In sonnet 141 (CXLI), Shakespeare speaks again of physical and emotional aspects of the persona's lover, however this sonnet differs in that the woman's physical appearance and ways of conduct are not appealing at all to the persona. From the start of the first quatrain, the persona declares his lover unappealing-- "In faith I do not love thee with mine eyes, For they in thee a thousand errors note - (Lines 1-2) The beginning line is rather deceitful because Shakespeare's pattern from previous sonnets continues with either an explanation of the persona's blind love that goes beyond physical beauty or the persona's love which withstands the test of time and aging beauty; however the second line unexpectedly continues by the persona stating that his lover has "a thousand- faults. The word used is "errors,"" and when read one is likely to make a mistake in the line, due to the complicated word order and diphthong in "thousand,"" as well as the alliteration. In the next line of the quatrain, the persona declares his love for his lady, but in a heartless fashion-- "But t is my heart that loves what they [his eyes] despise."" The final line-- "Who, in despite of view, is pleased to dote- has a pun on the word "view,"" which sounds similar to "you."" The persona is saying that despite what his eyes see, he still loves her. The tone of this quatrain is a combination of despondent and hopeless feelings regarding his lover. The harshness of the persona's statements towards his lover is evident through hard consonants, in particular ""d- and "t- sounds.
In the second quatrain, the persona speaks of each of his senses being displeased by his lover-- "Nor are mine ears with thy tongue's tune delighted, Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone, Nor taste, nor smell - None of the persona's senses are pleased-- not by the sound of her voice, or her "taste- and "smell,"" or is she stimulating his sense of touch.
