English Wordplay ~ Listen and Enjoy
Sonnet 88
 |
| Please click to listen |
This is another of those sonnets which look to the future, and it is placed at this juncture because, as with 49, the number is thought to be of some significance. 49 is one of the climacteric numbers, and 88, being 8 x 11, was no doubt also thought to have some critical significance. nbsp;Perhaps double eight in itself (i.e two eights placed side by side), was symbolic of a union between humans, as the number 8 looks slightly like a human figure.
The sign below depicts INFINITY (also eternity): In ancient India and Tibet, it represented perfection, dualism, and unity between male and female. In the occult tarot it's linked to magic and represents equilibrium or the balance of various forces.
When thou shalt be dispos'd to set me light, And place my merit in the eye of scorn, Upon thy side, against myself I'll fight, And prove thee virtuous, though thou art forsworn. With mine own weakness, being best acquainted,Upon thy part I can set down a story Of faults conceal'd, wherein I am attainted; That thou in losing me shalt win much glory: And I by this will be a gainer too; For bending all my loving thoughts on thee, The injuries that to myself I do, Doing thee vantage, double-vantage me. Such is my love, to thee I so belong, That for thy right, myself will bear all wrong.