Latest / The Daily Poem / William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 71 (“No longer mourn for me when I am dead”)

Transcript

William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 71 (“No longer mourn for me when I am dead”) · The Daily Poem

• 0:00
  [music]
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to The Daily Poem, the podcast from Goldberry Studios.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Sean Johnson, and today is Wednesday, August 26th, 2026.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Today's poem is by William Shakespeare.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: It is Sonnet 71.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: No longer mourn for me when I am dead.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'll read it once, offer a few comments, and read it one more time.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Sonnet 71.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: No longer mourn for me when I am dead.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Then you shall hear the surly sullen bell give warning to the world that I am fled
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: from this vile world with vilest worms to dwell.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Nay, if you read this line, remember not the hand that writ it.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: For I love you so that I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot if thinking on me
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: then should make you woe.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, if I say you look upon this verse when I perhaps compounded am with clay,
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Do not so much as my poor name rehearse,
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: but let your love even with my life decay,
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: lest the wise world should look into your moan and mock you with me after I am gone.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Of course it's impossible to really oversimplify all of Shakespeare's sonnets
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: and reduce them to a single theme or even one or two themes, but it's impossible.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: At least partially true to say that most
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: of Shakespeare's sonnet sequence is concerned with memory and remembering.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the time,
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: the poet is offering the sonnet as a kind of memorial that will immortalize
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: the beloved.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Even if your beauty fades, fear not, because it will be evergreen in these lines.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Or even if you perish from the world, fear not, you will be remembered in my brilliant poetry.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so, sonnet 71 here is an inverse.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's not asking that the beloved be forgotten.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: But it's holding up the forgetting of the lover.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: I love you and I want you to be remembered and immortalized forever.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Me, on the other hand, well, no one needs to remember me.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: In fact,
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: you should forget me because I would rather be forgotten than be a source of pain
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: to you through my memory.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: There are no flower images here, no tree and leaf images here, no seasonal images here.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's worms, it's hard, cold dirt.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is the kenosis or the self-emptying of the lover.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: I would be effaced for the good of my beloved.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: I would rather vanish from existence into oblivion than cause you pain.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Is this then one of the most Humble of Shakespeare's sonnets.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Or, or is it pride underlying the poet's concession here?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: What could be more important to you?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: What could be more painful to you than the memory of me?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore,
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: this great and paramount concern in your life,
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: I would let you forget it if it would spare you some suffering.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think?
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the poem one more time.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: No longer mourn for me when I am dead.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Then you shall hear the surly sullen bell give warning to the world that I am fled
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: from this vile world with the vilest worms to dwell.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Nay, if you read this line, remember not the hand that writ it.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: For I love you so that I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot if thinking on me
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: then should make you woe.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, if I say you look upon this verse,
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Do not so much as my poor name rehearse,
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: But let your love,
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: even with my life, decay,
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Lest the wise world should look into your moan,
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: And mock you with me after I am gone.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: This has been The Daily Poem.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: We'll be back tomorrow with more poetry for you.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: In the meantime,
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: find us at dailypoempod.substack.com to listen to past episodes of The Daily Poem.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can compare and contrast with other Shakespearean sonnets we featured.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: You can also leave your own thoughts and comments about the poem.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: You can discover other people who are listening to and enjoying or hating The Daily Poem.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, you can become a subscriber and supporter of the show.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: For all of us at Goldberry Studios, I'm Sean Johnson wishing you happy reading.