Sonnet notes 14

Sonnet 36, line 10: “Lest my bewailèd guilt should do thee shame”

In Sonnet 35 the poet was an accessory to the Young Man’s theft. He aided and abetted him. He goes one step further here. He is now the guilty party. He is the only one to be blamed. His guilty deed will dishonor the Young Man; without it, the Young Man’s reputation will be without a blot. This confession makes even less sense without reference to the Dark Lady sonnets than the one in Sonnet 35 did. Only after we read the later sonnets can we attempt to sort all this out. But the poet and the Young Man know what is going on. They both know more than we do. And we are meant to understand that. It keeps us struggling to maintain our balance as they struggle to maintain their relationship.