Sir Philip Sidney: The Bargain

Sir Philip Sidney: The Bargain

My true love hath my heart, and I have his,                            A

By just exchange, one for the other given.                             B

I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,                           A

There never was a better bargain  driven.                                B

His heart in me keeps me and him in one,                                  C

My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides,                      D

He loves my heart, for once it was his own,                                    C

I cherish his, because in me it bides.                                           D

His heart his wound receivèd from my sight,                          E

My heart was wounded with his wounded heart;                 F

For as from me on him his hurt did light,                            E

So still, methought, in me his hurt did smart.                       F

Both equal hurt, in this change sought our bliss:              G

My true love hath my heart and I have his.                        G

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             This's a highly romantic sonnet in which both sides of love relationship is happy: the lover and the beloved. This sonnet opens with the poet stating that both lovers are in full possession of their mutual love for one another. At that case, every one of them owns the heart,love, of the other. Each one of them feels through the other's feelings. This is the best bargain,deal, one can ever have. They are two in one,yet they cannot be together; they suffer from separation,for which the beloved is to blame according to the lover.

             

               Since they are separated, the lover used past tense concerning the beloved's feelings "for once it was his own " ; while using present simple concerning his feelings that's to say he will continue his love no matter what happens. Despite the fact that they are in love, they are wounded since they're separated to the extent that the lover himself feels more and more sadness and pain due to his seeing of the wound,sadness, of the beloved; his pain is increased when he saw the pain of the beloved.

             Since their love is sincerely getting more and more stronger, it made their love unignorable and unforgettable even after years of their separation. The lover states that his wound and pain is much greater and deeper; yet both of them will maintain their true,sincere love even if they cannot live together forever.

             This sonnet is written in iambic pentameter; it consists of 3 quatrains followed by a final closing couplet. the rhyme scheme of this sonnet is :  abab, cdcd, efef, gg.

           

             Sound devices ,used in this sonnet, are very significant; the Rhyme such as: the word" his" rhymes with "miss ", the word "guides " rhymes with "bides " and the word "heart" rhymes with " smart". Also the alliteration in the words: " hath" , "heart", "have","his" and "better","bargain". Assonance ,also, can be found in many words like : "sight","light" and "bliss", "his".

           Figures of speech and imagery are not many in this poem since it's a heart-to-heart speech. the human heart in line 1 is metaphorically represented as an article that can be exchanged for something else; the same metaphor is represented again in line 4 when love is represented as a deal or a commercial article. In line 9, there's a personification as the human heart is likened to a person receives something.
      
           In conclusion, this sonnet is an expression of the mutual love of both lovers; it's to confirm the fact that both lovers will love each other forever. Figures of speech  and words used assures the master image of their everlasting love and loyalty to that love.