Sonnet 43
When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
dreams
absence
vision
longing
When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
For all the day they view things unrespected;
But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,
And darkly bright are bright in dark directed.
Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,
How would thy shadow's form form happy show
To the clear day with thy much clearer light,
When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so!
How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made
By looking on thee in the living day,
When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade
Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay!
All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.
What It Means
At night, when his eyes are closed, Shakespeare sees the young man clearly in his mind. During the day, when his eyes are open, they see nothing worth seeing. His eyes are better shut than open. The most vivid image is the young man appearing in dreams as 'bright' and lighting the darkness. Waking life is the shadow; sleep is the reality. The sestet flips this: if his shadow (imagination) is so beautiful, how much more beautiful would the real thing be?
Context
Part of the Fair Youth sequence. Sonnets 43–45 form a group about physical separation.
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