Classic Literature
Shakespeare’s Sonnets and PoemsEndnotes

Endnotes

  1. In the first printing of this sonnet in 1609, the printer here repeats “My sinful earth” instead of “Why feed’st.” This is considered to be an error, as the repetition of the last words in the previous line⁠—a common type of typesetting oversight called an “eye skip error”⁠—breaks the sonnet’s meter. Shakespeare’s original intent has been lost, and modern scholars have a variety of theories on what it might have been. Since the word “feed” is used in the following lines, scholars have proposed “Why feed’st” as a possible correction. Other guesses made by scholars include “Thrall to,” “Fool’d by,” “Hemm’d by,” “Foil’d by,” “Fenced by,” “Flatt’ring,” “Spoiled by,” “Lord of,” and “Pressed by.” —⁠Alex Cabal ↩

Contents
The Rape of Lucrece1 hr 3 min

The Passionate Pilgrim

Chapter 11 minChapter 21 minChapter 31 minChapter 41 minChapter 51 minChapter 61 minChapter 71 minChapter 81 minChapter 91 minChapter 101 minChapter 111 minChapter 121 minChapter 131 minChapter 141 minChapter 151 minSonnets to Sundry Notes of Music6 minThe Phoenix and the Turtle1 minSonnets1 hr 25 minA Lover’s Complaint11 minEndnotes1 minFull contents of Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Poems
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