Response to Sonnet 146

Sonnet 146 seems to be written in almost a homiletic phrasing. The speaker dwells on the Christian idea that one should feed the soul and not starve it while feeding the body gluttonously because the body will only die when eaten up by worms. The topic of the poem is almost a clichéd religious poem, like one would use when an overzealous aging aunt would come over for dinner to entertain her. What makes this poem interesting that unlike most religious poems, it does not mention the afterlife in any metaphysical terms like heaven and hell, but it focuses on the physical, being eaten by worms when one is no longer animated. This is one of the “Dark Lady Sonnets” and this may be addressing the fact that the “Dark Lady” was being superfluous with her extravagant worldliness possibly being too much alcohol or promiscuity or overspending. All of these things may have made the subject feel good now on the outside, but doing nothing for the soul, about which the speaker is most concerned.