Sonnet 45 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 ...
. It is a member of the
Fair Youth sequence, in which the poet expresses his love towards a young man. ''Sonnet 45'' is continued from ''
Sonnet 44''.
Structure
Sonnet 45 is an English or Shakespearean
sonnet. The Shakespearean sonnet contains three
quatrains followed by a final rhyming
couplet. It follows the form's 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 ...
, ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, and is written in 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 ...
called
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 ...
based on five pairs of metrically weak/strong syllabic positions. The final line exemplifies a regular iambic pentameter:
× / × / × / × / × /
I send them back again, and straight grow sad. (45.14)
:/ = ''ictus'', a metrically strong syllabic position. × = ''nonictus''.
The meter demands several contractions: one-syllable "being" in line 7 and "even" in line 11, and — somewhat controversially — a three-syllable "melancholy" (probably pronounced ''mel-an-ch'ly'') in line 8.
[Atkins 2007, pp 131–32.]
Recordings
*
Paul Kelly, for the 2016 album, ''
Seven Sonnets & a Song
''Seven Sonnets & a Song'' is the twenty-first studio album by Australian musician, Paul Kelly, which was issued on 22 April 2016 on his own label, Gawdaggie Records, and distributed by Universal Music Australia. Kelly composed music for seve ...
''
Notes
References
External links
Analysis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnet 045
British poems
Sonnets by William Shakespeare