Exactly how steamy is this poem?
PG
There's no explicit sex in Shakespeare's Sonnet 75. In fact, there isn't really any sex at all… unless you want to get a bit creative in your interpretation, that is. How would such a creative interpretation work? Check out Sonnet 129, one of the most famous of the Bard's Sonnets. Sonnet 129 paints a highly negative picture of sexual desire as a repetitive activity that brings the one experiencing it no satisfaction. Does that sound anything like Sonnet 75? You bet it does. By comparison with others of Shakespeare's sonnets, you can see how one way of interpreting Sonnet 75 is as a story about lust. We at Shmoop think this interpretation is valid—but it still leaves the poem's sexual content implicit, instead of on the surface.