"My love is as a fever longing still,
For that which longer nurseth the disease,
Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,
Th' uncertain sickly appetite to please:
My reason the physician to my love,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve,
Desire is death, which physic did except.
Past cure I am, now reason is past care,
And frantic-mad with evermore unrest,
My thoughts and my discourse as mad men's are,
At random from the truth vainly expressed.
For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night."
-Shakespeare sonnet 147.
The theme of this sonnet is love. Shakespeare's love for this woman is extremely present and it is like an uncurable disease; he cannot get rid of it. No matter how many 'doctors' or 'prescriptions' he receives to cure his love sickness, it is not possible. Shakespeare does not directly talk about his lover's beauty; however, since his love is so deep, it is apparent how her looks don't matter. One example of a paradox used in this sonnet is the first line, "My love is a fever longing still." Love and a fever seem like two unmatchable things; however, when one thinks about the underlying meaning they can see how love can be a lot of work and especially difficult when your lover doesn't love you back. The turn in the sonnet is on the 11th line when he starts to change his perspective and uses the word 'bright' which has a more positive connotation.
