Sonnet 153: Cupid Laid By His Brand And Fell Asleep
Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep:
A maid of Dian’s this advantage found,
And his love-kindling fire did quickly steep
In a cold valley-fountain of that ground;
Which borrowed from this holy fire of Love,
A dateless lively heat, still to endure,
And grew a seething bath, which yet men prove
Against strange maladies a sovereign cure.
But at my mistress’ eye Love’s brand new-fired,
The boy for trial needs would touch my breast;
I, sick withal, the help of bath desired,
And thither hied, a sad distempered guest,
But found no cure, the bath for my help lies
Where Cupid got new fire; my mistress’ eyes.
Line 1:
“Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep:”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Cupid: The Roman god of love.
- Brand: Torch or flame, symbolizing love’s fire.
Explanation:
The speaker begins by describing Cupid setting aside his torch and falling asleep. This line sets the stage for the mythological narrative that follows, introducing the theme of love’s power and its consequences.
Line 2:
“A maid of Dian’s this advantage found,”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Maid of Dian’s: A follower of Diana, the Roman goddess of chastity and the hunt.
- Advantage: Opportunity.
Explanation:
A chaste maiden, a follower of Diana, takes advantage of Cupid’s slumber. This line introduces the idea of love’s fire being manipulated or controlled by external forces.
Line 3:
“And his love-kindling fire did quickly steep”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Love-kindling: Igniting or arousing love.
- Steep: Submerge or soak.
Explanation:
The maiden submerges Cupid’s torch in water, symbolizing the attempt to extinguish or control the power of love. This line highlights the tension between love and chastity.
Line 4:
“In a cold valley-fountain of that ground;”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Valley-fountain: A spring or stream in a valley.
Explanation:
The maiden dips the torch in a cold fountain, emphasizing the contrast between the heat of love and the coolness of chastity. This line reinforces the theme of opposing forces.
Line 5:
“Which borrowed from this holy fire of Love,”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Borrowed: Took or derived.
- Holy fire of Love: The divine or sacred flame of Cupid’s torch.
Explanation:
The fountain absorbs the heat from Cupid’s torch, transforming it into something new. This line introduces the idea of love’s power being transferred or repurposed.
Line 6:
“A dateless lively heat, still to endure,”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Dateless: Eternal or timeless.
- Lively heat: Vigorous or enduring warmth.
Explanation:
The fountain retains the eternal heat of love’s fire, symbolizing the enduring and transformative power of love. This line emphasizes the lasting impact of love’s energy.
Line 7:
“And grew a seething bath, which yet men prove”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Seething: Boiling or bubbling.
- Prove: Discover or experience.
Explanation:
The fountain becomes a boiling bath, which men discover has healing properties. This line introduces the idea of love’s power being channeled into something beneficial.
Line 8:
“Against strange maladies a sovereign cure.”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Strange maladies: Unusual or mysterious illnesses.
- Sovereign cure: Supreme or effective remedy.
Explanation:
The bath is said to cure strange illnesses, symbolizing the transformative and healing power of love. This line reinforces the theme of love’s positive potential.
Line 9:
“But at my mistress’ eye Love’s brand new-fired,”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Mistress’ eye: The beloved’s gaze.
- New-fired: Reignited or rekindled.
Explanation:
The speaker shifts to his own experience, describing how his beloved’s gaze reignites Cupid’s torch. This line connects the mythological narrative to the speaker’s personal experience of love.
Line 10:
“The boy for trial needs would touch my breast;”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Boy: Cupid.
- Trial: Test or experiment.
- Needs would: Insisted on.
Explanation:
Cupid, reignited by the beloved’s gaze, insists on testing his power by touching the speaker’s heart. This line emphasizes the irresistible and transformative nature of love.
Line 11:
“I, sick withal, the help of bath desired,”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Sick withal: Ill because of this.
- Desired: Sought or wished for.
Explanation:
The speaker, afflicted by love, seeks the healing powers of the bath. This line highlights the physical and emotional impact of love on the speaker.
Line 12:
“And thither hied, a sad distempered guest,”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Thither: To that place.
- Hied: Hurried.
- Distempered: Disturbed or disordered.
Explanation:
The speaker rushes to the bath as a troubled and disordered guest, emphasizing his desperation and emotional turmoil.
Line 13:
“But found no cure, the bath for my help lies”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- Cure: Remedy or relief.
Explanation:
The speaker discovers that the bath cannot cure him, as the source of his affliction lies elsewhere. This line underscores the unique and personal nature of his love.
Line 14:
“Where Cupid got new fire; my mistress’ eyes.”
Difficult Words Meaning:
- New fire: Reignited flame.
Explanation:
The speaker concludes that the true source of his cure lies in his beloved’s eyes, where Cupid’s torch was reignited. This line encapsulates the sonnet’s theme of love’s power and its personal, transformative impact.
Overall Context and Themes:
Sonnet 153 uses a mythological narrative to explore the themes of love’s power, transformation, and healing. The poem contrasts the eternal, fiery nature of love with the cool, chaste influence of Diana, highlighting the tension between passion and restraint. The speaker’s personal experience of love connects the mythological elements to his own emotional journey, emphasizing the unique and transformative power of his beloved’s gaze. The sonnet’s vivid imagery and mythological references make it a rich and complex exploration of love’s enduring and multifaceted nature.
In-Depth Summary
Sonnet 153 is a mythological allegory that presents love as both a disease and a source of healing. The poem reimagines a classical myth involving Cupid, Diana, and a magical bath.
- The sonnet begins with Cupid, the god of love, falling asleep and carelessly laying down his “brand” (a burning torch that symbolizes love’s passion and power).
- A maiden of Diana (the Roman goddess of chastity and the hunt) seizes this opportunity and quenches Cupid’s torch in a cold valley fountain, attempting to extinguish love’s fire.
- However, instead of destroying the fire, the fountain absorbs its heat and becomes a permanently warm, healing bath, believed to cure diseases.
At this point, the poem shifts from mythological allegory to personal experience:
- The speaker declares that Cupid rekindled his torch at his mistress’s eyes, implying that her beauty and gaze have reignited love’s power.
- Love, eager to test its force, strikes the speaker’s heart, making him lovesick.
- Seeking a cure, the speaker rushes to the magical bath, hoping to heal his suffering.
- However, he finds that no earthly remedy can cure him—his only real cure lies in the same source that caused his affliction: his mistress’s eyes.
Critical Analysis
Classical Influence and Mythological Allegory
This sonnet draws heavily from classical mythology, particularly Greek and Roman traditions, which often personify love as both a destructive and healing force. Cupid is the playful yet dangerous god of love, and Diana represents chastity and restraint.
Shakespeare blends this ancient myth with personal emotion, making the poem a clever metaphor for the speaker’s own experience of unfulfilled desire. The concept of love as a sickness that needs a cure was a common motif in Renaissance literature, yet Shakespeare subverts it—there is no real cure for love except the source of love itself.
Love as Sickness and Cure
- The speaker suffers from love, much like a person suffering from a disease.
- However, the supposed remedy (the bath infused with Cupid’s fire) proves ineffective.
- The true “cure” lies in his mistress’s eyes, which paradoxically are also the cause of his suffering.
This paradoxical nature of love is central to Shakespeare’s exploration of passion, longing, and frustration.
Emotional Tone: Playful yet Melancholic
Although the poem begins with a lighthearted, mythological anecdote, it gradually shifts to a personal and melancholic reflection. The speaker is not merely amused by Cupid’s antics—he is genuinely suffering from unfulfilled love.
This blend of wit and sorrow is characteristic of Shakespeare’s later sonnets, where he explores love’s contradictions in a more mature and resigned manner.
Theme Analysis
1. Love as Both Sickness and Cure
- Love is portrayed as a burning fire that can both afflict and heal.
- The speaker suffers from love, but the only remedy is returning to its source—his mistress.
- This paradox suggests that passionate love is inescapable—it is both painful and desirable.
2. The Power of the Beloved’s Eyes
- The mistress’s eyes are depicted as rekindling Cupid’s torch, making them the ultimate source of love’s power.
- This aligns with Petrarchan traditions, where the lover’s gaze is described as both captivating and destructive.
- The idea that “eyes” can spark love and hold control over someone is a recurring motif in Shakespeare’s sonnets.
3. The Inevitability of Love
- The sonnet suggests that one cannot escape love’s power—even attempts to suppress it (like Diana’s maid extinguishing Cupid’s fire) ultimately fail.
- Love transforms rather than disappears, meaning that even if one tries to resist passion, it finds new ways to manifest.
4. The Futility of Seeking Relief from Love
- The bath symbolizes an external cure, but it does not work for the speaker.
- The message is clear: love is not something that can be “cured” like a disease—it is a force that must be endured.
Literary Devices
1. Extended Metaphor (Conceit)
- The entire sonnet is structured around an elaborate metaphor, comparing love to a physical fire, a disease, and a medicinal bath.
- Cupid’s torch represents desire, while the bath represents an attempted cure.
- Ultimately, the metaphor reinforces the paradox that love is both the affliction and the only cure.
2. Personification
- Cupid is personified as an active character, asleep yet still dangerous.
- Love itself is treated as a force with agency, capable of burning, afflicting, and curing.
3. Mythological Allusion
- Cupid and Diana are both figures from classical mythology.
- Diana, the goddess of chastity, represents a force that tries to suppress passion, while Cupid embodies the uncontrollable nature of desire.
4. Imagery
- Fire and Heat Imagery → Love is described as a burning force, reinforcing its passionate and destructive qualities.
- Water and Healing Imagery → The bath symbolizes an attempted relief from suffering, contrasting the fire of passion.
- Eye Imagery → The mistress’s eyes are the source of love’s fire, suggesting their hypnotic power.
5. Paradox
- The cure for love is found in the same place where love originates.
- The bath, which should heal, is powerless.
- This paradox illustrates the complexity of passion—it is inescapable, self-perpetuating, and beyond logic.
6. Alliteration
- “Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep” → The repeated “b” and “l” sounds create a rhythmic, musical quality.
- “Borrowed from this holy fire of Love” → Emphasizes the connection between fire, love, and sacredness.
7. Rhyme Scheme
- The sonnet follows the traditional Shakespearean sonnet form (ABABCDCDEFEFGG), reinforcing its formal elegance.
- The final couplet provides a resolution, revealing that the true remedy is the mistress’s eyes.
Conclusion
Sonnet 153 is a brilliant fusion of myth and personal emotion, using classical imagery to explore the inescapability of love. Shakespeare presents love as a fire that cannot be extinguished, a disease that cannot be cured, and a force that transcends even divine intervention.
The playful mythological beginning contrasts sharply with the somber realization in the final lines—that no earthly remedy can ease the pain of unfulfilled love. Instead, the only solution is the very thing that caused the suffering in the first place.
