Shakespeare. Sonnet 44. With audio reading

«If the dull substance of my flesh were thought,
Injurious distance should not stop my way».

Sonnet 44 and the following one form a continuous theme involving the four basic elements of matter according to Elizabethan science: earth, water, air, and fire.

Sonnet 44
Read and listen

If the dull substance of my flesh were thought,
Injurious distance should not stop my way;
For then despite of space I would be brought,
From limits far remote where thou dost stay.
No matter then although my foot did stand
Upon the farthest earth removed from thee;
For nimble thought can jump both sea and land
As soon as think the place where he would be.
But ah! thought kills me that I am not thought,
To leap large lengths of miles when thou art gone,
But that so much of earth and water wrought
I must attend time’s leisure with my moan,
Receiving nought by elements so slow
But heavy tears, badges of either’s woe.

»»» Sonnets introduction
»»» Sonnets complete list

Sonnet 44 deals with earth and water, and Sonnet 45 with air and fire.

In Sonnet 44, the poet laments his physical distance from the young man. He argues that if his body were made of only thoughts, then all he would have to do is think about the youth and they would be together. However, although the poet’s mind is free to travel, he fails to come to grips with any tangible reality in the youth.

««« Sonnet 43
»»» Sonnet 45

Credits

English audio from YouTube Channel Socratica

Summary from Cliffsnotes.com

»»» Sonnets introduction
»»» Sonnets complete list

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