By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 24 begins with the line ‘Mine eye hath played the painter and hath stell’d …’, thus picking up on two now familiar tropes from the Sonnets: the role of the eye in discerning things (see the previous sonnet) and the use of painting as a metaphor or analogue for poetry. Below are some notes towards an analysis of Sonnet 24 in terms of its meaning.
Mine eye hath played the painter and hath stell’d,
Thy beauty’s form in table of my heart;
My body is the frame wherein ’tis held,
And perspective that is best painter’s art.
For through the painter must you see his skill,
To find where your true image pictured lies,
Which in my bosom’s shop is hanging still,
That hath his windows glazed with thine eyes.