Margaret Demorest Sonnet Annotations: Sonnets 139 and 140
Item Metadata
Title
Margaret Demorest Sonnet Annotations: Sonnets 139 and 140
Date Created
1968
Subject
Shakespeare, William, -- 1564-1616 -- Sonnets; Sonnets, English -- History and criticism
Description
The following transcription of Demorest's annotations was selected and transcribed by Casper College student and Archives staff member Grace MacPherson in February of 2024.
SONNET 139
Essex letters to Queen, 1600, in despair of his condition–she refuses him audience–or letters–after 8 mos impri you “rejected my letters and refused to hear of me, which to traitors you never did.” “What remains is only to beseech you to conclude my punishment, my misery, and my life.”
She had abandoned plan for Star Chamber trial. Now she brings him before special commission. She hopes to reform him.
“It was a most pitiful + lamentable sight to see him that was the minion of Fortune, now unworthy of this last honor.”
Still begging her vision to be wise
Begs her to see + speak–not turn away
Line 11
My foes: she will not give Essex an audience
Line 12
Injuries: Your face the founder of my smart “That pleasant looke formed the offence + wound”
SONNET 140
Essex letter now to Q (1600–Aug.) “My uttermost ambition is to be a moste[?] person in that presence where joy + wonder would bar speech”
Essex ill–bells toll
“Ill-wresting”--resting badly
1599–Ess. almost dies
Eyes + ears = E’s sign
Begs her to put on appearance of virtue, the actual is lacking (Pleads for “false show” for sake of world?)
Lines 9-11: Also he loses control and blasts her with words (godson)
SONNET 139
Essex letters to Queen, 1600, in despair of his condition–she refuses him audience–or letters–after 8 mos impri you “rejected my letters and refused to hear of me, which to traitors you never did.” “What remains is only to beseech you to conclude my punishment, my misery, and my life.”
She had abandoned plan for Star Chamber trial. Now she brings him before special commission. She hopes to reform him.
“It was a most pitiful + lamentable sight to see him that was the minion of Fortune, now unworthy of this last honor.”
Still begging her vision to be wise
Begs her to see + speak–not turn away
Line 11
My foes: she will not give Essex an audience
Line 12
Injuries: Your face the founder of my smart “That pleasant looke formed the offence + wound”
SONNET 140
Essex letter now to Q (1600–Aug.) “My uttermost ambition is to be a moste[?] person in that presence where joy + wonder would bar speech”
Essex ill–bells toll
“Ill-wresting”--resting badly
1599–Ess. almost dies
Eyes + ears = E’s sign
Begs her to put on appearance of virtue, the actual is lacking (Pleads for “false show” for sake of world?)
Lines 9-11: Also he loses control and blasts her with words (godson)
Type
Text
Creator
Demorest, Margaret; Shakespeare, William
Language
ENG, LAT
Is Part Of
Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections.
Identifier
CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets_139_140
Format
PDF
Original Format
Written Annotations
Citation
Demorest, Margaret; Shakespeare, William, “Margaret Demorest Sonnet Annotations: Sonnets 139 and 140,” Goodstein Foundation Library Western History Center Digital Collections, accessed August 19, 2025, https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/items/show/9648.