" Shakespeare is merely telling the Dark Lady that if anything is to be said about the affair, it will not be coming from his lips. The "unkindness" which lies upon his heart cannot be let go of because the air has not been cleared. He feels that she is putting him through excruciating pain having not said a word at all. He pleads with her to "wound [him] not with [her] eye", but instead, with her own words. In reading the next two lines, it is apparent that the Dark Lady has a certain power over the poet, and the reader is well aware that Shakespeare is not the "rock" of the relationship. "Use power with power, and slay me not with art." The power that the Dark Lady has over the poet is incredible, and he wants the power to be used to break the silence. He is sick of the secrecy that surrounds the relationship, and his only hope is that she will shatter his heart as soon as possible. Shakespeare knows that the Dark Lady "lov"st elsewhere", but he needs the confirmation. The toll his heart has been taking is overburdening his emotions. .

             In this part of the poem, Shakespeare addresses the Dark Lady as "Dear heart," although it is understood that this poem is taking place inside of his head. He wonders why she bothers to "glance [her] eye aside" when she could save herself the all this trouble. The next couplet is a rhetorical question that seems to puzzle the poet. Why does the Dark Lady continue to plague his heart, when a few words could end it all? "What need"st [her] wound with cunning," when all her power is more then his "defence can bide." Shakespeare knows that he will not be able to do anything when she reveals her feelings. The pain he will feel will most likely crush him.

             The poem experiences a Volta in the next couplet, as the tone shifts from the poet"s personal problem with the Dark Lady to the Dark Lady"s encounters with others.