Sonnet 154
The little Love-god lying once asleep
love
desire
Cupid
fire
The little Love-god lying once asleep
Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand,
Whilst many nymphs that vow'd chaste life to keep
Came tripping by; but in her maiden hand
The fairest votary took up that fire
Which many legions of true hearts had warm'd;
And so the general of hot desire
Was sleeping by a virgin hand disarm'd.
This brand she quenched in a cool well by,
Which from Love's fire took heat perpetual,
Growing a bath and healthful remedy
For men diseased; but I, my mistress' thrall,
Came there for cure, and this by that I prove,
Love's fire heats water, water cools not love.
What It Means
A variation on the myth in Sonnet 153: Cupid sleeping, his torch stolen by a nymph, quenched in a cold well that turns hot. The water that should cool desire becomes a bath of desire. Shakespeare tries the bath and finds it provides no cure. Only the person who lit the fire can put it out. The sequence closes with desire still unresolved.
Context
The final sonnet of the 1609 sequence, companion to Sonnet 153. It derives from the same Greek epigram source and serves as a closing coda to the whole collection.
Buy the Arden edition of the Sonnets on Amazon →
As an Amazon Associate, ShakespeareGo earns from qualifying purchases.