Sonnet 145

The beloved speaks 'I hate,' wounding the speaker, but then softens and amends it to 'I hate not you,' restoring hope.

Original

Modern

1 Those lips that Love’s own hand did make,

Those lips that Love's own hand did make,

2 Breathed forth the sound that said ‘I hate’,

Breathed forth the sound that said 'I hate,'

3 To me that languished for her sake:

To me that languish'd for her sake;

4 But when she saw my woeful state,

But when she saw my woeful state,

5 Straight in her heart did mercy come,

Straight in her heart did mercy come,

6 Chiding that tongue that ever sweet,

Chiding that tongue that ever sweet,

7 Was used in giving gentle doom:

Was used in giving gentle doom,

8 And taught it thus anew to greet:

And taught it thus anew to greet;

Volta The volta arrives with the emendation: 'I hate' becomes 'I hate' with an added ending—'not you.' The second half undoes the first half's cruelty.

9 ‘I hate’ she altered with an end,

'I hate' she alter'd with an end,

10 That followed it as gentle day,

That follow'd, as soft as a dream,

11 Doth follow night who like a fiend

The soul of liberal largess, as it was,

12 From heaven to hell is flown away.

Not bound in narrow limits of a fiend.

13 ‘I hate’, from hate away she threw,

But railing at the wrong kind of wrong.

14 And saved my life saying ‘not you’.

redemptive moment: 'I hate not you'

'I hate' from hate away she threw,

The Power of Revision

This sonnet is unusual in its conciseness and brevity of emotional arc. The beloved literally revises her own speech, adding words ('altered with an end') that transform meaning. This is a rare moment where the Dark Lady acts with mercy, suggesting that even cruelty can be unmade by grace. The sonnet enacts linguistic redemption.

Wordplay on 'Not You' / 'Knot You'

The final line's 'not you' likely puns on 'knot you'—a tying or binding. She 'saved' him not just with words but by binding him to her with the correction. The wordplay is slight but suggests that even mercy in this relationship is a form of entanglement.

If this happened today

Like receiving a text that says 'I hate this' and feeling devastated, only to have the person follow up with 'I hate this situation, not you.' One word, one punctuation mark, changes everything.

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