This is a short summary of Shakespeare sonnet 105. Continue reading for complete analysis and meaning in the modern text. For the complete list of 154 sonnets, check the collection of Shakespeare Sonnets with analysis. It is highly recommended to buy “The Monument” by Hank Whittemore, which is the best book on Shakespeare Sonnets.

Shakespeare Sonnet 105 (Original Text)

Let not my love be called idolatry,

Nor my belovèd as an idol show,

Since all alike my songs and praises be

To one, of one, still such, and ever so.

Kind is my love today, tomorrow kind,

Still constant in a wondrous excellence;

Therefore my verse to constancy confined,

One thing expressing, leaves out difference.

Fair, kind, and true is all my argument,

Fair, kind, and true, varying to other words;

And in this change is my invention spent—

Three themes in one, which wondrous scope affords.

Fair, kind, and true have often lived alone,

Which three, till now, never kept seat in one.

–WIKI

Shakespeare Sonnet 105 Modern Text (Translation)

-via SparkNotes

Shakespeare Sonnet 105 Analysis

The poet says not to let his love be compared to idol worship “Let not my love be called idolatry,” and neither should his lover be portrayed as a statue “Nor my belovèd as an idol show,” And most of his songs and praise “Since all alike my songs and praises be” have always been addressed to one single person “To one, of one, still such, and ever so.”

He says he finds his love kind always in the present and the future “Kind is my love today, tomorrow kind,” and the quality of his love is always consistent “Still constant in a wondrous excellence;” which is why his poetry is dedicated to this consistency “Therefore my verse to constancy confined, “and it never includes anything different from this subject “One thing expressing, leaves out difference”.

His love is fair kind and sincere which is the main topic of his verse “Fair, kind, and true is all my argument, “and he writes about this fairness and kindness in various ways “Fair, kind, and true, varying to other words;” and in this way he exhausts his creativity “And in this change is my invention spent—“and that the three virtues of his love provide excellent scope for more creativity

The three virtues of fairness, kindness, and sincerity have always been individualistic “Fair, kind, and true have often lived alone,” but now they live as one person within his love “Which three, till now, never kept seat in one.”