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Sonnet 96

The beloved transmutes faults into virtues; the speaker's love consists of urging restraint, not in using beauty's destructive power.

Original
Modern
1 Some say thy fault is youth, some wantonness,
Some say your faults come from being young, others from being careless,
2 Some say thy grace is youth and gentle sport,
Others say your charm comes from your youth and playful nature,
3 Both grace and faults are loved of more and less:
Both your good qualities and bad ones are loved by everyone,
4 Thou mak’st faults graces, that to thee resort:
You turn your faults into virtues through your beauty; that's why people are drawn to you,
5 As on the finger of a throned queen,
Like when something sits on the finger of a crowned queen,
6 The basest jewel will be well esteemed:
Even the cheapest jewel looks valuable,
7 So are those errors that in thee are seen,
So it is with your mistakes—when people see them in you,
8 To truths translated, and for true things deemed.
They get transformed into truths and accepted as genuine good qualities,
Wordplay: “translate / looks translate”

The wolf could 'translate' (transform, convert) his appearance into lamb-like innocence. Translation here means disguise, the metamorphosis of one form into another.

Volta Shifts from passive observation of beauty's alchemy to a conditional warning: the beloved has the power to devastate and must choose restraint.
9 How many lambs might the stern wolf betray,
How many lambs might the stern wolf betray
How many innocent people could a cruel predator trick,
10 If like a lamb he could his looks translate!
If that predator could disguise himself to look innocent,
11 How many gazers mightst thou lead away,
How many people could you trick and lead astray,
12 If thou wouldst use the strength of all thy state!
If you used all the power of your beauty and position!
Wordplay: “strength of all thy state”

'State' means condition or position; the beloved's full power and authority if deployed in full measure would be unstoppable. Restraint is the withholding of total force.

13 But do not so, I love thee in such sort,
But do not so, I love thee in such sort
But don't do that—I love you in such a way that,
14 As thou being mine, mine is thy good report.
Because since you're mine, your reputation and honor matter to me as much as my own.
Power Unexercised as Love

Sonnet 96 continues the theme of beauty's destructive potential but adds a conditional about love itself. The speaker loves the beloved partly because the beloved chooses restraint—the beloved could seduce 'lambs' by appearing innocent, could lead 'gazers' astray through sheer magnetism, yet doesn't. Love, in this sonnet, consists of admiring power held in check. The speaker's claim 'As thou being mine, mine is thy good report' suggests his love depends on the beloved's continued restraint, not on absolute devotion.

Ownership Through Negation

The paradoxical final couplet means: the speaker owns the beloved precisely because the beloved doesn't exercise power. If the beloved began using their full potential, the ownership would evaporate. Love here is contingent on the beloved's self-limitation. The speaker doesn't love the beloved absolutely; he loves the beloved's choice not to be fully themselves. This is love as mutual constraint, with the speaker's ownership purchased by the beloved's voluntary dimming of their own brilliance.

If this happened today

You date someone stunning who could emotionally wreck people if they tried. You know this. But you love them partly because they choose not to—because they're kind despite having the power to be cruel. Your whole relationship depends on them never actually using their full potential.

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