Shakespeare’s Sonnet #34: “Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day”

Sonnet 34

Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day
And make me travel forth without my cloak,
To let base clouds o’ertake me in my way,
Hiding thy brav’ry in their rotten smoke?
‘Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break,
To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face,
For no man well of such a salve can speak
That heals the wound and cures not the disgrace.
Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief;
Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss.
The offender’s sorrow lends but weak relief
To him that bears the strong offense’s cross.
Ah, but those tears are pearl which thy love sheeds,
And they are rich and ransom all ill deeds.

Simplified Modern English Translation

Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day
Why did you promise such a beautiful day

And make me travel forth without my cloak,
and allow me to go out completely unprotected and unaware

To let base clouds o’ertake me in my way,
only to let dark clouds come between us

Hiding thy brav’ry in their rotten smoke?
hiding your good favor in an unhealthy mist?

‘Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break,
It is not enough that you peer through the clouds

To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face,
to wipe the tears of hurt away from face

For no man well of such a salve can speak
for no one can say that any remedy is healthy

That heals the wound and cures not the disgrace.
that only fixes the outward wound and not the inner shame.

Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief;
Nor can the fact that you are embarrassed relieve my grief;

Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss.
Though you say you are sorry, I still feel the disgrace.

The offender’s sorrow lends but weak relief
 Your apology is not quite adequate

To him that bears the strong offense’s cross.
 when the damage you did to me is so hurtful.

Ah, but those tears are pearl which thy love sheeds,
Ah, but those tears that you are shedding are priceless

And they are rich and ransom all ill deeds.
and they are rich, and allow you to get away with anything.

Reading of Sonnet 34

The images in the YouTube video are from an original 1609 edition of Shake-speares Sonnets held by the British Library.  It is one of only thirteen copies in existence.  Images courtesy of the Octavo Corporation.  

Text from Original 1609 Quarto

Transcription courtesy of University of Virginia Library:

Why didst thou promise such a beautious day,
*And make me trauaile forth without my cloake,
To let bace cloudes ore-take me in my way,
Hiding thy brau’ry in their rotten smoke.
Tis not enough that through the cloude thou breake,
To dry the raine on my storme-beaten face,
For no man well of such a salue can speake,
That heales the wound, and cures not the disgrace:
Nor can thy shame giue phisicke to my griefe,
Though thou repent, yet I haue still the losse,
Th’offenders sorrow lends but weake reliefe
To him that beares the strong offenses losse¹.
Ah but those teares are pearle which thy loue sheeds,
And they are ritch, and ransome all ill deeds.

 

* indicates fully justified line, compositor may have adjusted spelling to fit the line.  

Wording differences between the text and the reading are noted with a superscript:

¹ cross