Theme: Will
Content: A play on the author's first name with a perfect number of 14 puns on it in a 14-line sonnet. The most playful and sexually graphic chat-up line of all time.
Whoever hath her wish,
thou hast thy Will,
And Will
to boot, and
Will
in overplus.
More
than enough am I that vex
thee still,
To thy sweet will
making
addition
thus.
- In line 1, Will is a pun on the author's name as well as being a variant of wish.
- wish may also be a reference to the author's name as in William Shakespeare, especially as it is also used in this line as a variant in meaning on Will.
- In line 4, will is a pun on the author's name as well as meaning the female subject's genitalia to which the author wishes to make addition, i.e. have sex with.
- Possible pun on "bout" in boot, as in sexual congress, e.g. "Damsel, I'll have a bout with you again" from 1 Henry VI, Act 3, Scene 2.
- Will in overplus sums up the extensive, and perhaps overuse, of the word will in this sonnet.
- More may allude to the Dark Lady, either as a pun on moor or to her name should she be Luce Morgan, perhaps even More than enough am.
- vex is from the Latin vexo, to shake, a further pun on the author's name but in this instance, his last name.
- sex is perhaps also phonetically alluded to by vex.
- After will, the next most frequent word in this sonnet is in, which is also contained within other words such as making. This graphically reinforces the repeated drive and desire of the author to consummate a sexual relationship with the female subject.
Wilt thou, whose
will
is large and spacious,
Not once vouchsafe to hide
my will in
thine?
Shall will
in others seem right gracious,
And in
my will no
fair
acceptance shine?
- As there is some question in this sonnet as to the female subject's full commitment to him, resulting in the relationship not yet having been consummated, the author represents himself by 13 full instances of the word Will and the 14th. instance within Wilt, thereby representing himself as not quite complete.
- Shall is itself a variant of will, a further variant reference to the author's name.
- This quatrain reveals that the female subject is conducting sexual relationships with other men but currently not doing so with the author.
- The full will in line 5 is a further reference to the female subject's genitalia.
- The will in line 6 refers to the author's sexual organ that he wishes to hide in the female subject's will.
- The will in line 7 and 8 means sexual desire.
The sea,
all water, yet receives rain still,
And in
abundance addeth to his store;
So thou, being
rich in Will,
add to thy Will
One will
of mine to make thy large Will
more.
- The author argues that the female subject will enrich herself if she agrees to having sex with him. All references to will in this quatrain referring to the subject's and author's genitalia as well as the repeated pun on the author's name.
- Q1's rhyme of Will/still is now reversed to still/Will.
- Fluid sexual imagery in the sea and rain metaphor.
- One will of mine confirms the author's desire for the female subject to accept one more will (the author's "will") to make him complete and the sonnet reach the desired 14 full occurrences of will.
- The first will in line 11 means sexual desire and the second means the female subject's genitalia.
- The first will in line 12 means the author's sexual organ and the second means the female subject's genitalia.
- One will alliterates thus making the author's proposition a wholesome and complete one.
- All but 2 of the puns on Will are stressed syllables to emphasise the play on the author's name. The two that are not stressed are the partial pun in Wilt and the one in line 12 above that acts like an unstressed feminine ending: quite apposite as in this instance it is a pun on the female subject's genitalia.
- more again may allude to the Dark Lady, either as a pun on moor or to her name should she be Luce Morgan.
Let no unkind
no fair beseechers kill;
Think
all but one,
and me in
that
one
Will.
- The sonnet resolves to ending on Will which puns on all the different meanings of "will" that the author has employed in the sonnet: his first name, the male sexual organ, the female genitalia and sexual desire.
- The couplet's Will rhyme has an ostensibly sinister overtone in implying kill Will but the author is wanting to "die" in this sonnet as "to die" is a euphemism for to have an orgasm, e.g. "I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes" from Much Ado about Nothing and "I will die bravely, like a smug bridegroom" from King Lear.
- Possible pun on the word awl in all. An awl is a tool for piercing holes in leather hence slang for the male sexual organ.
- but one and one Will conclude the author's need for the subject to accept one more (the 14th.) will.
- one will again alliterates thus making the author's proposition a wholesome and complete one.
Critical text © NigelDavies.home@Virgin.net