Poem of the Day: ‘Lo! As a Careful Housewife’

The one hundred fifty-four sonnets of William Shakespeare (1564–1616) first appeared in quarto form in 1609. Sonnets also appear as dialogue in Romeo and Juliet — and why not? Even without a dramatic context, a Shakespearean sonnet engages in a conversation, albeit one-sided. Here in Sonnet 143, the dependent clause that builds through the first eight lines generates both an analogy and a sense of dramatic tension that finds release and resolution in the six lines that follow. Tension exists as well between the poem’s rhetorical structure, the first eight lines (octet) against the last six lines (sestet)—an echo of the structure of the Petrarchan sonnet, the more European and original form of sonnets. The impulse of the Shakespearean sonnet to resolve itself with a bang in the closing couplet in this case uses a pun on the poet’s name, “Will.” Sonnet 143: Lo! As a Careful Housewife Run to Catch by William Shakespeare Lo! as a careful housewife run to catch One of her feather’d creatures broke away, Sets down her babe and makes all swift dispatch In pursuit of the thing she would have stay, Whilst her neglected child holds her in chase, Cried to catch her whose busy care is bent To follow that which flies before her face, Not prizing her poor infant’s discontent; So runn’st thou after that which flies from thee, Whilst I thy babe chase thee afar behind; But if thou catch thy hope, turn back to me, And play the mother’s part, kiss me, be kind: So will I pray that thou mayst have thy ‘Will.’ If thou turn back, and my loud crying still. ___________________________________________ With “Poem of the Day,” The New York Sun offers a daily portion of verse selected by the Sun’s poetry editor, Joseph Bottum of Dakota State University, with the help of the North Carolina poet Sally Thomas, The Sun’s associate poetry editor. Tied to the day, or the season, or just individual taste, the poems will be typically drawn from the lesser-known portion of the history of English verse. In the coming months we will be reaching out to contemporary poets for examples of current, primarily formalist work, to show that poetry can still serve as a delight to the ear, an instruction to the mind, and a tonic for the soul.

Poem of the Day: ‘Lo! As a Careful Housewife’

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