SONNETCAST – William Shakespeare's Sonnets Recited, Revealed, Relived - Sonnet 32: If Thou Survive My Well-Contented Day

Sonnet 32: If Thou Survive My Well-Contented Day

04/23/23 • 20 min

SONNETCAST – William Shakespeare's Sonnets Recited, Revealed, Relived

The wryly ironic Sonnet 32 marks a caesura in the canon, as it sits right between a development arc in the relationship that spans the sequence uninterrupted from Sonnet 18 to Sonnet 31, while giving nothing away of the entirely new phase the relationship enters with the storm clouds that gather in Sonnet 33. In tone, in attitude, in self-evaluation, it gains access to a register different to any that has gone before and quite unlike any that is soon to come, and so it stands out, rather, for being really quite unique.

Previous Episode

Sonnet 31: Thy Bosom Is Endeared With All Hearts

With the astonishingly bold, borderline brazen, Sonnet 31, William Shakespeare strikes a completely new tone and tells both his young lover and us things he has not revealed before. It comes as close as we have seen thus far to declaring a physical component to their relationship, and in doing so opens an entirely new chapter with a whole different dynamic.

Next Episode

Sonnet 33: Full Many a Glorious Morning Have I Seen

With Sonnet 33 a new phase begins in the relationship between William Shakespeare and the young man. The storm clouds that gather in this poem are a direct and intentional metaphor for the turbulence the two face, as the young man has clearly gone and done something to upset his loving poet. What exactly this is, the sonnet doesn't tell us, but it is obvious that Shakespeare is hurt and disappointed, whilst trying to rationalise the young man's behaviour in a way that makes some sort of sense to him.