Return to Shakespeare's Sonnet 127 |
1.
the old age: the good old days. black: black hair and eyes. fair: attractive; light blonde.
3.
is black's successive heir: black has succeeded to the title of beauty.
4.
beauty slander'd with a bastard shame: (blonde) beauty now suffers the disgrace of illegitimacy (through cosmetics).
5.
put on: assumed.
6.
fairing the foul: making beauty ugly. art's false borrow'd face: cosmetics.
9.
eyes: i.e., eyebrows.
10.
so suited: dressed in the same color.
11.
fair: light blonde.
12.
Slandering creation with a false esteem: Dishonoring nature with a false reputation for beauty.
13.
they: my mistress' eyes. becoming of: gracing.