VIII Sonnet

[avantimorocha]

I really don´t understand the meaning of the last line of the sonnet. I am not a native speaker and the word "wilst" doesn´t appear in Old English diccionaries. Please help!!!!

'thou single wilt prove none.' (this is the part I don´t understand) :rolleyes:

[Admin]

could it be a contraction for "will not" ?

[avantimorocha]

;) Thank you very much admin but then.....if wilst means will not what does the whole phrase mean within the context of the sonnet????

I`m afraid I`m a bit lost here. :oops:

[Admin]

VIII.

Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly?
Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy.
Why lovest thou that which thou receivest not gladly,
Or else receivest with pleasure thine annoy?
If the true concord of well-tuned sounds,
By unions married, do offend thine ear,
They do but sweetly chide thee, who confounds
In singleness the parts that thou shouldst bear.
Mark how one string, sweet husband to another,
Strikes each in each by mutual ordering,
Resembling sire and child and happy mother
Who all in one, one pleasing note do sing:
Whose speechless song, being many, seeming one,
Sings this to thee: 'thou single wilt prove none.'


Just to have it available to look at.

[avantimorocha]

Anyone....pleseeeeeee, I need to understand the final statemen of the poem. If not, I lose the whole escence of it :(

[mmarrco]

(Musical Harmony)...
Resembling sire and child and happy mother
Who all in one, one pleasing note do sing:
Whose speechless song, being many, seeming one,
Sings this to thee: 'thou single wilt prove none.'

"In union with a wife, one becomes a greater, single, united thing (perpetuated through childbirth); If you remain alone, by contrast, you effectively become nothing.
'Wilt' simply equivalent to will.

Hope it's helpful - what is your native tongue?

[den]

From Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

Main Entry: wilt
Pronunciation: w&lt, 'wilt
archaic present second singular of `will'

http://www.m-w.com/home.htm

[avantimorocha]

:D THANK YOU SO MUCH MMARRCO !!!! Your explanation was very useful. I did understand the first part about the simile between music and family, but the last line completely lost me.

My native tongue is Spanish and I´m studying English at University. When I found this site I suscribed to the "one sonnet a day" program and find it very interesting and inspiring. As you may imagine, I will probably post more questions soon lol.

And thank you Den for the entry on "wilt"

Thanks again ;)