Sonnet 132 – Shakespeare

Shakespeare pleads for mercy from the Dark Lady, arguing that her black eyes are most beautiful when they seem to mourn for his suffering. He turns her darkness into compassion, imagining her gaze as the very color of pity. The sonnet transforms cruelty into possible tenderness, insisting that even sorrow can make love more radiant.

Sonnet 132 – Read and Listen

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Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me,
Knowing thy heart torment me with disdain,
Have put on black and loving mourners be,
Looking with pretty ruth upon my pain.

And truly not the morning sun of heaven
Better becomes the grey cheeks of the east,
Nor that full star that ushers in the even
Doth half that glory to the sober west,

As those two mourning eyes become thy face:
O, let it then as well beseem thy heart
To mourn for me, since mourning doth thee grace,
And suit thy pity like in every part.

Then will I swear beauty herself is black,
And all they foul that thy complexion lack.

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Introduction to Sonnet 132

Sonnet 132 continues Shakespeare’s praise of the Dark Lady’s black beauty, but it adds a new emotional desire: pity. The speaker begins by declaring love for her eyes because they seem to mourn for him. Even though her heart torments him with disdain, her eyes appear to show compassion, dressing themselves in black like “loving mourners.”

This is the poem’s central fantasy. Shakespeare imagines the Dark Lady’s gaze as a form of tenderness that contradicts her cruelty. Her eyes become the visible expression of mercy, offering “pretty ruth” (gentle pity) upon his pain. Darkness is therefore not a sign of evil but of compassion, like mourning garments worn for someone suffering.

The sonnet then turns to grand comparisons. Shakespeare says the morning sun does not suit the eastern sky better, nor the evening star the western dusk, than her mourning eyes suit her face. Blackness becomes not merely acceptable but perfectly fitting, a natural harmony.

In the third quatrain Shakespeare makes his request. If mourning grace her face, then let mourning also grace her heart. He asks her to truly feel the pity her eyes pretend to show. The poem ends by returning to the manifesto of Sonnet 127: beauty itself is black, and those who lack her complexion are foul. In Sonnet 132, however, this claim is linked to mercy. The Dark Lady’s darkness becomes the colour of compassion.

Analysis — Sonnet 132

First Quatrain — Eyes That Mourn for the Lover

The opening quatrain focuses on the mistress’ eyes. Shakespeare loves them because they seem to pity him. Although her heart torments him, the eyes behave like mourners.

The phrase “put on black” is important. It suggests both physical darkness and symbolic mourning. Her black eyes become loving mourners, looking with “pretty ruth” upon his pain. The quatrain therefore turns blackness into tenderness: darkness becomes pity.

Second Quatrain — Morning and Evening Glory

The second quatrain develops cosmic comparison. The morning sun suits the grey cheeks of the east; the evening star suits the sober west. These images associate beauty with natural transitions: dawn and dusk.

Shakespeare claims her mourning eyes suit her face even better than these celestial lights suit the sky. This elevates her black eyes into a kind of astronomy: they become the true sources of glory, luminous in darkness.

Third Quatrain — The Plea for True Pity

The third quatrain turns praise into request. If her eyes mourn so beautifully, then her heart should mourn as well. Shakespeare asks her to feel for him, since mourning “doth thee grace.”

The line “suit thy pity like in every part” suggests harmony. Her face already shows mercy; her heart should match it. The quatrain therefore reveals the lover’s hope: he wants her compassion to be real, not merely an appearance.

Final Couplet — Beauty Is Black

The couplet repeats the declaration from Sonnet 127: beauty itself is black, and all they foul that lack her complexion. In this sonnet, the claim is grounded in emotion rather than rebellion.

Beauty is black because blackness here means pity, dignity, and mourning grace. The lover’s ideal of beauty becomes inseparable from the pain she causes and the mercy he longs to receive.

Conclusion

Sonnet 132 is a plea disguised as praise. Shakespeare admires the Dark Lady’s black eyes because they seem to mourn for his suffering, even while her heart remains disdainful. The sonnet therefore turns darkness into compassion: black becomes the colour of pity.

Through comparisons to dawn and dusk, Shakespeare argues that her mourning eyes suit her face with perfect natural glory. He then asks for a deeper transformation: if mourning graces her face, let it also grace her heart.

The poem ends by reaffirming the claim that beauty itself is black. In Sonnet 132, however, black beauty is not only an aesthetic preference—it becomes moral hope. The lover longs for the pity he sees in her eyes to become true mercy within her soul.

Sonetto 132 – In Italiano ·
◀ Sonnet 131 · Sonnet 133 ▶

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