Sonnet 25

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Sonnet 25 in the 1609 Quarto
Q1 Q2 Q3 C Let those who are in favour with their stars Of public honour and proud titles boast, Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars, Unlook’d for joy in that I honour most. Great princes’ favourites their fair leaves spread But as the marigold at the sun’s eye, And in themselves their pride lies buried, For at a frown they in their glory die. The painful warrior famoused for fight, After a thousand victories once foil’d, Is from the book of honour razed quite, And all the rest forgot for which he toil’d: Then happy I, that love and am beloved Where I may not remove nor be removed. 4 8 12 14 —William Shakespeare

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C

Let those who are in favour with their stars
Of public honour and proud titles boast,
Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars,
Unlook’d for joy in that I honour most.
Great princes’ favourites their fair leaves spread
But as the marigold at the sun’s eye,
And in themselves their pride lies buried,
For at a frown they in their glory die.
The painful warrior famoused for fight,
After a thousand victories once foil’d,
Is from the book of honour razed quite,
And all the rest forgot for which he toil’d:
Then happy I, that love and am beloved
Where I may not remove nor be removed.

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14

Sonnet 25 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, and is a part of the Fair Youth sequence. It was published within the Quarto in 1609.

In the sonnet, the poem goes over the speaker's social standing and contentedness in comparison to that of his subject and is among the first of the sequence to deal explicitly with the difference in class between Shakespeare and the subject of the poems. It prefigures the more famous treatment of this difference in Sonnet 29. There is speculation on the similarities of this sonnet and the relationship of Romeo and Juliet.

This sonnet is addressed to someone in a higher class or status than the poet. The first four lines imply that the subject of this poem is of a courtly status due to the luck of their birth into such high class as implied by the speaker's reference to astrological fortune. Because Shakespeare was not born with the luck and fortune of courtly status, the possibility of ease in success is not afforded to him. The unexpected joy the speaker feels at being looked on favorably by the subject of his sonnet is due to the probability that the speaker was overlooked by those of higher social standing, and therefore, having fewer expectations to live up to. This keeps him from disappointing the subject.

In the next quatrain, the "prince", like a flower, prefers his leaves to be spread in order to receive the praise his pride needs, though he tries to keep that pride hidden. This is to say, he is very open to receiving praise he believes he rightfully deserves. As with the marigold, whose petals close in the absence of the sun, the subject would also close up if his pride, being so fragile as to fall apart at a simple frown, is damaged.