Sonnet 143 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 143 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 7th line exemplifies a regular iambic pentameter:

 ×  /  ×    /    ×     /    × /    ×   / 
To follow that which flies before her face, (143.7)

:/ = ''ictus'', a metrically strong syllabic position. × = ''nonictus''. Line 2 begins with a common metrical variation, an initial reversal:

/   ×   ×   /   ×      /    ×    /   × / 
One of her feather'd creatures broke away, (143.2)

Initial reversals occur in lines 2 and 6, and potentially in lines 1, 3, 5, and 13. Several phrases which might imply a metrical variant in other contexts are rendered doubtful in this poem because of the frequency with which contrastive accent on pronouns is suggested by both the nature of the story and the meter. For example, line 5 is capable of both an initial and a mid-line reversal:

  /     ×   ×  /  ×    /    /     ×  ×    / 
Whilst her neglected child holds her in chase, (143.5)

However, the story's emphasis on pronouns may render a regular reading more likely:

  ×     /   ×  /  ×    /    ×     /  ×    / 
Whilst her neglected child holds her in chase, (143.5)

Similarly line 12's "kiss me" — which in most contexts would reverse the ictus to the tonic stress of "kiss" — might here retain a regular rhythm by implying contrastive accent on "me". Lines 8 and 12 may also suggest accentuated pronouns which maintain a regular rhythm. The meter demands line 4's "pursuit" be stressed on the first syllable.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnet 143 British poems Sonnets by William Shakespeare