Those parts of thee that the world's eye doth view,Want nothing that the thought of hearts can mend: All tongues (the voice of souls) give thee that due,

Uttering bare truth, even so as foes commend. Thy outward thus with outward praise is crown'd;

But those same tongues that give thee so thine own In other accents do this praise confound

By seeing farther than the eye hath shown.They look into the beauty of thy mind,

And that, in guess, they measure by thy deeds;Then (churls) their thoughts, although their eyes were kind,

To thy fair flower add the rank smell of weeds: But why thy odour matcheth not thy show,

The solve is this, that thou dost common grow. Analysis of Sonnet LXIX by William Shakespeare

In sonnet 69, William Shakespeare seems to address to the reader one of the flaws of humans, and the social nature of humans; lying to get by, rather than telling the truth which involves the entirety of society, down to the narrow individual, and subtly hints how one individual, or a group of some, can spoil a group of good and humble people, as stated in line 12, when he states, “ to thy fair flower, add the rank smell of weeds”, where the fair flowers are the humble honest people, and the weeds are the few who come along and ruin everything. In the opening lines, he states that there are two kinds of people in the world, in terms of interacting with others. Simply, those who tell the truth, “even as foes commend”, and those who don’t tell the truth, and get through life by manipulating and deceiving people, whether it be foe or friend. He first identifies the people who say the truth as being those who are humble, like angels. This is one of Shakespeare’s uses of dramatic imagery and giving the protagonist divine or angelic traits, when he states that those who speak true are “...the voice of souls,give thee that due, uttering bare truth even as foes commend.” The voice of souls take on a humble and honest personality, as souls is meant to mean angels. The part in which he says “ give thee that due”, states that these angelic voices give a chance, or set an example for others to tell the truth, as he then stated that “outward praise is crown’d”. Crowned meaning to be glorified, or at least, praised and liked for being truthful. After introducing the protagonist, Shakespeare then introduces the antagonist; the liars who get through life by manipulating and persuading. He states that these people are cunning, witty, and deceiving. In his words, they do this “ By seeing farther than the eye hath shown. They look into the beauty of thy mind” By seeing farther than the eye has shown, he means that these cunning individuals can see past a mans words, and seep into their mind, using that to manipulating them. In the closing lines, he states these witty liars add the rank smell of weeds. This is another use of Shakespeare’s dramatic imagery, and forceful diction. These rank smelling weeds spoil the beauty of a fair flower, which are the innocent, humble, and honest. Shakespeare then seems to come to peace with the two opposite forces, in lines 13 and 14, when he states “ But why thy odour [ the odor being the weeds] matcheth not thy shown, the soil is this, that thou dost common grow.” This couplet at the end seems like a

rather peaceful, accepting tone. What he means by this couplet is, that even if the liars do lie ( who is addressed as “thy”) and not match their appearance, the “soil”, which is the Earth, or the society they live in, is filled with these kind of people, and they grow, and multiply, which is why he states that they are common, like weeds are compared to flowers. Flowers are more delicate and harder to maintain it’s beauty, while weeds just pop up everywhere, not caring for their ugliness or damage they’ve done. The flowers are the voice of souls, and the weeds are the liars, which, in the opening lines, he states as “ the other tongues”.

This sonnet is very interesting, in that it actually captures the way society was living back then, or, even today. Shakespeare observed life in the bustling city, and saw these kinds of manipulation going on, and how the liars, scammers, and thieves are everywhere, like weeds, and harder to get rid of, like weeds. The flowers were most likely the nobleman and women, who are affected by the weeds, their beauty snuffed out by the rank smell and wickedness of the weeds. The weeds made the flowers look bad, and not attractive, which, historically, was true about London Paris, and Florence and the other big cities. Thieves, scammers, murderers, and liars where everywhere. They were common, like weeds are in an unmaintained rose field. In every corner, alley, tavern, or even in the aristocrat. These wicked people spoiled the cities beauty, making it look unattractive, and a place to steer clear of. This is why Shakespeare states that the soil is “common” with these people, meaning the known world at the time, which is the soil, grows these common weeds, as they are easier to grow, and faster. However, they are hard to get rid of, and, like the weeds that grow on the road sides, Shakespeare, or whoever the narrator is, must continue to walk that road, regardless of it’s tainted beauty. He or she must not be defeated, must not be pushed off of the road, by the weeds. He or she must trample on them, making sure they do not grow, or come back again. He or she must preserve the beauty, and continue to tread on this road, for is he/she steps off, the weeds will multiply, slowly taking over what could have possibly been a great and mighty road, that leads to glory, fame or peace. It is sonnet 69 that is the road the narrator treads upon, accepting it’s tainted beauty, and carrying on steadfast.