Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Let me excuse thee: ah, my love well knows

Her pretty looks have been mine enemies;

And therefore from my face she turns my foes,

That they might elsewhere dart their injuries:

 

-Sonnet 139

Line 11

Here is the third quatrain of the Sonnet 139. Since each quatrain is built around one thought, it seems reasonable to give you those four lines together. Q1 one addresses the lover, asking that he or she not wound the writer of the sonnet by looking at him. Q2 asks him or her to just tell the writer that he or she loves someone else, don’t show him. The third quatrain, above, admits that his love is indeed sparing him the pain of his or her looks, but the final couplet pleads the opposite – for him or her to just go ahead and put him out of his misery.

Yet do not so; but since I am near slain,

Kill me outright with looks, and rid my pain.

 

Well, what do you think? No pic today, just words. And hopefully thoughts.