Sonnet 107 – Shakespeare

Shakespeare declares that the fears and prophecies of approaching doom have passed: the “mortal moon” has endured her eclipse, peace has returned, and the beloved’s love can now stand secure. Yet the sonnet remains aware of time’s threat—so the poet seeks permanence in verse, promising that even when death comes, this love will survive as a monument beyond all prediction.

Sonnet 107 – Read and Listen

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Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul
Of the wide world dreaming on things to come,
Can yet the lease of my true love control,
Supposed as forfeit to a confined doom.

The mortal moon hath her eclipse endured,
And the sad augurs mock their own presage;
Incertainties now crown themselves assured,
And peace proclaims olives of endless age.

Now with the drops of this most balmy time
My love looks fresh, and death to me subscribes,
Since, spite of him, I’ll live in this poor rhyme,
While he insults o’er dull and speechless tribes:

And thou in this shalt find thy monument,
When tyrants’ crests and tombs of brass are spent.

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Introduction to Sonnet 107

Sonnet 107 has the tone of a prophecy that has already come true. Shakespeare speaks as if a long season of fear is over: auguries have failed, the threatened catastrophe has passed, and the beloved’s love is no longer under the shadow of doom. The poem therefore reads like a release—an emotional exhale after tension.

The speaker begins by rejecting two sources of anxiety: his private fears and the “prophetic soul” of the world, the collective imagination that is always dreaming about what is to come. Neither can “control” the lease of his true love. In other words, love is no longer rented out temporarily under threat of forfeiture; it has gained security.

Then Shakespeare introduces the sonnet’s striking public imagery. The “mortal moon”—a symbol often linked to unstable political fortune—has endured her eclipse. Sad “augurs” are mocked by their own predictions. The language suggests that history has moved through a dark phase and emerged intact, leaving the interpreters of disaster embarrassed.

A mood of restoration follows. Uncertainty crowns itself assured; peace proclaims olives of endless age. The olive branch evokes reconciliation and permanence, as if the world has regained balance. Against this calmer horizon, Shakespeare dares to make a bolder claim: love can look “fresh,” and even death must acknowledge its endurance.

Yet the sonnet is not naïve. Shakespeare knows that tyrants and empires collapse; monuments of power are spent. For this reason he turns again to his recurring faith: poetry preserves what history destroys. The beloved will find a “monument” in verse, lasting beyond crests and brass tombs. Sonnet 107 thus fuses public time and private devotion, promising that the truest permanence lies not in prophecy, but in the written word.

Analysis — Sonnet 107

First Quatrain — Love Beyond Fear and Prophecy

The opening quatrain frames love as something that cannot be governed. Shakespeare names the two forces that normally control human security: personal anxiety (“mine own fears”) and global prediction (“the prophetic soul / Of the wide world”). Both are powerless before the “lease” of true love.

The metaphor of the lease is crucial. A lease suggests something temporary, bound by conditions, vulnerable to cancellation. Shakespeare admits that his love was “supposed as forfeit” under a “confined doom,” as if destiny had already written its end. The quatrain is therefore haunted by earlier fear, but it asserts a decisive reversal: the contract will not be cancelled.

Second Quatrain — Eclipse Endured and Peace Restored

The second quatrain expands outward from private emotion to cosmic and political symbolism. The “mortal moon” has endured her eclipse. Eclipses were often read as ominous signs in Shakespeare’s era; here the eclipse has happened, yet life continues. The feared darkness did not bring final ruin.

Shakespeare then mocks the “sad augurs,” those who interpret signs and spread dread. Their own presage becomes ridiculous because it failed. The line “Incertainties now crown themselves assured” captures the transformation of the age: the unstable becomes stable, the threatened becomes safe.

Finally, peace “proclaims olives of endless age.” The olive branch is an emblem of lasting reconciliation. Peace is presented not as a pause but as an era—something that offers the beloved’s love room to flourish without constant dread.

Third Quatrain — A Balmy Time and Death’s Concession

The third quatrain opens with renewal: “Now with the drops of this most balmy time / My love looks fresh.” The beloved’s love blooms again, washed by a gentle season. This is not only personal joy; it is relief after survival.

Then the poem makes its boldest claim: “death to me subscribes.” Death signs under the poet, almost like a subordinate agreeing to terms. The reason is poetry itself: Shakespeare declares he will live “in this poor rhyme,” even while death “insults” over the speechless dead.

The phrase “poor rhyme” is deliberately modest. Shakespeare lowers the status of his verse on the surface, but the logic is triumphant: what seems small defeats what seems absolute. Mortality dominates bodies; poetry escapes the grave.

Final Couplet — The True Monument

The final couplet returns fully to the beloved: “And thou in this shalt find thy monument.” The beloved’s permanence is located not in marble or metal, but in the poem. That monument endures even when the mighty collapse.

The closing line makes the contrast explicit: tyrants’ crests and brass tombs will be spent. Power tries to secure immortality with public monuments, yet time erodes them. Shakespeare proposes a quieter eternity: words keep faith longer than empires.

Conclusion

Sonnet 107 is both a historical meditation and a love poem of survival. Shakespeare speaks from the far side of fear, claiming that prophecy and anxiety no longer dictate the duration of his love. The eclipse has passed, peace has returned, and the beloved’s affection can breathe again.

Even so, the poem never forgets time’s violence. What is restored politically may fall again; what seems secure can be spent. In response Shakespeare offers the only permanence he fully trusts: verse. This “poor rhyme” becomes a monument stronger than brass, because it preserves not power but devotion.

The sonnet therefore ends on a promise. Tyrants will vanish, tombs will decay, and predictions will fail—yet the beloved will still be found here, kept alive in language. Sonnet 107 turns love into history’s quiet victor, proving that poetry can outlast both fear and fate.

Sonetto 107 – In Italiano ·
◀ Sonnet 106 · Sonnet 108 ▶

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