Thou Blind Man's Mark Figurative Language

In Sir Philip Sidney’s apostrophic sonnet, “Thou Blind Man’s Mark,” the speaker shifts through multiple tones, ranging from frustration and anger to resolution and confidence. Despite the complex attitude the speaker conveys throughout the poem, the mindset about desire is clearly contained by the use of repetition, metaphors, and shifts. The poetic devices allow the speaker’s experience with desire to be expressed as a powerful force. In the first four lines, the speaker opens up by blaming desire for the outcome of his life. The speaker holds an accusatory tone through a series of metaphors, which channel his anger with desire itself. Using figurative language, the speaker describes this need as “thou fool’s self chosen snare, fond fancy's scum, and dregs of scattered thought.” This implies that desire is something chosen and never forgotten. It causes thoughts to be scrambled up as this craving focuses on the less important things in life. As the speaker continues, he mentions how desire is the “band of all evils, cradle of causeless care.” He realizes this hunger for groundless things is the glue to all the negative aspects in life. The longing for
This part of the poem, lines 5 to 8, shifts from an accusatory tone to one full of reflection. The speaker emphasizes desire’s control with the repetition of the words “desire” and “too long”. This entails that the speaker is aware of the damage desire has done to his life. With the use of an extended metaphor, the speaker mentions how “too long, too long, asleep thou hast me brought, who should my mind to higher things prepare.” This denotes how the longing of non-materialistic things has blinded the speaker for a great amount of time. He acknowledges himself as part of the problem since he barely noticed desire’s affect and now believes there are bigger and better things that need more