Other Voices

A problem that will hardly be solved through biographical approximation is that of poetical voice.

Through biographical approximations one might end up with the dangerous and, above all, simplistic notion that in Shakespeare's sonnet 129 "el poeta experimenta una fuerte sensaci�n de desagrado hacia el amor f�sico que le lleva a clamar contra la lujuria" (Abad 255-256). Likewise, Sidney's active protestantism has lead some to believe that the poet sought nothing more than moralization, aside from artificial virtuosity.(Lozano 293) The problem with these approximations is that they tend to neglect important parts of the working structure of the poems in order to make sense of them in a biographical way.If one was to believe that there is only one voice in Shakespeare's sonnet 129 and in Sidney's sonnet 5 the poems remain contradictory and ambiguous.

On the other hand, by paying attention to specific words and the place and way in which they are uttered, certain ambiguities and contradictions are solved. The ambiguity lays in the fact that the one voice that dictates the principles in the first part of the sonnet, is not too evidently separated from that which will contradict them later on. Still, through the structure and tone one may infer the presence of separate voices and make a more fortunate guess at which one is the poet's voice.The particular structure of the sonnet is often used in such a manner that a whole body is built up only to collapse in one or two final lines. We only have to think of Gongora's "Mientras por competir con tu cabello" to find a very clear example.

We can, as well, find other examples of this in Shakespeare and in Sidney, for example in Shakespeare's sonnet 19 and in Sidney's sonnet 71. In the sonnets we are looking at, the same process takes place: both poets enumerate a number of principles to finally throw them down in the final lines.The first 12 lines in sonnet 129 deal with the ambivalent nature of "lust in action" where one craves desperately for that which, once had, only makes one miserable. The poet contrast momentary bliss to the length of suffering that precedes and follows after lust, he writes "A bliss in proof; and proved, a very woe". Finally he concludes that,All this the world well knows, yet none knows wellTo shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.In Sidney's sonnet, the poet enumerates in the first thirteen lines the various Platonic ideas: that physical beauty is "but a shade", that "true" beauty is virtue and that one should seek to move upwards towards this virtue.

The poet seems to acknowledge all these values by repeating the word true, but the final line turns upside down these values by using the same phrase structure and saying,True, and yet true that I must Stella love.The main structural difference between the two sonnets is Shakespeare's use of the final couplet. Although Sidney rhymes the last two lines, they do not work as a couplet. Sidney's final line remains isolated from the whole and this will make the irony and contradiction more evident in Sidney. On the other hand, Shakespeare's final couplet will work as a whole that subtly twists, by means of ambiguity, what had been previously said.

The structural arrangement of these sonnets does not necessarily imply that there is more than one voice in them. It could well be that the final couplet in 129 is only a pessimistic note on the unfortunate condition of mankind; a reproach on his inability to follow reason. Still by paying attention to tone we can perceive that there is a clear break between two voices.What first strikes as suspicious in 129 is the fast enumeration of adjectives. It seems to me that if the poet had wanted to convey the disgusting nature of lust, he could have used much more suggestive imagery than that offered by a list of adjectives.

The words he uses are strong and this strength is very much enhanced by the punctual and constant rhythm produced by the enumeration,Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;Still, the speech seems pretty vacant. One has no more than a spouting of words that could well be any preachers voice, a condemnation that uses guilt as a forcible argument to prevent people from giving in to lust. In Sidney, the other voice is not so much a condemnation as it is an acknowledging of the principles of Platonic love. The other voice seems to be that of poetic tradition; the strife towards virtue. The repetition of the word true suggests a dialogue between this tradition and the poet as he seems to be confirming what has been said to him, he seems to repeat something that is not his voice.

This apparent acceptance of the abstract values of the voice of tradition, in the end, amounts to nothing in the face of the reality of physical desire. The final repetition of the word true in "True, and yet true that I must Stella love." makes a distinction between the truth of this intellectual values and the truth of physical desire. The understanding of the values is unable to conquer the will of the second voice.In Sidney the presence of another voice is more evident precisely because of this apparent dialogue with another.

In fact the straightforward contradiction of the whole sonnet in the final line offers few options as to how the sonnet should be read. It seems very unlikely that this "love" for Stella is something other than physical desire.In contrast, the ambiguity of the final lines in Shakespeare's sonnet offer a wider range of possible readings. As I have said above, one could see a continuity between the first twelve lines and the final couplet, although I think it is important to be attentive of the final change of tone. The location of the words heaven and hell should catch our eye.

The choice of the word heaven to describe "lust in action" seems unlikely for a voice such as the one present at the beginning of the poem. On the other hand, the use of the adjective "this" in reference to hell is ambiguous in that there is no clear referent of what this hell is. It may be the experience of this "very woe" produced by lust, and yet it could also be the hell of listening to this voices of guilt. Another ambiguous "this" would be the one that refers to what the world knows.