People have the ability to appear not what they seem, and good things that go bad are most often worse than the bad things. People will be tempted and human nature allows them to falter to that temptation Shakespeare illustrates this in his Sonnet 94.
The first quatrain is an antithesis of what people are. "They that have power to hurt and will do none / That do not do the thing they most do show," (Lines 1-2). Shakespeare is trying to portray the human nature of people to be not what they seem. People have the power to cause others harm, but refrain from actually causing any harm. "Who, moving others, are themselves as stone," (Line 3). These type of people are capable of helping others greatly; however, unable to help themselves. "Unmoved, cold, and to temptation to slow;" (Line 4). Because the nature of these people, they find it rather difficult to show emotion.
In the second quatrain Shakespeare speaks of how the people he spoke the first quatrain rightly earn the praises they get "They rightly do inherit heaven's graces, / And husband nature's riches from expense;" (Lines 5-6). Also he wanted to portray that what they have is truly theirs. "They are the lords and owners of their faces," (Line 7). "Others But Stewards of their excellence." (Line 8). This is evident of how great the people are revered. .
The third quatrain talks about how one good person adds to the sweetness of life but to that one person it is just life. "The summer's flower is to the summer sweet, / Though to itself it only live and die," (Lines 10-11). However if that person is tempted by bad things the sweetness in life is lost, for it is that persons nature to succumb to temptations. "But if that flower with base infection meet, / The basest weed outbraves his dignity:" (Line 12). .
This poem adheres to the structure of a typical Shakespearian sonnet in that it is written in iambic pentameter, it contains three quatrains and a couplet, and it follows an English rhyme pattern.
