Sonnet 143
Lo! as a careful housewife runs to catch
neglect
desire
hope
domesticity
Lo! as a careful housewife runs to catch
One of her feather'd creatures broke away,
Sets down her babe and makes an swift dispatch
In pursuit of the thing she would have stay,
Whilst her neglected child holds her in chase,
Cries to catch her whose busy care is bent
To follow that which flies before her face,
Not prizing her poor infant's discontent;
So runn'st thou after that which flies from thee,
Whilst I thy babe chase thee afar behind;
But if thou catch thy hope, turn back to me,
And play the mother's part, kiss me, be kind:
So will I pray that thou mayst have thy 'Will,'
If thou turn back, and my loud crying still.
What It Means
A domestic metaphor: a mother chasing a chicken while her baby is left on the ground crying. The baby is Shakespeare; the chicken is his mistress's other lover; the mother is the mistress herself. He watches her run after the other man while he sits and cries for her attention. All he asks is that when she's done chasing, she turns around and kisses him. It's one of the most oddly tender images in the sequence.
Context
Part of the Dark Lady sequence. The domestic scene is unusually concrete compared to most of the sequence.
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