Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.

com

Sonnet 94: "They that have power to hurt"

who are able to remain “unmoved, cold” and resist temptation,
POEM TEXT the speaker argues, are favored by God and superior to others.
That said, the poem’s ultimate stance on restraint is up for
1 They that have power to hurt and will do none, debate: it’s possible that the speaker is actually being ironic in
presenting emotional detachment and extreme self-control as
2 That do not do the thing they most do show,
good things. In other words, the speaker might be mocking
3 Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,
these people rather than applauding them.
4 Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow:
In any case, the speaker starts the poem by saying that people
5 They rightly do inherit heaven's graces
who can control their emotions and desires have a few things in
6 And husband nature's riches from expense; common. For one, these types of people have power but don’t
7 They are the lords and owners of their faces, use it. Though they can cause “hurt” they “will do none.”
8 Others but stewards of their excellence.
The speaker, rather elliptically, also says that these restrained
9 The summer's flower is to the summer sweet people, “do not do the thing they most do show”—they don’t do
10 Though to itself it only live and die, whatever it is they seem most likely to do. The restrained
11 But if that flower with base infection meet, person may be very physically attractive but choose to remain
12 The basest weed outbraves his dignity: chaste, for example; although they may arouse sexual interest
13 For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; in others, they themselves remain unaffected. They’re also
14 Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds. immobile as “stone”; they keep their feelings private and don’t
easily give in to temptation. Another part of restraint, then, is
the ability to maintain a difference between one’s inner self and
outer appearance or expression.
SUMMARY Such people, the speaker continues, are essentially better than
everyone else and “rightly” receive the grace of heaven. In
People who have the power to hurt others but don't—who
other words, their restraint means that they are favored by a
don’t do the things that they seem most likely to do, who are
divine power. What’s more, the speaker says, though the
able to affect other people but themselves remain stiff as a
restrained person receives “nature’s riches,” they do not spend
rock, who are stoic, cold, and difficult to tempt—these people
them: they hold on to their perfection and do not seek to share
are the ones who receive the God's approval and generosity.
it with others. Using language related to hierarchy (words like
These kinds of people hold onto their gifts and do not let go of
“lords” and “owners”) the speaker notes that everyone else who
or share what they have been given. These people are totally in
cannot muster restraint must be a lowly “steward” to those
control of their expressions. Everyone else can simply
excellent, ideal people. Though most people cannot be perfect,
appreciate and marvel at this type of person’s excellence. In a
they can appreciate and wonder at seeming perfection.
similar way, the summertime itself can appreciate the
sweetness and beauty of a summer flower. That flower, by Yet all this celebration of restraint is undercut by the speaker’s
contrast, doesn’t notice or value its own beauty in the same potentially mocking tone. Readers might wonder, how can the
way. A flower’s only concerns are of being alive or of being ideal person be as cold as stone? Doesn’t not spending riches
dead. But if that flower is struck by a foul infection, even the make you stingy? To some readers, the speaker has painted an
common weed is braver and more dignified. After all, sweet image of a selfish, unfeeling hoarder—the kind of person who
things (both seemingly perfect people and beautiful flowers) knows just how powerful they are, and “lords” their self-
turn all the more corrupt as a result of their own actions. possession over other people.
Rotting lilies smell much worse than weeds. What’s more, as the poem continues, it suggests that even
these perfect specimens are subject to corruption. In fact, the
speaker insists, corruption is ultimately even more terrible
THEMES when it comes from such seeming models of virtue! It’s up to
readers, then, to decide whether the speaker is being truly
THE VALUE OF RESTRAINT sincere in praising emotional restraint—or if the poem is
actually critiquing people who act like they’re above everyone
“Sonnet 94” begins with sweeping, bold statements else.
praising people who display a lot of restraint. Those

©2021 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 1

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
by his distance and lack of interest. If the speaker is being
Where this theme appears in the poem:
rejected by the fair youth, maybe he feels satisfied by the fair
• Lines 1-8 youth being brought down a few pegs.

Where this theme appears in the poem:

CORRUPTION AND HYPOCRISY
• Lines 9-14
While the first part of this poem seems to praise the
values of restraint, the second part suggests that
such cool, calm, and collected people aren’t always what they
seem. After seeming to celebrate the virtues of the restrained LINE-BY
LINE-BY-LINE
-LINE ANAL
ANALYSIS
YSIS
person, the speaker switches gears to talk about how a sweet
and beautiful flower can get infected and start to fester. The LINES 1-2
implication is that the people from the poem’s opening are like They that have power to hurt and will do none,
that flower: susceptible to corruption and foul deeds. What’s That do not do the thing they most do show,
more, the speaker says, this corruption is worse when it comes
In the poem's first two lines, the speaker begins to describe a
from those who outwardly act like models of virtue.
certain kind of person: one who is capable of hurting others but
Readers can take the flower to represent those seemingly chooses not to do so. The speaker doesn't the specific kind of
perfect people from the first lines of the poem. The flower, like “hurt," but is likely talking about emotional, possibly romantic,
the type of person described, appears beautiful and does not injury.
seem to be affected by its own beauty as others are. And yet, if
The next line then sets up a par
parado
adoxx of sorts: this is the type of
this flower gets infected, it will fester and stink. Likewise, the
person who doesn't don’t do that very thing they seem most
poem implies, these seemingly perfect, self-possessed people
likely to do. The diacope here turns line 2 in particular into a
are susceptible to corruption: they too can “fester” and rot.
tongue twister of sorts; in the short space of a single line, the
Specifically how this corruption occurs is unclear. All that the speaker says the word “do” three times (four if you include line
speaker tells the reader is that “deeds” are what turn sweet 1):
things sour. This suggests that behavior, and not appearance, is
what actually defines people. When the outwardly beautiful That do not do the thing they most do show,
and restrained person abuses their power or acts in a nasty
way, they corrupt their outer perfection. In lines describing restraint, it's also interesting that the
In fact, the speaker argues that a seemingly perfect person speaker keeps using the word “do,” which conveys action—the
doing bad deeds is even worse than someone who never very opposite of restraint!
seemed perfect to begin with! Because it was never very pretty These lines are written in iambic pentameter, meaning that
or sweet, even a simple weed is more dignified than the each line has five iambs—poetic units consisting of an
infected flower. Likewise, a regular person is better than a unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (da-DUM
DUM,
corrupted, supposedly ideal person. da-DUM
DUM). The meter in these first two lines is mostly regular,
While it's possible to read the speaker as being sincerely sad though it's possible to read that opening "They" as a stressed
about this corruption, the speaker also could be taking some beat (and note that "power" scans as a single syllable, "pow'r"):
pleasure in seeing such a fall from grace. On that note, though
this sonnet can be read as a standalone poem, its meaning The
Theyy that have power [...]
changes when readers take into account that it belongs to
Shakespeare’s Fair Youth Sequence. Reading the line this way adds extra emphasis to the kind of
These sonnets are read as being addressed to a rich and person the speaker is describing. The second line is then
beautiful young man with whom the poems’ male speaker has perfectly iambic:
an intimate (and likely romantic) relationship. At one point in
the sequence, the speaker feels continuously rebuffed and met That do not do the thing they most do show
with coldness on the young man’s part. In other words, his love
for the youth (either platonic or sexual) is unreciprocated. Notably, these first two lines contain very short words: the
words here are all monosyllabic (consisting of one syllable). The
The seemingly perfect and restrained type described in this
short words, combined with close adherence to iambic
poem can be read as a portrait of that fair youth. The speaker's
pentameter, lend these lines a sense of rigidity and control. The
stance on restraint is thus conflicting: the speaker is both
self-restraint practiced by the type of person being described is
attracted to the young man’s seeming perfection and frustrated
echoed in the regular, restrained sound of the lines themselves.

©2021 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 2

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
LINES 3-4 Next, the speaker goes on to describe how this type of person
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone, holds onto such rewards: they "husband," or save and conserve,
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow: their riches. On the one hand, this seems like a good thing: such
people don't go about frivolously spending their gifts. And yet,
Lines 3-4 continue to describe the type of person introduced in "husbanding" riches sounds a lot like hoarding them. This
the first two lines of the poem. This person may not "hurt" seemingly ideal person isn't actually sharing their wealth, but
others, but they do "move them." In other words, they arouse keeping it all to themselves.
certain feelings (emotional and, implicitly, sexual) in other
people even as they "themselves" remain still "as stone." Again, then, there's a hint that the speaker's praise is ironic
ironic: the
speaker isn't actually calling this self-reserved person a model
This simile illustrates the extent of such people's self-restraint: of virtue, but pointing out how they're actually pretty cold,
stones are hard and heavy, difficult to physically move. The unfeeling, and selfish. This person may think it's only right that
mention of stone might also make readers think of statues. It's they "inherit heaven's graces," but maybe the speaker isn't so
thus not entirely clear whether the speaker actually admires sure.
this self-restrained person: a statue might be beautiful and
alluring, but it's also lifeless; stones can't listen or feel. There is a “straight” or literal reading of these lines, and also a
more sexually and romantically inflected reading:
Line 4 then builds on the idea of this restrained person being
particularly, and perhaps not admirably, stoic. While being able • Though the definition of “husband” as “to conserve”
to resist "temptation" can be considered a virtue, one wouldn't is definitely at play here, the word also describes a
usually take being called "cold" as a compliment. Also note that male spouse. The language of partnership and
the speaker doesn't say this person is never tempted—just that relationships might indicate that the speaker is
it takes them longer to give in than others! thinking about his relationship with the fair youth.
Temptation, here, might describe any kind of indulgent • When the speaker tells readers about this person's
behavior. But given the poem's context as part of the "Fair refusal to “expend” nature’s riches, the speaker
Youth" sequence (written from the perspective of a lover), could mean that the youth is just generally self-
these lines take on a sexual meaning. In calling this person "slow controlled or stingy. Yet the word “expense” also
to temptation," the speaker might be calling out the fact that carries a sexual connotation—one that is later
this individual is refusing to engage intimately with the speaker. picked up in "Sonnet
Sonnet 129
129," when the word refers to
Thus while, on one level the poem's language describes a consummating a sexual act (“The expense of spirit in
a waste of shame / Is lust in action”).
general type of person, on another level it pointedly addresses
• Thus, while the poem's language is vague and
one person in particular: the beautiful and cold fair youth.
nonspecific, it might point to the speaker being
Finally, note how there is a list-like, building hypotactic quality annoyed that the fair youth won't give in to him
to the first few lines of the poem: the lines are windy, romantically and/or sexually.
interwoven, each clause building on the last. The syntax
(sentence structure) is quite convoluted as well, and the lines LINES 7-8
are filled with caesur
caesuras
as (all those commas and pauses). The
They are the lords and owners of their faces,
slow, meandering pace of the lines reflects the self-restraint
Others but stewards of their excellence.
and control being described.
The speaker goes on to say that these self-controlled people
LINES 5-6 don't just temper their emotions: they also are in total control
They rightly do inherit heaven's graces of their "faces"—their outward expressions. They keep their
And husband nature's riches from expense; feelings close to the chest, it seems, not letting people in on
what they're really thinking.
So far, the speaker described someone who: doesn't hurt
others even though they could if they wanted to, doesn't On the one hand, this might be a positive thing. And yet, not
behave in the way that it looks like they will based on their being able to tell what someone is really thinking is also
appearance, is unemotional, and resists temptation. disturbing because it leaves the door open for deception and
hypocrisy.
Now, the speaker talks about the benefits this kind of person
receives from being so restrained: "heavens graces." In other Calling such people the "lords" and "owners" also brings
words, they receive God's favor; one might say that this kind of notions of power and hierarchy into the poem. While the self-
person lives a charmed life. The word “rightly” indicates that controlled person is like a “lord” or an “owner,” everyone else is
the speaker believes that this person is deserving of such a mere “steward,” or servant—the kind of person who might
"graces." supervise or look after another’s household.
Once again, the tone of these lines depends on whether

©2021 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 3

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
readers take them to be sincere or not. Perhaps the speaker is has fallen from such a great height, from the graces of "heaven"
earnestly praising such excellent people. By writing about their itself.
virtues, in fact, the speaker acts as one of these "stewards" of Notice in these lines how the speaker repeats the word
excellence within this very poem. “base”/"basest." This polyptoton emphasizes that the lovely
And yet, it's also possible that the speaker is being ironic
ironic: that flower can easily be brought down not simply to the level of the
this praise is said bitterly and sarcastically. The speaker might in lowliest weed, but even lower! The flower may seem
fact resent his task as a chronicler of such an unfeeling, holier- particularly "sweet," but really it's just like any other living
than-thou person. thing: capable of being debased or brought low by the dirty,
real, and common course of life. The weed, by contrast, is
LINES 9-10 already base. It is not particularly special and never had any
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet delusions of grandeur.
Though to itself it only live and die, These lines also continue to use human language to describe
In line 9, the speaker switches gears. Whereas the first eight nonhuman living things. Bravery, dignity, and social hierarchy
lines of the sonnet (its octet) talked about a specific kind of self- are all qualities more clearly associated with the human world
restrained person, now the speaker starts talking about a than the plant. All this personification should remind readers
flower. This moment is called the sonnet's volta, or turn. Not all that the speaker is using these plants as stand-ins for different
Shakespearean sonnets have a volta in line 9, but this one types of people.
certainly does! Finally, notice in particular the use of pronouns here: the flower
Readers might, understandably, wonder why the poem's focus is given a gender—“his
his dignity.” This grammatical choice further
shifts so abruptly, but things make more sense when suggests that the flower is a stand-in not just for a type of
considering that the speaker is using this flower to represent the person but for the fair youth himself.
kind of person discussed earlier in the poem.
LINES 13-14
The flower, outwardly, is entrancing. Even the summer itself
seems to revel in the flower's loveliness, the personification of For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
line 9 presenting summer like an adoring fan. Just as a person Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.
might be a “steward” of the powerful,self-restrained type, the Shakespeare typically ends his sonnets with a rhyming couplet
sun is a steward of the flower, appreciating and tending to the that wraps up/restates everything that has come before, and
flower’s sweetness. that's exactly what happens here. These final two lines form a
The sibilance and gentle /w/ sounds of these lines evoke the rhyming pair that offers a concluding point.
delicate loveliness of the flower: “ssummer’s flow
wer is to While the speaker started the poem by seeming to praise the
summer sw sweet.” This repetition of the word "summer," self-restrained person, at the end of the poem, the reader is left
meanwhile, suggests that there's a kind of natural connection with a festering, rotting flower that smells "far worse than
or affinity between the flower and the summer. weeds." Perhaps that ideal person from the beginning of the
Line 10, meanwhile, juxtaposes the flower's appearance with its poem isn’t so ideal after all, if they have the potential to "fester"
inner reality: though the flower is beautiful on the outside, its so badly.
beauty doesn’t mean much to the flower itself. The flower itself The fall away from an ideal is also reflected in the poem's meter,
is concerned with something more basic: life and death. It may which, in the last line, becomes more irregular:
be pretty, but deep down it's pragmatic.
For sweet
sweet- | est things | turn sour
sour- | est by | their
LINES 11-12 deeds;
But if that flower with base infection meet, Li
Lilies | that fe
fe- | ster smell | far worse | than weeds.
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
The poem seems to take yet another turn here: that pretty Line 14 begins with a trochee (stressed
stressed-unstressed) rather
flower introduced in lines 9-10, the speaker now says, is than the expected iamb
iamb. It's also possible to read the fourth
susceptible to "base infection." foot here as a spondee (stressed
stressed-stressed
stressed), which actually
results in three stressed beats in a row: "smell
smell far worse
worse." This
The word "base" is a punpun: it can mean common or lowly (as in,
draws attention to the stench of those rotting flowers. More
this "infection" is gross and ignoble), and it can refer to the
broadly, the steady, even, and controlled meter developed at
lowest part of something (implying that the flower gets rotten
the beginning of the sonnet falls apart. There goes both the
at the root). If that flower gets sick, the speaker says, it
ideal person and the ideal sonnet!
becomes gross and undignified. And because the flower was
once so beautiful, the loss of this beauty is all the more tragic; it The end of the poem can be read in many different ways. The

©2021 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 4

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
speaker could be expressing sadness at the flower and, Through the symbol of the weed, it's possible to read the poem
implicitly, the fair youth’s fall from grace. The speaker could be as asserting that grandeur is overrated. Perhaps the speaker is
issuing a warning about a yet-to-occur fall from grace. The suggesting that there is something respectable about being just
speaker could be making some kind of bitter statement about a normal, humble person.
the fair youth, relishing in the youth's "festering." Or maybe the Read in the context of Shakespeare's other sonnets, one might
speaker is trying to convince himself that he never wanted the take the flower to represent the fair youth and the weed to
fair youth anyway! represent the speaker of these poems himself. As someone of a
lower social status, the speaker neither places upon himself or
has placed upon him expectations of greatness or perfection.
SYMBOLS
Where this symbol appears in the poem:
THE FLOWER
• Line 12: “weed”
The most significant symbol in "Sonnet 94" is the • Line 14: “weeds”
flower introduced in line 9, which represents the
self-restrained person described at the beginning of the poem.
Like such a person, the flower looks beautiful on the outside. A
personified summer finds the flower "sweet" and tends to it, POETIC DEVICES
offering it nourishing warmth and light; it essentially fawns
over the flower, just as lesser people act as "stewards of" the
METAPHOR
self-restrained person's excellence. There are quite a few metaphors in the poem. Most obvious,
perhaps, is the implied comparison between flowers/weeds and
The flower itself, however, doesn't seem to care about the
self-restrained people/everyone else. Readers can understand
summer's affection: all that concerns it is life and death. This
that the flowers of the poem's second half are meant to
reflects the way that the person described at the beginning of
symbolize the self-restrained people of the first.
the poem is "unmoved" by others. Both the flower and self-
restrained person are lovely but aloof, inspiring others but But there are more discrete metaphors as well. In line 7, for
themselves uninspired. example, the speaker says, "They are the lords and owners of
their faces." Just as a lord might control a piece of land and all
And flowers, the speaker also makes clear, aren't always as
who live on it, or like an owner controls their property, the self-
perfect as they seem: they can become sick, infected at the
restrained person controls their own face.
root, and start to rot and "fester"—just as the high and mighty
person from the beginning of “Sonnet 94” is capable of In line 8, there is another metaphor: “Others but stewards of
corruption, hypocrisy, and general unpleasantness. their excellence." Here, the speaker deems normal people
“stewards”—people whose job is to tend to those "lords" from
Where this symbol appears in the poem: the prior line. Metaphors like this establish the contrast
between the self-restrained (and self-important) people that
• Line 9: “flower” the speaker seems to praise and everyone else.
• Line 11: “flower”
• Line 14: “Lilies” Where Metaphor appears in the poem:
• Lines 7-8: “They are the lords and owners of their faces,
WEEDS / Others but stewards of their excellence.”
The weed mentioned at the end of the poem
represents a regular, imperfect, and not particularly SIMILE
self-restrained type of person. The weed basically symbolizes Line 3 contains the poem's one simile
simile. Here, the speaker
all that the flower does not. compares those high and mighty people who exhibit extreme
The speaker refers to the weed as “base,” meaning that it is self-restraint to "stone." While others might be "moved" by
common, inferior to the beautiful flower. And yet, the speaker such people, they "themselves" are still and steady as a rock.
insists, the weed does have one advantage over the flower: it While the speaker seems, on one level, to be praising such calm
doesn’t have many expectations placed on it. There are no and collected individuals, it's also possible to read this as a
demands that the weed must be beautiful. And because it was critique. Stones are immobile and unchanging, which might
never very dignified anyway, any kind of corruption it might suggest that these people are stoic but also stubborn to a fault.
experience is not all that tragic. It's already "base," so it can't fall Stones also aren't alive; they can't see, feel, hear, or, of course,
that far. love. It's as though the self-restrained people the speaker is

©2021 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 5

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
talking about are marble statues: pretty to look at, regal and riches,” the speaker might actually be implying that this
sophisticated, but also cold and missing out on all the messiness person's behavior is selfish rather than admirable.
that can make like interesting. Read ironically, when the speaker says that such restrained
people deserve the charmed lives they lead—that they "rightly
Where Simile appears in the poem: [...] inherit heaven's graces"—he might mean the very opposite:
• Line 3: “themselves as stone” that they don't actually merit special treatment. And when the
speaker calls them "lords and owners of their faces," he might
actually be mocking the way in which these people think they're
PERSONIFICATION
better than everyone else.
The speaker uses personification in the poem's second half,
ascribing human qualities to the summer, flowers, and weeds. Where Iron
Ironyy appears in the poem:
In line 9, for example, the speaker says:
• Line 4: “Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow:”
• Line 5: “They rightly do inherit heaven's graces”
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet
• Line 6: “And husband nature's riches from expense;”
• Line 7: “They are the lords and owners of their faces,”
In other words, the summer finds the flower "sweet"; it's as
• Line 8: “Others but stewards of their excellence”
though the summer is a fan of the flower. And in the next lines,
the flower itself gets personified: the speaker treats the flower
as a male figure with "dignity" (albeit "dignity" that gets easily CAESURA
beat by that of the personified "weed"). The poem's most striking caesur
caesuraeae appear in line 4, where the
By personifying the natural world like this, the speaker makes it speaker's stiff syntax (that is, word order) creates two distinct
clear that all this plant talk is meant to apply to the first half of pauses in a single line:
the poem. That is, the speaker isn't suddenly talking about
flowers and weeds just because he feels like it, but because Who,, moving others,, are themselves as stone,
they can offer a lesson about, or an analogy for, the situation
described in the first part of the poem. There's a pause after the word "Who" and then again after the
word "moving." These caesurae slow the line down, in effect
enacting what's being described: the way that the kind of
Where P
Personification
ersonification appears in the poem:
person the speaker is talking about doesn't "move." Self-
• Lines 9-12: “The summer's flower is to the summer restrained people are stiff "as stone," and the pauses built into
sweet / Though to itself it only live and die, / But if that line 3 reflect that stiffness. The caesura here also creates a
flower with base infection meet, / The basest weed clear separation in the line between two kinds of people: those
outbraves his dignity:” who are moved, and those who are not.
The subtler caesurae in line 4 have a similar effect, slowing
IRONY down a line that, appropriately, talks about the way that these
"Sonnet 94" is often considered to be one of Shakespeare's people are "unmoved" and "slow" to "temptation."
more difficult sonnets
sonnets, and that's in large part because of its
pervasive use of iron
ironyy. While it's possible to read the sonnet Where Caesur
Caesuraa appears in the poem:
“straight”—to take the speaker at his word, as earnestly praising
the fair youth and the self-restrained type of person in • Line 3: “Who, moving others, are”
• Line 4: “Unmoved, cold, and”
general—much of the language of the poem suggests that this
praise isn't sincere. That is, it's just as likely that the speaker is
actually mocking or critiquing these supposedly ideal people. ASSONANCE
A bit of context is important here: at this point in the "Fair The poem uses assonance here and there to make its language
Youth" sonnet sequence, the speaker has been rebuffed by the more intense. For example, note how the /oo/ sound repeats
young man he so desires. This poem, then, might be an throughout lines 2-3 (in part thanks to the tongue-twisting
expression of his frustration at the youth's apparent coldness diacope of the word "do"):
toward the speaker.
That do not do the thing they most do show,
If readers take the poem to be ironic in its praise, it might make
Who
Who, mo
moving others, are themselves as stone,
more sense: after all, calling someone "cold" and as unfeeling
"as stone" is a strange way to pay a compliment! And when the
This flurry of repeated vowel sounds adds music and intensity
speaker says that the restrained person is “husbanding nature’s

©2021 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 6

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
to the speaker's (supposed) praise. In the very next lines, emotional common folk.
meanwhile, the long, round /o/ sounds of "stoone," "co
old," and Some of the juxtaposition here is between appearances and
"slo
ow" work alongside caesur
caesurae
ae to slow the poem down. This is behavior: the people the speaker praises have "power to hurt"
appropriate for a moment when the speaker is talking about but don't hurt, and in fact don't "do the thing they most do
how these self-restrained people are "slow" to be tempted and show"—that is, the thing they look most likely to do. The
are still "as stone." juxtaposition here also makes the poem's final couplet more
At other points, blips of repeated sound add emphasis to striking: the speaker ultimately argues that people are defined
specific images and ideas, as with the flitting /eh/ sounds in by what they do rather than how they appear—that "deeds" can
"inheerit hea
eaven's" in line 5 or the long /ay/ of "baasest" and make even the "sweetest things turn sourest." The self-
"outbraaves" in line 12. Finally, that short /eh/ sound pops up restrained person's outer appearance thus matters less than
again in the poem's last line in "feester smeell," calling readers' how they act—and how they act, the poem implies, isn't always
attention to this image of rotting flowers. so "sweet."
Other moments of juxtaposition are between the effect that
Where Assonance appears in the poem: these restrained people have on others and how they behave
• Line 3: “Who, moving,” “stone” themselves. They move other people yet are "themselves as
• Line 4: “cold,” “slow” stone" and resist temptation, for instance. These people are
• Line 5: “inherit heaven's” also "lords" and "owners," whereas others are simply
• Line 12: “basest,” “outbraves” "stewards"—essentially servants.
• Line 14: “fester smell” All this juxtaposition emphasizes just how separate these
restrained people seem from the rest of society. They're
SIBILANCE "flowers" while other people are mere "weeds." And yet, the
speaker concludes, even flowers can rot. Despite seeming so
In “Sonnet 94,” sibilance evokes the speaker's praise and
different from, so far above, everyone else, even these ideal-
sometimes his distaste.
seeming people can be brought down to earth.
In lines 8-9, for example, gentle /s/ sounds might suggest the
delicate loveliness of that sweet summer flower (note that the
Where Juxtaposition appears in the poem:
sibilance here appears at the start of words and thus is also an
example of alliter
alliteration
ation): • Lines 1-4: “They that have power to hurt and will do
none, / That do not do the thing they most do show, /
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet Who, moving others, are themselves as stone, /
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow:”
And yet, as the poem goes on, this sweetness turns sour and
sibilance takes a sinister turn. The sudden rush of hissing /s/
sounds in the final two lines make it seem as though the VOCABULARY
speaker is spitting out his words in disgust:
Heaven's graces (Line 5) - In Christian faiths, grace is the gift of
For sweetesst things turn souresst by their deeds; God’s goodness. Christian theology holds that grace is
Lilies that fesster smell far worsse than weeds. something given freely to all believers. Notably, the poem
seems to claim that certain people receive more grace than
The fact that these /s/ sounds shift from evoking beauty to others. In this sense, the poem uses the term loosely.
disgust reflects the speaker's point: that even seeming Husband (Line 6) - To cultivate, to conserve, or hold onto.
perfection can be corrupted.
Expense (Line 6) - In the context of the poem, "expense" means
spending or using up resources. The word “expense” can also
Where Sibilance appears in the poem: carry a sexual connotation, as it does in "Sonnet
Sonnet 129
129," where
• Line 9: “summer's,” “summer sweet” the word refers to consummating a sexual act (“The expense of
• Line 13: “sweetest,” “sourest” spirit in a waste of shame/ Is lust in action”).
• Line 14: “fester ,” “smel,” “l,” “ worse” Stewards (Line 8) - People who control the property and affairs
of a household; more generally, servants, or subordinates who
JUXTAPOSITION work in service of some kind of superior.
“Sonnet 94” is filled with juxtaposition as the speaker contrasts Base (Line 11, Line 12) - Common or lowly. “Base” can also
the seemingly ideal, self-restrained person with more refer to the bottomost layer or level of something.

©2021 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 7

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
Outbraves (Line 12) - Withstands. This line begins with a trochee
trochee, a different kind of metrical unit
consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed
syllable. Because this deviation of the expected meter occurs at
FORM, METER, & RHYME the beginning of the line, it's all the more pronounced. Then,
there's a type of foot called a spondee (stressed
stressed-stressed
stressed) with
FORM "far
far worse
worse," resulting in an emphatic three stressed beats in a
“Sonnet 94” is a Shakespearean sonnet
sonnet. That means it has 14 row: "smell
smell | far worse
worse."
lines broken up into three quatr
quatrains
ains (four-line stanzas) and This is no accident. Shakespeare waits until the very end of the
ends with a rhyming couplet
couplet. poem to shift the meter in order to draw the reader’s attention
The final couplet of a Shakespearean sonnet typically serves as to the last line and to emphasize the corruption of the
a quick summation of the poem or offers a condensed supposedly ideal person introduced in the first half of the
statement of the poem’s argument. This is certainly the case poem. The meter falls apart, evoking the way that seeming
with the last lines of "Sonnet 94," which read as a kind of pithy perfection can "fester."
aphorism
aphorism. Notice how the couplet finally brings together the
two seemingly disparate concerns of the poem—flowers and
RHYME SCHEME
types of people. “Sonnet 94” follows the typical rhyme scheme of a
Shakespearean sonnet
sonnet:
While Shakespearean sonnets typically consist of three
quatrains and a couplet, Italian or Petrarchan sonnets consist of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
an octave and a sestet: an eight-line stanza followed by a six- In other words, each quatrain uses an interlocking rhyme
line stanza, with a shift in thought/argument (called a turn, or pattern: the first and third lines rhyme with each other, as do
"volta") in between (at line 9). the second and fourth; the last two lines of the poem then form
Though “Sonnet 94” is a relatively typical Shakespearean a rhyming couplet
couplet. The quick one-two punch of that couplet
sonnet in many ways, it also contains a clear turn in line 9: makes the ending sound pithy and almost like an aphorism
aphorism, a
there's a distinct thematic shift between the first eight lines of quick doling out of wisdom as the speaker wraps up the poem's
the poem and the final six. It's only in line 9 that the symbol of argument.
the flower appears, and it takes until the last two lines of the
poem for the connection between this flower and the people
described in the poem's first half to become clear. SPEAKER
METER "Sonnet 94" belongs to Shakespeare's "Fair Youth" sequence, a
group of 126 poems conventionally read as having a male poet
“Sonnet 94” is written in iambic pentameter. This means that
as their speaker and being addressed to a handsome young
each line has five iambs, poetic feet with a da-DUM
DUM rhythm.
lover (or, perhaps, very close friend).
Line 4 is a perfect example of this meter in action:
Scholars debate how autobiographical these poems are and
whether readers should assume that Shakespeare himself is
Unmo
mo- | ved, cold
cold, | and to | tempta
ta- | tion slow
slow:
the speaker. It's worth noting that there's no actual indication
within this sonnet itself of the speaker's gender, occupation,
Notice how a regular meter is particularly suitable for the
age, etc. As such, the poem can be read as a general statement
content of this line. Like the person being described, the meter
about corruption and self-restraint.
is steady, "unmoved." The poem's meter here is itself restrained.
What readers can assume, however, is that the poem's speaker
The meter throughout the poem is pretty regular for the most
is not one of those self-possessed people being praised at the
part. At some moments, words must be shortened to fit the
poem's opening. On the contrary, the speaker seems to clearly
meter (as with “power” in line 1 and “flower” each time it
be one of the "stewards" of such people's "excellence."
appears; both words should be read as having one syllable,
"pow'r," "flow'r"). These slight alterations don't affect the How the speaker feels about this situation is up for debate. It's
meaning of the poem. possible that the speaker is sincere in his praise and genuinely
thinks that self-restrained people are deserving of all their
That said, there are some clear variations in the meter that do
good fortune. At the same time, it's also possible that the poem
have a noticeable impact. The most dramatic deviation occurs
is meant to be ironic
ironic—that the speaker is actually mocking such
in the last line of the poem:
people for being callous and cocky.
Lil
Lilies | that fe
fe- | ster smell | far worse | than weeds
weeds. The poem's context adds nuance here. At this point in the
sonnet sequence, the speaker has been rebuffed by the fair

©2021 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 8

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
youth—a beautiful, rich, and upper-class young man. It's majority of his writing career took place during the monarchy
possible that the speaker is resentful of the youth's refusal to of Queen Elizabeth I. The period of her reign, 1559-1603, is
engage romantically, and has written this poem to subtly often referred to as a golden age during which England
critique him. experienced relative peace and the arts flourished.
Scholars debate the identity of the "fair youth" addressed in the
sequence of which "Sonnet 94" is a part, as well as whether the
SETTING poems are meant to be read as autobiographical. Supporting
Most of Shakespeare’s sonnets
sonnets—“Sonnet 94” included—don’t the idea that Shakespeare himself is the poems' speaker is the
have a particular setting. While their language belongs to fact that they were likely meant to be circulated privately and
Elizabethan London, where and when the poems were written, were initially published without Shakespeare's permission.
there are very few setting markers in the poems themselves. While close, affectionate male relationships were accepted in
the Elizabethan era, homosexuality generally was not. That
This lack of a defined time or place adds to the poem’s ability to said, some scholars debate whether the relationship between
make general statements about relationships, human behavior,
the sonnets' speaker and the fair youth was truly romantic in
and love. The speaker’s observations can apply to the specific
nature or simply an intense friendship.
context of his relationship with a certain person, but the
observations are also true generally, regardless of context.
MORE RESOUR
RESOURCES
CES
CONTEXT EXTERNAL RESOURCES
LITERARY CONTEXT • What Is a Sonnet? — Learn more about the poetic form
that Shakespeare helped popularize. (https:/
(https:///poets.org/
“Sonnet 94” was published in a 1609 quarto alongside 153 glossary
glossary/sonnet)
/sonnet)
Shakespearean sonnets and a longer poem entitled “A A LLo
over’s
Complaint
Complaint.” This poem was likely written during the 1590s, • First Printing of the Sonnets (1609) — Check out scans of
however, a few years prior to publication. the first printing of the sonnets via the British Library.
(https:/
(https://www
/www.bl.uk/collection-items/first-edition-of-
.bl.uk/collection-items/first-edition-of-
Shakespeare's sonnets can be broken into two sequences: the
shak
shakespeares-sonnets-1609#)
espeares-sonnets-1609#)
first 126 comprise the "Fair Youth" sequence, addressed to a
young, handsome man; sonnets 127-154 comprise the "Dark • "Sonnet 94" Read Aloud — Listen to actor Sir Patrick
Lady" sequence, addressed to a dark-haired woman. The "Fair Stewart read "Sonnet 94" out loud.
Youth" sonnets chart the speaker's relationship with and (https:/
(https://www
/www..youtube.com/watch?v=i0VbLb80ypg)
devotion to this mysterious youth, who is aristocratic, beautiful,
• More on Shak
Shakespeare
espeare's
's Life — Learn more about the man
sought-after, and self-centered. "Sonnet 94" appears at a point behind the sonnets. (https:/
(https://www
/www.bl.uk/shak
.bl.uk/shakespeare/
espeare/
in the sequence when the speaker has begun to feel betrayed articles/shak
articles/shakespeares-life
espeares-life))
by and frustrated with the youth.
• The Mysterious Identity of the "Fair YYouth:
outh: — This article
The sonnet form originated in Italy and was often used to write
attempts to unravel the mystery of the fair youth.
about courtly love (that is, about aristocratic romance). Sonnets
(https:/
(https://www
/www.shak
.shakespeare.org.uk/e
espeare.org.uk/explore-shak
xplore-shakespeare/
espeare/
began to enter English literature in the 1530s and 1540s; while
blogs/m
blogs/mysterious-identity-fair-y
ysterious-identity-fair-youth/)
outh/)
Shakespeare was not the first to use the form in English, he did
help popularize it. LITCHARTS ON OTHER WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare’s sonnets often draw on the courtly love tradition, POEMS
whose thematic hallmarks include restraint and unrequited • Sonnet 116: LLet
et me not to the marriage of true minds
love. Yet even as Shakespeare’s sonnets engage many of these • Sonnet 129: Th
Th'' eexpense
xpense of spirit in a waste of shame
themes, they also at times subvert the form’s conventions. • Sonnet 12: When I do count the clock that tells the time
Much courtly love poetry centers on unattainable, ideal • Sonnet 130: My mistress' eeyyes are nothing lik likee the sun
women, for example; neither of the love interests in • Sonnet 138: When m myy lo
lovve swears that she is made of
Shakespeare’s sonnets fit this type. The fair youth isn't a truth
woman, for one thing, and the dark lady isn’t conventionally • Sonnet 147: My lo lovve is as a fe
fevver
er,, longing still
attractive. • Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s da day?y?
• Sonnet 19: De
Devvouring Time, blunt thou the lion lion's's pa
paws
ws
HISTORICAL CONTEXT • Sonnet 20: A woman
woman’s ’s face with nature
nature’s’s own hand
William Shakespeare was born in England in 1564. The painted

©2021 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 9

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
• Sonnet 27: ""W
Weary with toil, I haste me to m myy bed"
• Sonnet 29: When, in disgr
disgrace
ace with fortune and menmen’s
’s eeyyes HOW T
TO
O CITE
• Sonnet 30: When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
• Sonnet 33: FFull
ull man
manyy a glorious morning ha havve I seen MLA
• Sonnet 55: Not marble nor the gilded monuments
Holahan, Oona. "Sonnet 94: "They that have power to hurt"."
• Sonnet 60: Lik
Likee as the wa
wavves mak
makee towards the pebbl'
pebbl'dd
LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 14 Jul 2021. Web. 6 Aug 2021.
shore
• Sonnet 65 ("Since brbrass,
ass, nor stone, nor earth, nor CHICAGO MANUAL
boundless sea
sea")")
• Sonnet 71: No longer mourn for me when I am dead Holahan, Oona. "Sonnet 94: "They that have power to hurt"."
• Sonnet 73: That time of yyear
ear thou ma
mayst
yst in me behold LitCharts LLC, July 14, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/william-shakespeare/
sonnet-94-they-that-have-power-to-hurt.

©2021 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 10