Sonnet 139 is one of
154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
.
Structure
Sonnet 139 is an English or Shakespearean
sonnet. The English sonnet has three
quatrains, followed by a final rhyming
couplet. It follows the typical
rhyme scheme
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other.
An example of the ABAB r ...
of the form ABAB CDCD EFEF GG and is composed in
iambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter () is a type of metric line used in traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm, or meter, established by the words in that line; rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables called " feet". "Iam ...
, a type of poetic
metre
The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...
based on five pairs of metrically weak/strong syllabic positions. The 6th line exemplifies a regular iambic pentameter:
× / × / × / × / × /
Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside: (139.6)
:/ = ''ictus'', a metrically strong syllabic position. × = ''nonictus''.
Line 3 begins with a common metrical variation, an initial reversal:
/ × × / × / × / × /
Wound me not with thine eye, but with thy tongue; (139.3)
Initial reversals also occur in lines 5 and 14, and potentially in line 9. Line 13 exhibits a rightward movement of the fourth ictus (resulting in a four-position figure,
× × / /, sometimes referred to as a ''minor ionic''):
× / × / × / × × / /
Yet do not so; but since I am near slain, (139.13)
The meter demands both occurrences of "power" in line 4 function as single syllables. The words "elsewhere" (lines 5 and 12) and "outright" (line 14) are double-stressed, and in this context move their stresses to the second syllable.
Notes
References
External links
www.shakespeare-online.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnet 139
British poems
Sonnets by William Shakespeare