Sonnet 31
To such as say thy loue I ouer-prize,And doe not sticke to terme my praises folly,Against these folkes that think them selues so wise,I thus appose my force of reason wholly,Though I giue more, then well affords my state,In which expense the most suppose me vaine,Would yeeld them nothing at the easiest rate,Yet at this price, returnes me treble gaine,They value not, vnskilfull how to vse,And I giue much, because I gaine thereby,I that thus take, or they that thus refuse,Whether are these deccaued then, or I?In euery thing I hold this maxim still,The circumstance doth make it good or ill.
Words in this poem
- appose v. t.
- To put questions to; to examine; to try. See Pose. [For oppose. See Oppose.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 31 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 31, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/sonnet-31.html, id L20614.
Form and metre
Sonnet 31 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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-BCBC-D-DEE prizeA · folly · wiseA · wholly · stateB · vaineC · rateB · gaineC · vse · therebyD · refuse · iD · stillE · illE
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 such as say thy loue I ouer-prize, | 9 | ········· |
| And doe not sticke to terme my praises folly, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Against these folkes that think them selues so wise, | 10 | ·········· |
| I thus appose my force of reason wholly, | 11 | ··˘/···/˘/˘ |
| Though I giue more, then well affords my state, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| In which expense the most suppose me vaine, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| Would yeeld them nothing at the easiest rate, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Yet at this price, returnes me treble gaine, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| They value not, vnskilfull how to vse, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And I giue much, because I gaine thereby, | 10 | ·········· |
| I that thus take, or they that thus refuse, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Whether are these deccaued then, or I? | 9 | ·····˘··· |
| In euery thing I hold this maxim still, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The circumstance doth make it good or ill. | 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.