The speaker describes the connection between eyes and hearts. The eyes behold the beauty of the person that the speaker sees, and the eyes of the speaker imprint that beauty in the heart of the speaker. Yet, when the speaker and the other person stare at eachother’s eyes, the speaker cannot see what is in the heart of the other, only what is on the outside.
The title is not very complex, this sonnet is simply the twenty-fourth sonnet in Shakespeare’s series of the one hundred and fifty-four sonnets that he has written.
I believe that the message of this poem is that you should make an effort to discern someone’s true feelings, while not letting yourself be caught up in how they may seem on the outside.
The topic of this sonnet is the relation between the eyes and the heart, a common comparison in the Rennaisance.
The speaker seems to be asking the other person to reveal their true feelings, as the speaker themself has already done.
This poem is written from the perspective of the speaker.
The sonnet is written in Shakespearian style, this means that it is written in Iambic Pentameter with an abab/cdcd/efef/gg rhyme scheme.
Shakespeare had written his 154 sonnets to explore all aspects of love, which was a popular topic in the Rennaisance. However, Shakespeare’s sonnets were different from the rest, as he tackled more challenging topics, such as misogyny and acrimony. Another way in which Shakespeare’s sonnets differed from other sonnets in the Rennaisance is that Shakespeare did not praise a beatiful woman, but instead a young man.