1. Sonnet 147:
My love is a fever, longing still
By: William Shakespeare
Interpretation and Analysis
By: Alex Plavin

2. Line 1 Interpretation
“My love is as a fever longing still,”
His passion for her is a fever or disease that is
not cured and will not end.
Shakespeare is in love with a woman, who is
immoral and he understands the relationship
has to end. He is having trouble forgetting her
and moving on.

3. Line 2
“For that which longer nurseth the disease;”
Love is a germ and takes long to be cured and
forgotten.
Shakespeare is hearing one thing from his logic
and another thing from his heart. His love is
taking longer to cure, because of the way he
feels.

4. Line 3
“Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,”
Feeding or wanting his lover prevents his love
from ending.
He wants this woman, but he knows she is
wrong for her. He wants that forbidden woman,
which causes his love for her to be unbearable.
Want her!

5. Line 4
“The uncertain sickly appetite to please.”
His heart is unpleased and wants her. His sexual
desires for her are strong and existent.
Shakespeare goes nuts over this woman and his
heart is taking over his sense.

6. Line 5
“My reason, the physician to my love,”
His thoughts or reasoning act as the doctor to
treat the love.
He wants his judgment to be based sole on his
brain.

7. Line 6
“Angry that his prescription are not kept,”
Angry that the prescriptions, his logic to cure
him is not working.
He is left with his heart being the doctor and
thoughts of a mad man.

8. Line 7
“Hath left me, and I desperate now approve,”
His reason has left him and he is left with no
instruction.
His desires are taking over, and he is left with no
cure.

9. Line 8
“Desire is death, which physic did expect.”
Love and passion are destructive. His
logic/doctor does not approve but it warned
him.

10. Line 9
“Past cure I am, now reason is past cure.”
He is past the stage of worrying and his logic is
no longer curing.
His logic is no longer a part of his decisions.

11. Line 10
“And frantic-mad with evermore unrest.”
He is mad because his love for her is increasing.
He doesn’t understand why he is acting so
foolishly and acts in such a way to try overcome
his love for her. He loses self confidence and
sanity after taking his love for her too far.

12. Line 11
“My thoughts and my discourse as madmen’s
are.”
His thoughts and speech are crazy and not of a
normal man.
His disease of love is taking over his mental
balance and is causing him to change his feelings
and his way of speaking.

13. Line 12
“At random from the truth vainly express’d.”
His thoughts/statements are far from the truth
and are spoken foolishly and with no purpose.
His heart is far from the truth and unaware of
the logical truth.

14. Line 13
“For I have sworn thee fair and thought thee
bright.”
For he thought she was beautiful, bright and
pale.
Shakespeare's expectation of the appearance of
his lover. He believes she has those
characteristics and features.

15. Line 14
“Who are as black as hell, as dark as night.”
Now that he thinks about it, she was a dark as
hell and not the right girl.
Shakespeare now believes she is bad news and
not worth his love. His thoughts of her are far
from what he expects. In the end, his
relationship is on the path of destruction after
his realization.

16. Sonnet 147
Thank you, I hope you enjoyed
the presentation!