Sonnet 46
Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war
eye and heart
love
vision
inner life
Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war
How to divide the conquest of thy sight;
Mine eye my heart thy picture's sight would bar,
My heart mine eye the freedom of that right.
My heart doth plead that thou in him dost lie--
A closet never pierced with crystal eyes--
But the defendant doth that plea deny
And says in him thy fair appearance lies.
To 'cide this title is impanneled
A quest of thoughts, all tenants to the heart,
And by their verdict is determined
The clear eye's moiety and the dear heart's part:
As thus; mine eye's due is thy outward part,
And my heart's right thy inward love of heart.
What It Means
Eye and heart are in legal dispute over who possesses the young man. The eye claims a visual right — a portrait in the eyes. The heart claims a tenant's right — the image lodged in the chest. The case is tried by the thoughts, who rule as follows: the eye gets the outward appearance; the heart gets the inner love. It's a playful court case with a serious conclusion: both eye and heart need the young man.
Context
Part of the Fair Youth sequence. Sonnets 46 and 47 form a pair: legal dispute (46) and settled agreement (47).
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