Sonet 27
I gaue my faith to Loue, Loue his to mee,That hee and I, sworne brothers should remaine,Thus fayth receiu'd, fayth giuen back againe,Who would imagine bond more sure could be?Loue flies to her, yet holds he my fayth taken,Thus from my vertue raiseth my offence,Making me guilty by mine innocence;And surer bond by beeing so forsaken,He makes her aske what I before had vow'd,Giuing her that, which he had giuen me,I bound by him, and he by her made free,Who euer so hard breach of fayth alow'd?Speake you that should of right and wrong discusse,Was right ere wrong'd, or wrong ere righted thus?
Words in this poem
- offence n.
- The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
- discusse n.
- A disk. See Disk. [L. See Disk.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonet 27 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 27, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/sonet-27.html, id L20602.
Form and metre
Sonet 27 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBACDDCEAAEFF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
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 ABBACDDCEAAEFF meeA · remaineB · againeB · beA · takenC · offenceD · innocenceD · forsakenC · vow'dE · meA · freeA · alow'dE · discusseF · thusF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I gaue my faith to Loue, Loue his to mee, | 10 | ·········· |
| That hee and I, sworne brothers should remaine, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thus fayth receiu'd, fayth giuen back againe, | 9 | ········· |
| Who would imagine bond more sure could be? | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Loue flies to her, yet holds he my fayth taken, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Thus from my vertue raiseth my offence, | 9 | ····/˘·˘/ |
| Making me guilty by mine innocence; | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘˘ |
| And surer bond by beeing so forsaken, | 10 | ·/˘····˘/˘ |
| He makes her aske what I before had vow'd, | 10 | ·········· |
| Giuing her that, which he had giuen me, | 8 | ········ |
| I bound by him, and he by her made free, | 10 | ·········· |
| Who euer so hard breach of fayth alow'd? | 9 | ········· |
| Speake you that should of right and wrong discusse, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Was right ere wrong'd, or wrong ere righted thus? | 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.