Sonnet 91
Some glory in their birth, some in their skill,
pride
loss
love
wealth
Some glory in their birth, some in their skill,
Some in their wealth, some in their bodies' force,
Some in their garments, though new-fangled ill,
Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse;
And every humour hath his adjunct pleasure,
Wherein it finds a joy above the rest:
But these particulars are not my measure;
All these I better in one general best.
Thy love is better than high birth to me,
Richer than wealth, prouder than garments' cost,
Of more delight than hawks or horses be;
And having thee, of all men's pride I boast:
Wretched in this alone, that thou mayst take
All this away and me most wretched make.
What It Means
Other men take pride in their origins, their learning, their physical gifts. All of these can be taken away. The richest man can lose his money; the strongest man can be wounded. Shakespeare's source of pride — the young man's love — is the one thing that, if lost, would leave him poorer than the poorest man on earth. The most valuable things are the most fragile.
Context
Part of the Fair Youth sequence.
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