Sonnet 137 Sex Quotes

As we point out in our "Detailed Summary" section, this line contains one of the poem’s many hidden sexual references. On the surface, the meaning of "partial" here is the opposite of "impartial." That is to say, the speaker’s eyes are corrupted by looks that are too much on the side of his mistress. But there’s more here than meets the eye (see what we did there?). The word "partial" in this context could also refer to certain "parts" of the anatomy. Thus, the speaker’s "over-partial looks" could mean "looks that are influenced too much by certain parts of his anatomy." So, you could say that the speaker is warning himself and others not to think with their sex-organs.

This line contains a crude sexual reference as well—though this time the obscenity isn’t all that hidden. Clearly, the fact that his lady-friend was sexually unfaithful to him has made the speaker feel disgusted with her, which makes him obsessively focused on the "mechanics" of her infidelity.

As we discuss in our "Detailed Summary," the word "plot" here is actually a metaphor for the speaker’s lady’s genitalia. When the speaker says his heart thinks the plot is "several," he is using this word in the sense of "private" (i.e., the private property of the speaker). As we point out in our opening discussion about the theme of sex, this attitude might indicate some possessiveness on the part of the speaker. More generally, this line shows that the speaker is cool with sex, so long as the "plot" really is "several."