Sonnet 24

Sonnet 24 is one of 154 sonnets written by English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is part of the Fair Youth sequence (sonnets 1-126), which explores the speaker's admiration and affection for a young man.

The poem focuses on the concept of internalizing the beauty of the Fair Youth. The speaker's eyes, acting as painters, have created an image of the youth within the speaker's heart. This internal portrait, painted with the eyes, is then hung on the heart's "gallery" or "shop." The heart, in turn, acts as the "frame" that enshrines and protects this inner vision.

The sonnet explores the theme of artistic representation and the power of love to transform perception. The speaker suggests that the youth's beauty is so potent that it becomes a permanent and valuable possession, forever enshrined within the lover's being. The poem's metaphor of the eye as a painter and the heart as a gallery highlights the internalization of beauty and the enduring impact of love. The final couplet expresses a desire for the subject of the painting (the youth) to return the favor, allowing the speaker to see his own image reflected in the youth's heart, creating a reciprocal exchange of admiration.