Sonet 44
Muses which sadly sit about my chayre,Drownd in the teares extorted by my lines,With heauy sighs whilst thus I breake the ayre,Paynting my passions in these sad dissignes,Since she disdaines to blesse my happy verse,The strong built Trophies to her liuing fame,Euer hence-forth my bosome be your hearse,Wherein the world shal now entombe her name,Enclose my musick you poor sencelesse walls,Sith she is deafe and will not heare my mones,Soften your selues with euery teare that falls,Whilst I like Orpheus sing to trees and stones:Which with my plaints seeme yet with pitty moued,Kinder then she who I so long haue loued.
Words in this poem
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- enclose v. t.
- To inclose. See Inclose. [F. enclos, p. p. of enclore to enclose; pref. en- (L. in) + clore to close. See Close, and cf. Inclose, Include.]
- sith prep.
- Since; afterwards; seeing that. [See Since.]
- orpheus n.
- The famous mythic Thracian poet, son of the Muse Calliope, and husband of Eurydice. He is reputed to have had power to entrance beasts and inanimate objects by the music of his lyre.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonet 44 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 44, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/sonet-44.html, id L20607.
Form and metre
Sonet 44 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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-BCBCDEDEFF chayreA · lines · ayreA · dissignes · verseB · fameC · hearseB · nameC · wallsD · monesE · fallsD · stonesE · mouedF · louedF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Muses which sadly sit about my chayre, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Drownd in the teares extorted by my lines, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| With heauy sighs whilst thus I breake the ayre, | 9 | ········· |
| Paynting my passions in these sad dissignes, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Since she disdaines to blesse my happy verse, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| The strong built Trophies to her liuing fame, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Euer hence-forth my bosome be your hearse, | 9 | ········· |
| Wherein the world shal now entombe her name, | 10 | ·········· |
| Enclose my musick you poor sencelesse walls, | 11 | ˘/·/˘······ |
| Sith she is deafe and will not heare my mones, | 10 | ·········· |
| Soften your selues with euery teare that falls, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Whilst I like Orpheus sing to trees and stones: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Which with my plaints seeme yet with pitty moued, | 10 | ·········· |
| Kinder then she who I so long haue loued. | 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.