Looks like Sonnet 39 was a poem to dig into Pat and Leah - looking at 40 after 39 it appears we are reading twain followed by at least a triad in Sonnet 40 - "All mine was thine before thou hadst this more."
Do y'all think 'love' is the one, the single, the unity, the beginning - or do you think it is 'thought'... "with thoughts of love, Which time and thoughts so sweetly doth deceive?"
With three there is multiplicity, creative power, forward movement overcoming duality - Three stands for "All" - "in whom all ill well shows" - for Christians three symbolizes the unity of Soul, Man and Church - Hope, Love and Charity - and for the Greeks there are three graces, three charities, three sirens, the three in one Moira/Fates.
Interesting how these Sonnets follow each other - from twain to three circling around one. This quote gives a few brownie points to the idea of the "one" being love, with hate being its opposite popping in as a new word to the poem and as an opposite thereby strengthening love... "And yet, love knows, it is a greater grief To bear love's wrong than hate's known injury."
In one breath as you say Leah lots of struggle but landing on a Just resignation...or as you say, forgiveness. "yet we must not be foes." Continuing the lesson as you say, "The way to make the two (2 million) into one is with forgiveness."
Bellamarie, yes how difficult to feel betrayed, as he says it stings more by "love's wrong than hate's known injury".
Another quote that has helped me in my life since I have experienced and struggled with betrayal so that resignation did not stop or soothe the pain till I found this... "Don't blame people for disappointing you, blame yourself for expecting too much from them."
Since the betrayal was more than I could fathom. I decided since I could not figure it out and had no clue how to forgive without accepting the unacceptable or, even to think, accept that the behavior came from someone loved by god, I decided to let a power greater than me, God, take care of it... I did not have to be ugly or show my pain - I realized they would never understand - and so, trust became my issue and I only shared the part of me that was not vulnerable - now if the person is young, as it appears in this poem, than that is a situation where trying out wings often means disappointing others.
Youth and trying out wings of independence is what I think is the position of the love interest in the Sonnet - and frankly, if this is a women who has rebuffed his love and knowing that a woman after marriage will be caged for her entire life this is her only time to exert any personal power - he is distraught and feels robbed but he is not devastated beyond repair - his reputation is still intact and so, I can see growth for her that may give her some empowerment for the remainder of her life and he learned to make peace with the wounds that come from desiring another, who he hoped, if not expected, would fully accept exclusively his love.
However, if this is a man, his lover, his twain, seems still a youth and he cannot stir up the anger and rage as if his rebuff came from someone who intends to inflict pain. Also, if these poems follow then we can assume, to feel as foes is to make part of himself a foe to himself... self inflicting spites - "What can mine own praise 'spites' to mine own self bring?".
Regardless man or women, growth for sure for both of them... and like all emotional growth it often comes with some pain which is the wether bell to adjusting our views.
Yes, perfect, these two Sonnets following each other have meaning - I wonder if the next sonnet fits the scenario or lesson.
