Sonnet 154

Cupid slept and a virgin maiden took his torch and quenched it, creating a healing bath; yet it cannot cool my love for you.

Original

Modern

1 The little Love-god lying once asleep,

The little Love-god lying once asleep,

2 Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand,

Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand,

3 Whilst many nymphs that vowed chaste life to keep,

Whilst many nymphs that vow'd chaste life to keep,

4 Came tripping by, but in her maiden hand,

Came tripping by; but in her maiden hand,

5 The fairest votary took up that fire,

The fairest votary took up that fire,

6 Which many legions of true hearts had warmed,

Which many legions of true hearts had warm'd;

7 And so the general of hot desire,

And so the General of hot desire,

8 Was sleeping by a virgin hand disarmed.

Was, sleeping, by a virgin over-arm'd.

Volta The volta mirrors 153: from myth to application. The universal remedy fails because love is not a physical disease susceptible to water and heat.

9 This brand she quenched in a cool well by,

This brand she quench'd in a cool well by,

10 Which from Love’s fire took heat perpetual,

Which from Love's fire took heat perpetual,

11 Growing a bath and healthful remedy,

Growing a bath and healthful remedy,

12 For men diseased; but I, my mistress’ thrall,

For men diseased; but I, my mistress' thrall,

13 Came there for cure and this by that I prove,

Came there for cure, and this by that I prove,

14 Love’s fire heats water, water cools not love.

final couplet: love's irreducible nature

Love's fire heats water, water cools not love.

Double Epilogue and Classical Closure

The paired sonnets 153–154 serve as epilogue to the entire sequence. By returning to classical myth and retreating from the speaker's personal drama, they suggest that love's anguish is eternal and archetypal, not unique to his case. The repetition (nearly word-for-word in places) implies resignation: this is the way love is; nothing new can be said.

The Final Paradox

The closing couplet—'Love's fire heats water, water cools not love'—is the sequence's ultimate statement. It reverses the logic of the bath's creation. The bath was meant to cool desire (the fire quenched it), but paradoxically, the fire's heat is now permanently in the water; it cannot be separated or quenched. Love is not a fire that can be extinguished but a fundamental property of existence, inescapable and immutable.

If this happened today

Like the conclusion of a tragedy: even with the best external remedy available, some conditions are incurable. Your feelings persist because they are not amenable to the logic of normal cause and effect.

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