In a relationship, trust is very hard to earn and easily lost. Trust allows a relationship to grow because there is not the constant worry of what the other person is doing. However, when trust is broken, like the situation in Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 138,” one must decide what actions and words to believe or hold in contempt. Shakespeare introduces the dilemma the speaker faces when he writes: “When my love swears that she is made of truth” (Shakespeare line 1 759). When the speaker’s wife lies about her infidelity, he wants to believe her. The speaker states, “I do believe her, though I know she lies” (Shakespeare line 2 759). Literary critic, Alice Moore, believes that the speaker is dealing with an internal struggle between wanting to believe her and kno

“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.”

The loss of a loved one is another emotionally challenging time we sometime face. When someone dies, whether expected or unexpected, is a very trying and painful situation. Jonson’s poem, “On My First Son” expresses his grief over the death of his young son. The boy, named Benjamin, was born in 1596 and died in 1603 on his seventh birthday (Johnson line 3 764). Johnson begins wishing his son good-bye by saying, “Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy” (Johnson line 1 764). In the second couplet, Jonson shows his initial feelings, regret for being a father, by saying “Seven years thou wert to me, and I thee pay, Exacted by they fate, on the just day” (Johnson line 3 764). These lines represent the cruelty to Jonson in the boy’s death occurring on his seventh birthday (“On My First Son” 1). In the next two couplets, Jonson realizes that his son will not experience the pains and disappointments of growing old:

Will man lament the state he should envy,

Some topics in this essay:
Shakespeare Lines, Shakespeare Line, Jonson Lines, Ben Johnson’s, Alice Moore, , Son” Jonson, Shakespeare’s Sonnets, William Shakespeare’s, “sonnet 130”, “on son”, shakespeare line, johnson line, line 3, shakespeare’s “sonnet, shakespeare’s “sonnet 130”, “sonnet 138”, 3 764, 130” 2, 130” “sonnet, johnson line 3, “sonnet 130” 2, “sonnet 130” “sonnet, “sonnet 130” 1,