No Groove in the Gunsights Always under the thumb of his dark mistress, the speaker struggles beneath her power. Try as he may, he will never be able to break the tie of lust between the two. His threats are not threatening to her, and he knows this. His power is beneath her's, and he knows this as well. By threatening his lover in the 140th sonnet, the speaker is merely admitting to his own helplessness to which he is forever bound. This appears to be the first sonnet in which he is taking a stand. Never before has he spoken in such a threatening tone: "Be wise…do not press/My tongue tied patience…" (140. 1-2). One might think that he is now reve