Sonet 12
To nothing fitter can I thee compare,Then to the sonne of some rich penyfather,Who hauing now brought on his end with care,Leaues to his son all he had heap'd together;This newe rich nouice, lauish of his chest,To one man giues, and on another spends,Then here he ryots, yet amongst the rest,Haps to lend some to one true honest friend.Thy gifts thou in obscuritie doost wast,False friends thy kindnes, borne but to deceiue thee,Thy loue, that is on the unworthy plac'd,Time hath thy beauty, which with age will leaue thee;Onely that little which to me was lent,I giue thee back, when all the rest is spent.
Words in this poem
- fitter n.
- A little piece; a flitter; a flinder.
- sonne n.
- A male child; the male issue, or offspring, of a parent, father or mother. [OE. sone, sune, AS. sunu; akin to D. zoon, OS., OFries., & OHG. sunu, G. sohn, Icel. sonr, Sw. son, Dan. sön, Goth. sunus, Lith. sunus, Russ. suin', Skr. sunu (]
- amongst prep.
- Mixed or mingled; surrounded by. [OE. amongist, amonges, amonge, among, AS. onmang, ongemang, gemang, in a crowd or mixture. For the ending -st see Amidst. See Mingle.]
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonet 12 is in the public domain. This text is taken from Minor Poems of Michael Drayton, Project Gutenberg ebook #17873; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Michael Drayton, Sonet 12, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/sonet-12.html, id L20594.
Form and metre
Sonet 12 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-A-B-B-BCBCDD compareA · penyfather · careA · together · chestB · spends · restB · friend · wastB · theeC · plac'dB · theeC · lentD · spentD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| To nothing fitter can I thee compare, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Then to the sonne of some rich penyfather, | 11 | ··········· |
| Who hauing now brought on his end with care, | 9 | ········· |
| Leaues to his son all he had heap'd together; | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| This newe rich nouice, lauish of his chest, | 8 | ········ |
| To one man giues, and on another spends, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Then here he ryots, yet amongst the rest, | 9 | ········· |
| Haps to lend some to one true honest friend. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thy gifts thou in obscuritie doost wast, | 10 | ·········· |
| False friends thy kindnes, borne but to deceiue thee, | 9 | ········· |
| Thy loue, that is on the unworthy plac'd, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Time hath thy beauty, which with age will leaue thee; | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Onely that little which to me was lent, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| I giue thee back, when all the rest is spent. | 10 | ·········· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.