Sonnet 50
As in some Countries far remote from hence,The wretched creature destined to die,Hauing the iudgement due to his offence,By Surgeons begg'd, their Art on him to trie:Which on the liuing worke without remorce,First make incision on each maistring vaine,Then stanch the bleeding, then transperce the coarse,And with their balmes recure the wounds againe,Then poison and with Phisicke him restore,Not that they feare the hopelesse man to kill,But their experience to encrease the more;Euen so my Mistresse works vpon my ill,By curing me, and killing me each howre,Onely to shew her beauties soueraigne powre.
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.]
- recure v. t.
- To arrive at; to reach; to attain. Lydgate. [Cf. Recover.]
- encrease v. t.
- i. See Increase.
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 50 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 50, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/sonnet-50.html, id L20622.
Form and metre
Sonnet 50 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other English sonnets, 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG henceA · dieB · offenceA · trieB · remorceC · vaineD · coarseC · againeD · restoreE · killF · moreE · illF · howreG · powreG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As in some Countries far remote from hence, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| The wretched creature destined to die, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| Hauing the iudgement due to his offence, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| By Surgeons begg'd, their Art on him to trie: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Which on the liuing worke without remorce, | 9 | ········· |
| First make incision on each maistring vaine, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Then stanch the bleeding, then transperce the coarse, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And with their balmes recure the wounds againe, | 11 | ···/˘˘/···· |
| Then poison and with Phisicke him restore, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Not that they feare the hopelesse man to kill, | 11 | ··········· |
| But their experience to encrease the more; | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Euen so my Mistresse works vpon my ill, | 9 | ········· |
| By curing me, and killing me each howre, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Onely to shew her beauties soueraigne powre. | 11 | /˘···/˘··/˘ |
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.