Shakespeare’s Sonnet 136 is a flirtatious, pun-filled plea. The speaker imagines his lover’s soul trying to stop her from giving in to him physically. He tells her to simply swear to her own “blind soul” that he is just her “Will”—a clever trick, since Will is his name, but also the word for desire or sexual appetite. Once she admits that “will” is welcome, he can slip past her reservations. From there, the wordplay gets more audacious: he promises to fill her love with many “wills,” but insists his own “will” should be the one she accepts. With a dizzying twist of logic, he argues that among a large crowd, one person is practically invisible, so she can let him “pass untold”—count him as nothing, as long as that nothing feels sweet to her. The final couplet seals the game: if she simply loves his name, she will love him, because his name *is* Will. The whole sonnet feels playful, self-deprecating, and slyly intimate, turning a name into an entire seduction.
Sonnet 136: If thy soul check thee that I come so near — Summary
If thy soul check thee that I come so near, Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy 'Will', And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there; Thus far for love, my love-suit, sweet, fulfil. 'Will', will fulfil the treasure of thy love, Ay, fill it full with wills, and my will one. In things of great receipt with ease we prove Among a number one is reckon'd none: Then in the number let me pass untold, Though in thy store's account I one must be; For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold That nothing me, a something sweet to thee: Make but my name thy love, and love that still, And then thou lov'st me for my name is 'Will.'