Sonnet 17
If hee from heauen that filch'd that liuing fire,Condemn'd by Ioue to endlesse torment be,I greatly meruaile how you still goe free,That farre beyond Promethius did aspire?The fire he stole, although of heauenly kinde,Which from aboue he craftily did take,Of liueles clods vs liuing men to make,Againe bestow'd in temper of the mind.But you broke in to heauens immortall store,Where vertue, honour, wit, and beautie lay,Which taking thence, you haue escap'd away,Yet stand as free as ere you did before.But old Promethius punish'd for his rape,Thus poore theeues suffer, when the greater scape.
Words in this poem
- farre n.
- A young pig, or a litter of pigs. [See Farrow.]
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- craftily adv.
- With craft; artfully; cunningly. [See Crafty.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- immortall a.
- Not mortal; exempt from liability to die; undying; imperishable; lasting forever; having unlimited, or eternal, existance. [L. immortalis; pref. im- not + mortalis mortal: cf. F. immortel. See Mortal, and cf. Immortelle.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 17 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, Sonnet 17, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/sonnet-17.html, id L20611.
Form and metre
Sonnet 17 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBACDDCEFFEGG. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 ABBACDDCEFFEGG fireA · beB · freeB · aspireA · kindeC · takeD · makeD · mindC · storeE · layF · awayF · beforeE · rapeG · scapeG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If hee from heauen that filch'd that liuing fire, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Condemn'd by Ioue to endlesse torment be, | 10 | ˘/·····/·· |
| I greatly meruaile how you still goe free, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| That farre beyond Promethius did aspire? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The fire he stole, although of heauenly kinde, | 10 | ·/········ |
| Which from aboue he craftily did take, | 9 | ····/˘˘·· |
| Of liueles clods vs liuing men to make, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Againe bestow'd in temper of the mind. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| But you broke in to heauens immortall store, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Where vertue, honour, wit, and beautie lay, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Which taking thence, you haue escap'd away, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘/ |
| Yet stand as free as ere you did before. | 10 | ·········· |
| But old Promethius punish'd for his rape, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thus poore theeues suffer, when the greater scape. | 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.