title': Shakespeare quite naturally uses 'title' in relation to kingship (most frequently in Part 3 of Henry VI). A kingly title that is perilous or subject to imminent change would be that of Macbeth (Act V scene ii: 'now does he feel his title hang loose about him'). Expressions like 'better state', 'revolt' and 'happy title' give a subdued figure of kingship. Back in sonnet 87, the poet was 'in sleep a king' (dreaming of the young man), 'but waking no such matter'. 'O', opening line 11, is a common exclamation on the sonnets (49 times, often at the very opening of a sonnet). Here, the suggestion or tonality is of empty happiness, 'O' as a nullity. In the closing couplet of a sonnet where comparatives had played a significant role, the poet discovers another level of 'worst': falsehood in the young man of which the poet may actually be unaware. Sonnet 93 follows directly on this new possibility of distress. Notes References British poems Sonnets by William Shakespeare