s friend for the affair he can't forgive the woman.When the affair took place, "his love for the woman grew rancid, . . . yet could not be cast off because she continued to hold him by her physical attraction: . . ." (Wilson 50). This idea can be seen in the first quatrain of "Sonnet 147." Shakespeare compares his love for the dark woman to a disease the he is still feeding because he still loves her. This shows that he knows he shouldn't love her and that she wrongs him, but she has a power over him and he is unable to break away from this love.In the second quatrain, Shakespeare's despair can be seen even more readily. He says he is going insane and not paying attention to his reason. He still loves her even though he knows he shouldn't. The dark woman is bringing Shakespeare into the darkness of his mind where he can't find the logic to break free from it and her. This delving into Shakespeare's psyche continues in the third quatrain. In these four lines, Shakespeare realizes that he will never be free from her because she is his fantasy and his obsession.The closing couplet of "Sonnet 147" sums up his experience with the dark woman, "For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright, / Who art as black as hell, as dark as night" (147.13-4). The dark woman is the "worser spirit" expressed in "Sonnet 144." To understand the depth of his love/hate for her as seen in this couplet, the reader should look to Milton's Paradise Lost. Satan was a beautiful creature who lived in the light, however, he was cast into the darkness of hell, a darkness so dark that it is "darkness visible" (Milton 1478). This helps a reader to understand how much Shakespeare truly hates the dark woman even though he still loves her although she is "darkness visible.""Sonnet 116" and "Sonnet 147" complement and clarify each other. The topic of both is love and they both concern the same crucial even in Shakespeare's life. However, "Sonnet 116" is ab...
