That god forbid, that made me first your slave,..
The poet acknowledges he is a slave to love but in so doing implies a criticism of his love who allows such inequality to continue. But it is the very notion of liberty and the inequitable nature of fate and circumstance that lies behind this sonnet. These notions can be explored through the reading on the PowerPoint and via the activities in the workbook that encourage students to examine the poetic craft of meter, imagery, rhyme and structure.