Sonnet 27in modern English, side by side

The speaker, exhausted and far from the young man he loves, lies down to sleep — but his mind begins a nighttime 'pilgrimage' to the beloved instead. Work wears out his body by day; longing keeps his mind awake by night.

Confused by a different line? Paste any Shakespeare — any play, any edition — and get it in modern English.

Matching colours pair each sentence with its translation. Hover (or tap) any word to light up the words that match it on the other side — archaic words show their meaning.

Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,

The dear respose for limbs with travel tir’d;

Worn out by hard work, I hurry to my bed — the precious rest for limbs exhausted from travel.

But then begins a journey in my head

To work my mind, when body’s work’s expired:

But then a journey starts inside my head, putting my mind to work just as my body's work has ended.

For then my thoughts, from far where I abide,5

Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,

And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,

Looking on darkness which the blind do see:

That is when my thoughts, setting out from this faraway place where I am staying, begin a devoted pilgrimage to you, and they hold my drooping eyelids wide open, staring into the same darkness the blind see.

Save that my soul’s imaginary sight

Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,10

Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,

Makes black night beauteous, and her old face new.

Except that my soul's imaginary eyesight brings your image before my sightless eyes, and that image, like a jewel hung against the hideous night, makes black night beautiful and gives its old face a new look.

Lo! thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,

For thee, and for myself, no quiet find.

So there it is: by day my limbs and by night my mind can find no rest — because of you, and because of me.

Famous lines in this scene

“Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night, Makes black night beauteous, and her old face new.” line 11

The poem's central image: the beloved's imagined face shines in the sleepless dark like a jewel against black cloth. Shakespeare loved this picture — Romeo describes Juliet almost identically, 'like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear' — and here it turns insomnia into a strange kind of beauty.

Confused by a different line? Paste any Shakespeare — any play, any edition — and get it in modern English.

Studying the language itself? Our Shakespearean English course teaches thou/thee, the verbs, and the meter — free through Unit 2. Or try the Shakespearean English translator.