Thou Blind Man's Mark By Sir Philip Sidney

In the poem, “Thou Blind Man’s Mark,” written by Sir Philip Sidney, the speaker talks to desire through an apostrophe, or as though it is a person. He addresses how desire is an issue that he suffers from, and that he willingly falls for it. He describes his yearning for materialistic possessions rather than his self-fulfillment due to desire.

In the first quatrain, the poem opens with a series of insults hurled at desire as though it is a human. The speaker addresses desire in an angry and frustrating tone. The speaker describes desire as a “blind man’s mark”, which is something that is unlikely to land. This rarity raises the uncertainty that desire is. To add on, he also describes desire as a “fool’s self-chosen snare,” which means that it is a trap that people, including himself, willingly fall into. Throughout the first quatrain, the speaker often mentions desire as though it is a human, and directly “name calls” desire. In other words, the speaker is trying to criticize desire. In the last line of the first quatrain, the speaker connects desire to a “web of will,” meaning that desire is a problem that will lead into a near endless array of more problems.

By buying something, a person chooses to take on an action of their own free will. He intentionally buys desire with a “price.” The “price” that the speaker mentions in this quatrain is a “mangled mind,” which means that desire is messing with his mind. Using the term “mangled” exudes negative connotations towards desire. “Mangled” typically is related to messing with something severely and brutally. The speaker adds that desire has messed with his mind for “too long.” He repeats “too long” to emphasize the looming and long-lasting impacts that desire has had on the