Love's Lustful Loss of Innocence
             Chris Isaac once wrote in his song, "Wicked Game," "The world was on fire, nobody could save me but you. Strange what desire makes foolish people do." Like the potent authority desire establishes in Isaac's lyrics, two loves of equal attraction, one pure and angelic, and one corrupt, carnal and demonic, dominate and complicate the speaker's every lustful, love-filled and worrisome thought in Sonnet 144. Unlike many sonnets of Shakespeare's day, it is a beautiful young man who is the cardinal figure of love, desire and innocence rather than the gorgeous young lady. In contrast as well, a sexually promiscuous and destructive temptress rather than the beautiful heroine of honor and integrity becomes the culprit who attempts to steal the speaker's boyhood angel from his side. However, like Isaac's song, Shakespeare's Sonnet 144 is an example of love's powerful control over the human mind and body where the corrupting influences of every man's deep-seated lustful desires rest.
             In the first quatrain, Shakespeare establishes one of the primary themes in this sonnet, which is that of control. More specifically, it is the control that stems from love and lust's natural power to exploit all human beings' inherent ability to love and desire. In these first four lines, the speaker discusses his internal battle between lust's strong irrational influence and his own logical reasoning. It is clear here that though the speaker is fonder of his assumed schoolboy lover, or the "better angel" as he refers, than his dark mistress, or the "worser spirit," both impose their strong lustful control over him by arousing his desire-soaked heart. However, in lines one and two he notes that though one of his loves may be of "comfort," and the other of "despair," they are both like ...