Original Poem
No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it, for I love you so,
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot,
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O! if, I say, you look upon this verse,
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse;
But let your love even with my life decay;
Lest the wise world should look into your moan,
And mock you with me after I am gone.
Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it, for I love you so,
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot,
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O! if, I say, you look upon this verse,
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse;
But let your love even with my life decay;
Lest the wise world should look into your moan,
And mock you with me after I am gone.
What it Means
He is telling the one that this poem is directed to that they shouldn’t mourn Shakespeare’s anticipated death. Shakespeare doesn’t want the reader to grieve over him because he would rather have the reader live life loving what there was not woeful about what was lost. Also Shakespeare thinks that the world will mock his love for grieving over him. He wants to make sure love stays on after death. Surprisingly the sonnet was actually addressed to a man, not a woman. The man’s name is Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton and it is guessed that they had a realationship.
How This Ties Into That Era
This sonnet is part of “Fair Youth” That contained sonnets 1-126. The fair youth is a lot about intimacy and love. Also they seemed to love drama. By the way they dressed and their literature was all dramatic. This poem follows suit as in the line “Nay, if you read this line, remember not” pretty much states forget about me. I think this whole poem is a contradiction since he is saying if you read this poem forget of me even though the reader would be thinking of him as he reads the poem.
