Sonnet 138: When my love swears that she is made of truth

Shakespearean sonnets are short love lyrics that consist of three quatrains (groups of four lines) and an ending couplet (two lines). “Sonnet 138” focuses on flattery surrounding the age of the speaker. It is considered one of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady sonnets. The speaker’s beloved (romantic partner) is only referred to with the pronouns she and her, and the speaker is usually read as Shakespeare himself.

In the first quatrain (first four lines), the speaker introduces the theme of Truth and Lies. He believes the lies that his “love” (Line 1), or romantic partner, swears are truths. However, at the same time, he is aware that she is lying. This makes the second line of the sonnet—“I do believe her, though I know she lies” (Line 2)—a paradox. These lies are later revealed to be white lies, or flattery, surrounding his age. In the first two lines, though, the speaker is presented as willingly participating in his beloved’s deception. Lies are something Shakespeare associates with acting, or performance, throughout his work. The Nature of Love is partially a performance of falsehood that is intended to flatter the lover. Externally, he acts as if he believes her, while, internally, he knows the truth.

In the third and fourth lines, the speaker reveals what his beloved is lying about—his age. He also reveals that he participates in this deception—by appearing to believe her—so that she “might think [him] some untutored youth” (Line 3), hoping that she will characterize him as young and inexperienced. The beloved’s part in the performance, therefore, is to pretend outwardly that the speaker is not as old as he truly is. This develops the theme of Age and Experience, as well as Truth and Lies. The ideal of beauty includes being young in Renaissance England. In other words, to be called young is considered flattering. Furthermore, innocence, which is often tied to youth, is considered attractive. The speaker uses the words “untutored” (Line 3) and “Unlearnèd” (Line 4). This can refer to both worldly experience and formal education. Inexperienced means that he is unfamiliar with flattery, and thus can believe the beloved’s lies. She participates in his external performance of belief with assertions that he is not worldly.

In the second quatrain, the speaker admits that his belief in his beloved’s lies is vain. He, “vainly thinking that she thinks [him] young” (Line 5), wants to appear youthful. This develops the theme of Truth and Lies by categorizing the desire to be flattered as sinful—pride being one of the seven deadly sins in Christian teachings. The repetition of “thinking” and “thinks” (Line 5) illustrates how the speaker imagines himself through the beloved’s eyes, or mind. One aspect of the Nature of Love is how the beloved perceives, or at least appears to perceive, the speaker in flattering ways. Despite knowing his age, she caters to his vanity and pride by conveying that she believes he appears young. Youth is portrayed as the best time of life, and thus considering someone young—when they are not—is sinful flattery.

The speaker defines being older as when his “days are past the best” (Line 6). This develops the theme of Age and Experience. Experience is not as valuable or desirable as youth and innocence; therefore, part of appearing young is feigning ignorance. This can be seen in the repetition of the diction (word choice) of “simple” in Lines 7 and 8. “Simple” can be read as a term for something that is uncomplicated or clear, as well as a term for a person who is ignorant. The speaker’s actual age is a “simple truth” (Line 8), or straightforward fact. However, he “Simply” (Line 7) accepts his beloved’s lies, performing youthful innocence for her. In this way, there is deception “On both sides” (Line 8). Paradoxically, the speaker’s use of dual meanings demonstrates how well he understands language, or, in other words, is not simple.

In the third quatrain, the speaker looks at what he and his beloved have claimed, then moves beyond his relationship to consider the Nature of Love. He wonders “wherefore says she not she is unjust?” (Line 9) and “wherefore say not I that I am old?” (Line 10). The syntax of these questions obscures their meaning. In this way, they can be contrasted with the “simple truth” (Line 8) discussed in the previous quatrain. To parse them out, the word “wherefore” does not mean “where” but “why,” or “for what purpose.” The speaker is therefore questioning why (“wherefore”) his beloved does not admit (“says she not”) that she is dishonest (“she is unjust”). The speaker also asks himself why (“wherefore”) he does not admit (“say not I”) that he is in fact old (“that I am old”). Here, the speaker and his beloved are set up similarly—both of them continue to deny their deceit.

In Lines 11 and 12, the speaker develops the theme of the Nature of Love. After focusing on the dynamic of his specific relationship, he asserts that this kind of deception is common. He says, “Oh, love’s best habit is in seeming trust” (Line 11, emphasis added). In other words, mutual deception, or flattery, is the best practice for lovers. Neither will admit that they are lying about his age, which makes the lying not just an acceptable habit but the best habit. This is because “age in love loves not to have years told” (Line 12). The speaker desires to keep his age a secret or, rather, his age itself wants to remain a secret. Being in love with his dark, deceptive lady is part of feeling young for the speaker.

The final couplet fixates on the dual meaning, or pun, of “lie” (Lines 13, 14). Lying is not only deception but also a way of being in bed with a lover. The speaker says, “I lie with her and she with me” (Line 13). This refers to both their shared deception and their sexuality. Making this pun most obvious at the end of the poem allows the reader to go back to previous uses of the word in the sonnet and see if this second meaning applies. In Line 2, when the speaker says, “I do believe her, though I know she lies,” he could be referring to sexual activity as well as flattery. Moreover, flattery is part of sexual activity as a form of foreplay. The poem ends on this idea—that “in our faults by lies we flattered be” (Line 14). The Nature of Love is to turn the shortcomings of one’s partner into positive qualities through flattery. Lying about age leads to lying in bed together.