Sonnet 153

Cupid's torch was quenched in a spring, creating a healing bath; but my mistress's eyes rekindled it, and no cure exists for love's fire.

Original

Modern

1 Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep,

Cupid laid by his brand, and fell asleep:

2 A maid of Dian’s this advantage found,

A maid of Dian's this advantage found;

3 And his love-kindling fire did quickly steep

And his love-kindling fire did she insteep,

4 In a cold valley-fountain of that ground:

In a cold fountain that she found;

5 Which borrowed from this holy fire of Love,

Which borrow'd from this holy fire of love,

6 A dateless lively heat still to endure,

A dateless lively heat, still to endure,

7 And grew a seething bath which yet men prove,

And grew a seething bath, which yet men prove,

8 Against strange maladies a sovereign cure:

Against strange maladies a sovereign cure.

Volta The volta shifts from mythological history (lines 1–8) to personal application (lines 9–14): the universal cure fails for the speaker because his beloved is more powerful than Cupid's fire.

9 But at my mistress’ eye Love’s brand new-fired,

But at my mistress' eye love's brand new-fired;

10 The boy for trial needs would touch my breast,

The boy for trial needs would touch my breast;

11 I sick withal the help of bath desired,

I, sick withal, the help of bath desired,

12 And thither hied a sad distempered guest.

And thither hied, a sad distemper'd guest,

13 But found no cure, the bath for my help lies,

But found no cure: the bath for my help lies,

14 Where Cupid got new fire; my mistress’ eyes.

In the well-known eyes of my mistress.

Cupid's Myth and Medical Science

The sonnet blends classical myth with medical practice: Cupid's fire becomes a thermal spring with genuine curative powers. This is characteristic of Renaissance thinking, which accommodated pagan myth within a Christian universe and treated classical lore as containing natural-philosophical truth. The bath 'yet men prove' suggests it is real, a kind of medical history.

Eyes as Supreme Fire

The beloved's eyes exceed Cupid's brand—they are a hotter, purer fire. This returns to earlier sonnets' obsession with her eyes as instruments of power. Here, they are not just blinding but incinerating. The beloved, through her gaze, becomes more potent than the god of love himself.

If this happened today

Like a folk remedy that works for everyone except you, because your particular affliction is immune. The universal cure becomes useless against the specific intensity of your condition.

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