Sonnet 89

Estrangement and Return

Notes

TLN 1235archaic vocab
“Speak of my lameness, and I straight will halt”
'Lameness' means a physical disability or impaired gait, used here figuratively for a fault or defect of character. 'Halt' means to limp. The poet promises that if the youth names any flaw — even a physical one — he will perform it on demand, feigning the very disability he is charged with.
TLN 1237syntax grammar
“Thou canst not love disgrace me half so ill, To set a form upon desired change”
This compressed couplet means: 'You cannot disgrace me half as badly (even to give a plausible appearance to the separation you want) as I will disgrace myself.' 'To set a form upon desired change' means to give a respectable shape or pretext to the change — the breaking of the relationship — that the youth desires. 'Form' here is outward appearance or legal guise.
TLN 1242archaic vocab
“Thy sweet beloved name no more shall dwell, Lest I, too much profane, should do it wrong”
'Profane' means to treat something sacred with contempt or defilement — here, to degrade the youth's name by letting it be associated with someone as unworthy as the poet. The word belongs to the vocabulary of religious violation: a holy name can be 'profaned' just as a temple can. The poet fears that even uttering the beloved's name will contaminate it.