Sonnet 117

Farewell to the Fair Youth

Notes

TLN 1626archaic vocab
“have scanted all”
'Scanted' means stinted or given too little of — to fall measurably short of a debt without defaulting on it entirely. The poet is not denying he failed; he is confessing he underpaid what he owed.
TLN 1629wordplay
“all bonds do tie me day by day”
'Bonds' carries two senses at once: the emotional ties of love and loyalty, and a legal bond — a written, enforceable obligation to pay a debt. The youth's 'great deserts' (line 2) create both a moral claim and something close to a legal one.
TLN 1631archaic vocab
“your own dear-purchas'd right”
'Dear-purchas'd' means dearly bought — acquired at great cost or effort. The youth holds a 'right' to the poet's time that was earned at a price, making it legally and morally owed. The poet has given that costly entitlement away to others, the line says.
TLN 1636archaic vocab
“within the level of your frown,”
'Level' is an archery and gunnery term: to bring a target 'within the level' is to take aim at it, to have it in one's sights. The poet asks the youth to aim his displeasure — but not to fire in full-woken hatred.