Sonnet 140

The poet asks his mistress to be cruel with wisdom rather than disdain, fearing that if driven mad by rejection, he might slander her—and fearing the world will believe him.

Original
Modern
1 Be wise as thou art cruel, do not press
Wisdom over disdain
Be as wise as you are cruel, do not press,
2 My tongue-tied patience with too much disdain:
My silent patience with too much contempt:
3 Lest sorrow lend me words and words express,
Or my sorrow will give me words and those words will speak,
4 The manner of my pity-wanting pain.
The nature of my pain that goes without pity.
5 If I might teach thee wit better it were,
If I could teach you intelligence it would be better,
6 Though not to love, yet love to tell me so,
Though not to actually love, at least love me in pretense,
7 As testy sick men when their deaths be near,
Like irritable sick people when their deaths are near,
8 No news but health from their physicians know.
Who want to hear no news but health from their physicians.
Volta The volta shifts from requesting restraint to explaining why—he fears his own despair and what it might make him say.
9 For if I should despair I should grow mad,
Fear of madness
For if I should lose hope I would go mad,
10 And in my madness might speak ill of thee,
And in my madness I might speak badly of you,
11 Now this ill-wresting world is grown so bad,
Now this world that twists everything has become so bad,
Wordplay: “ill-wresting / ill-wresting world”

Ill-wresting (misinterpreting, distorting) describes both the world and what the poet might do to truth if driven mad.

12 Mad slanderers by mad ears believed be.
Crazy lies are believed by crazy listeners.
Wordplay: “mad slanderers / mad ears”

Parallel madness: the slander-speakers and the slander-hearers are equally unstable, equally prone to false belief.

13 That I may not be so, nor thou belied,
So that I may not be like that, nor may you be slandered,
14 Bear thine eyes straight, though thy proud heart go wide.
Keep your eyes looking straight ahead, even though your proud heart might wander.
Madness as Loss of Control

The poem pivots on the word 'mad' (line 9): if the poet despairs, he will go mad, and madness will make him 'speak ill' (slander) the Dark Lady. He's asking her to avoid driving him insane because he cannot trust himself once reason is gone. This reveals something dark: the poet is aware of his own volatility, his capacity for destructive vindication. He asks her to manage his emotions for him, to keep him sane by withholding the ultimate cruelty.

Reputation and Mad Slander

Lines 11-12 shift focus to the social world: 'Now this ill-wresting world is grown so bad, / Mad slanderers by mad ears believed be.' The problem isn't just the poet's potential madness but the world's readiness to believe slander. Mad people speaking to mad audiences will be believed. The poet fears that once he loses control, the world will accept his version of her cruelty. His plea, then, is simultaneously self-protective and a threat: drive me mad and I'll destroy you socially.

If this happened today

Like someone in a relationship texting their partner: 'If you keep ignoring me, I might say things I'll regret, and people will listen.' It's a threat disguised as warning, desperation dressed as plea. The poet fears madness more than pain.