Thou Blind Man’s Mark

Thou Blind Man's Mark by Sir Philip Sidney 

(1554-1586)

Thou blind man's mark, thou fool's self-chosen snare, 

Fond fancy's scum, and dregs of scattered thought ; 

Band of all evils, cradle of causeless care ; 

Thou web of will, whose end is never wrought ; 

Desire, desire ! I have too dearly bought, 

With price of mangled mind, thy worthless ware ; 

Too long, too long, asleep thou hast me brought, 

Who shouldst my mind to higher things prepare. 

But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought ; 

In vain thou madest me to vain things aspire ; 

In vain thou kindlest all thy smoky fire ; 

For virtue hath this better lesson taught,— 

Within myself to seek my only hire, 

Desiring naught but how to kill desire.

The Poem, "Thou Blind Man's Mark, by Sir Philip Sidney, illustrates the effect of desires on man's ability to live life in happiness. When analyzing this poem, it is important to denote the title. Sidney uses the word "blind" which connotates to a lack of vision, sightless, lack of awareness  or physically blind, but the word blind does not imply a physical connotation, more so, one of emotions. The Man is blind,  not by sight, but by thoughts. The desires he has are blocking his ability to think of "higher things" (line 8). Also in the title is the word "mark;" it is likely that the mark is once again not a physical print, but an emotional mark- his desires are these "marks" that linger his in mind, blocking his true, materialist emotions which enable peace and happiness. Note that the author uses the word mark instead of a more harsh word like scar or stamp. This word choice shows that these desires aren't permanent like a scar, but is removable with effort. Therefore, the first line states that these marks of desires are what makes a man a fool, as they choose a physical attribute to account for their happiness. 

The authors views these desires as a force of evil which inhibits the mind- almost like a parasite that harms the body. In this case the desires are the parasite that inhibits a mans ability to think with "will" (line 4), and this will is what keeps the internal joys alive. Nonetheless, desires force vain on a man. Line 5 is vital to understanding the poem as it implies that desires are easy to hold- he says they are "dearly brought." In essence  desires are natural to man; they are easily wanted, therefore, hard to get rid of. The meaning of lines 5 though 7 is that desires have the ability to ruin ones though process- change it from that is in healthy state to one that is sick with unnatural thoughts. This once again highlights the parasite parallel. The poem shifts focus and tone in the thrid to last line when the author states that "virtue hath his better lesson taught;" Virtue, are his morals, the natural state of mind and these morals are the only things that can save him from being in "vain." The overall theme of this poem is to emphasize how desires are man's inner evil that stops one from attaining internal peace. At the end of the poem, the author explains his problem- his struggle to kill desire. Meaning that desire is not easy to rid of, it take effort, and introspection, that is the thoughts "within himself," in order to cure.