager compounds we our palate urge;
As to prevent our maladies unseen
We sicken to shun sickness when we purge;
Even so, being full of your ne’er-cloying sweetness,
To bitter sauces did I frame my feeding;
And, sick of welfare, found a kind of meetness
To be diseased ere that there was true needing.
Thus policy in love, t’ anticipate
The ills that were not, grew to faults assured,
And brought to medicine a healthful state
Which, rank of goodness, would by ill be cured.
But thence I learn, and find the lesson true:
Drugs poison him that so fell sick of you.
The Structure and Tone of Sonnet 118
The sonnet follows the traditional Shakespearean sonnet form, comprising 14 lines written in iambic pentameter, with the rhyme scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGG. This structure supports the sonnet’s reflective tone, with its development from a series of metaphorical images to a final, sharp realization. The tone shifts from analytical to regretful, as the speaker begins with theoretical musings about love and self-care but ultimately moves to a confession of misjudgment. The use of metaphors, such as culinary and medicinal imagery, adds a layered texture to the argument, inviting the reader to consider the speaker’s actions and their broader implications in love.
Analysis of Sonnet 118
Lines 1-4
“Like as to make our appetites more keen
With eager compounds we our palate urge;
As to prevent our maladies unseen
We sicken to shun sickness when we purge;”
In these opening lines, Shakespeare introduces a parallel between love and the act of overcompensating for perceived problems. The speaker compares human appetites to a palate that is “urged” by “eager compounds,” referring to food and medicine used to stimulate or suppress the senses. The first metaphor suggests that, in love, just as we might force ourselves to consume something more intense or stimulating to sharpen our desires, we also might go to extreme lengths to avoid hypothetical maladies—perhaps emotional or relational difficulties—by “purging” ourselves beforehand. The speaker likens the instinct to overreact in matters of health and appetite to the impulse to overcorrect in love. The metaphor here introduces the notion of preemptively dealing with something that might never materialize.
Lines 5-8
“Even so, being full of your ne’er-cloying sweetness,
To bitter sauces did I frame my feeding;
And, sick of welfare, found a kind of meetness
To be diseased ere that there was true needing.”
In these lines, the speaker shifts the metaphor to more specific terms of love. The “ne’er-cloying sweetness” refers to the lover’s constant, unflagging affection, which the speaker initially finds satisfying but ultimately seeks to temper. The speaker introduces “bitter sauces,” indicating a desire to challenge or complicate the relationship, perhaps in an effort to prevent complacency or overindulgence. In this way, the speaker is not content with the natural state of love and, instead, feels the need to introduce a kind of discomfort (“sick of welfare”) in order to avoid the potential stagnation of comfort and familiarity. The idea of making oneself “diseased ere that there was true needing” suggests a tendency to bring about trouble or dissatisfaction before it actually arises, in a misguided attempt to “prevent” it. This reflects a flawed logic of anticipating problems in a relationship that, in fact, did not exist.
Lines 9-12
“Thus policy in love, t’ anticipate
The ills that were not, grew to faults assured,
And brought to medicine a healthful state
Which, rank of goodness, would by ill be cured.”
The speaker now addresses the concept of “policy in love”—the act of strategically preparing for or managing a relationship. The policy here is one of overanticipation, seeking to preempt problems that had not yet materialized (“ills that were not”). However, in doing so, the speaker acknowledges that this strategy creates problems (“grew to faults assured”). The phrase “brought to medicine a healthful state” uses medical imagery to imply that by introducing unnecessary treatment (emotional or psychological), the speaker transforms a healthy, stable relationship into one that requires “medicine,” or correction. The “rank of goodness” suggests that the relationship, which might have been healthy in its natural state, has been corrupted by unnecessary intervention. The logic here is clear: by trying to prevent potential pain, the speaker inadvertently brings it into existence.
Lines 13-14
“But thence I learn, and find the lesson true:
Drugs poison him that so fell sick of you.”
In the final couplet, the speaker arrives at a self-reflective conclusion. The “drugs” of the earlier metaphor, representing both the self-inflicted discomfort and the unnecessary complications introduced into the relationship, ultimately prove toxic. The speaker confesses that it was his own actions—his attempt to “cure” the relationship— that have caused harm. The line “poison him that so fell sick of you” is a poignant realization that by prematurely creating issues in the relationship, the speaker has poisoned himself, not the other person. This final line underscores the tragic irony of the situation: in seeking to preemptively fix a relationship, the speaker has created the very problems he sought to avoid.
Conclusion
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 118 explores the consequences of overreacting to potential problems in love. Using metaphors of appetite, medicine, and sickness, the speaker reflects on how premature actions—whether driven by fear of complacency or a desire to avoid future emotional pain—can damage a relationship. Ultimately, the speaker learns that excessive intervention, driven by misguided policy or strategy, can lead to self-inflicted harm. The sonnet provides a timeless lesson on the dangers of overcompensating in love, emphasizing that love, like health, requires balance and trust rather than constant manipulation or unnecessary correction. Through its careful use of imagery and thoughtful structure, the poem offers a clear message about the consequences of overthinking and prematurely addressing non-existent issues.
