Shakespeare’s Sonnet 33

Although he has been immensely saddened and hurt by the young man, Shakespeare still receives a sort of satisfaction from memories of his love. (9-12)

Shakespeare is beginning to regret his anger, stating that he at least got to enjoy the young man’s “splendor on his brow”(10) for a short time. While he is hurt by the young man, Shakespeare is also offering advice, in a way.

The transition to the next quatrains also acts as a transition in the tone and emotion in Shakespeare’s writing. The young man’s sin has presented an impasse to their love. The young man was his once, and a sense of guilt emerges in Shakespeare’s writing. poet has seen many “glorious mornings”(1), all beautiful and enchanting. Shakespeare and the young man had a somewhat ideal love because physical love was eliminated in their relationship. In the first quatrain, the poet praises the beauty of the morning, and the young man. But a realization of human nature and relationships is what saves Shakespeare’s relationship. Shakespeare criticizes himself for feeling “triumphant”(10) yet “forlorn”(7), “glorious”(10) but “masked”(12). However, Shakespeare continues to comment on how he has seen too many beautiful mornings allow themselves to be stained by clouds. The young man’s beauty is comparable to the beauty of the morning and this conceit will extend to the other qualities Shakespeare finds in the morning in later quatrains. Everyone under “heaven’s sun”(14) knows well that love comes and goes. In earlier sonnets, there is reference to another love interest of the young man’s, most commonly referred to as the Dark Lady.