Sonnet 94
They that have power to hurt and will do none,
power
virtue
corruption
self-control
They that have power to hurt and will do none,
That do not do the thing they most do show,
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow,
They rightly do inherit heaven's graces
And husband nature's riches from expense;
They are the lords and owners of their faces,
Others but stewards of their excellence.
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,
Though to itself it only live and die,
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.
What It Means
People who have power to hurt but choose not to are the most admirable — and the most dangerous. They own themselves; they are 'lords and owners' of their faces, showing nothing. Others perform virtue. The true flower is more precious but also more vulnerable: if it corrupts, it smells worse than a weed. This is one of the most morally ambiguous sonnets in the sequence — it praises self-control while hinting it might be a form of coldness.
Context
Part of the Fair Youth sequence. Sonnet 94 is frequently anthologized and debated — is Shakespeare praising the young man's emotional control or criticizing his coldness?
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