Sonnet 47
In pride of wit, when high desire of fameGaue life and courage to my labouring pen,And first the sound and vertue of my name,Won grace and credit in the eares of men:With those the thronged Theaters that presse,I in the circuite for the Lawrell stroue,Where the full praise I freely must confesse,In heate of blood a modest minde might moue:With showts and daps at euerie little pawse,When the prowd round on euerie side hath rung,Sadly I sit vnmou'd with the applawse,As though to me it nothing did belong:No publique glorie vainely I pursue,The praise I striue, is to eternize you.
Words in this poem
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- eternize v. t.
- To make eternal or endless. [Cf. F. éterniser.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 47 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 47, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/sonnet-47.html, id L20621.
Form and metre
Sonnet 47 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 ABABCDCDE-E-FF fameA · penB · nameA · menB · presseC · stroueD · confesseC · moueD · pawseE · rung · applawseE · belong · pursueF · youF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In pride of wit, when high desire of fame | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Gaue life and courage to my labouring pen, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And first the sound and vertue of my name, | 9 | ········· |
| Won grace and credit in the eares of men: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With those the thronged Theaters that presse, | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| I in the circuite for the Lawrell stroue, | 10 | ·········· |
| Where the full praise I freely must confesse, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| In heate of blood a modest minde might moue: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| With showts and daps at euerie little pawse, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When the prowd round on euerie side hath rung, | 10 | ·········· |
| Sadly I sit vnmou'd with the applawse, | 9 | /˘······· |
| As though to me it nothing did belong: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| No publique glorie vainely I pursue, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| The praise I striue, is to eternize you. | 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.