Sonnet 110

Constancy and the Muse

Notes

TLN 1529archaic vocab
“made my self a motley to the view”
'Motley' is the multi-colored patchwork costume worn by a professional court jester or fool. To make oneself 'a motley to the view' means to play the fool openly in public — to perform foolishness before an audience.
TLN 1530archaic vocab
“Gor'd mine own thoughts”
'Gor'd' means wounded or stabbed — specifically, pierced with a pointed weapon or a bull's horn. The poet has stabbed and torn his own inner life by straying from the beloved.
TLN 1534archaic vocab
“These blenches gave my heart another youth, And worse essays prov'd thee my best of love”
'Blenches' means flinchings or swerves aside — moments of wavering and infidelity. 'Essays' means attempts or trials. The speaker argues that his sideways lurches (the worse relationships he tried) paradoxically proved the beloved's superior worth by contrast.
TLN 1537archaic vocab
“Mine appetite I never more will grind On newer proof, to try an older friend”
'Grind' here means to sharpen by friction — as a blade is sharpened on a whetstone. 'Proof' means test or trial. The speaker vows he will no longer sharpen his appetite (his desire) by testing it on new experiences; the beloved is the 'older friend' whose worth has already been proved.