contrary, the speaker is losing his sanity as time progresses. In the past, perhaps, the

speaker's rational thought processes allowed him to cope with failed romances. However,

in the presence of this love for his dark mistress, all his logical mental abilities are

overpowered. His rational mind, which he depends on for truth and sanity, has left him in

the face of love. The torment of love has made it impossible for the speaker to make

truthful, objective observations about his world ("Companion to" 43). In this poem,

Shakespeare claims that it is love, not reason, that shapes one's perception of the world,

for one's mind, the ideal and rational judgment-maker, is subject to and overwhelmed by

the whims of emotion ("Companion to" 44). At the beginning of Sonnet 147, the spe

external, social factors, such as his culture's romantic ideal for one's beloved. Here, the

Love, then, is, for Shakespeare, a force that operates within several different

reason, then love is no longer simply an internalized emotion; it is also an externalized

Some common words found in the essay are:
Finally Shakespeare, , Rowse Biography, Love Shakespeare, love internal, internal force, sonnet 147, love reason, sonnet 147 speaker's, love internal force, poem shakespeare, rowse biography, love love, speaker's love, 147 speaker's, external forces,
Approximate Word count = 600
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)