Sonnet 8
There's nothing grieues me, but that Age should haste,That in my dayes I may not see thee old,That where those two deare sparkling Eyes are plac'd,Onely two Loope-holes, then I might behold.That louely, arched, yuorie, pollish'd Brow,Defac'd with Wrinkles, that I might but see;Thy daintie Hayre, so curl'd, and crisped now,Like grizzled Mosse vpon some aged Tree;Thy Cheeke, now flush with Roses, sunke, and leane,Thy Lips, with age, as any Wafer thinne,Thy Pearly teeth out of thy head so cleane,That when thou feed'st, thy Nose shall touch thy Chinne:These Lines that now thou scorn'st, which should delight thee,Then would I make thee read, but to despight thee.
Words in this poem
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
- mosse n.
- sing. of Mores.
- wafer n.
- A thin cake made of flour and other ingredients. [OE. wafre, OF. waufre, qaufre, F. qaufre; of Teutonic origin; cf. LG. & D. wafel, G. waffel, Dan. vaffel, Sw. våffla; all akin to G. wabe a honeycomb, OHG. waba]
- thinne a.
- Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite; as, a thin plate of metal; thin paper; a thin board; a thin covering. [OE. thinne, thenne, thunne, AS. þynne; akin to D. dun, G. dünn, OHG. dunni, Icel. þunnr, Sw. tunn, Dan. tynd, Gael. & Ir. tana, W. teneu, L. tenuis, Gr. tanu th]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- chinne n.
- The lower extremity of the face below the mouth; the point of the under jaw. [AS. cin, akin to OS. kin, G kinn, Icel. kinn, cheek, Dan. & Sw. kind, L. gena, Gr. hanu. *232.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 8 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 8, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/sonnet-8.html, id L20629.
Form and metre
Sonnet 8 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFDD. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 ABABCDCDEFEFDD hasteA · oldB · plac'dA · beholdB · browC · seeD · nowC · treeD · leaneE · thinneF · cleaneE · chinneF · theeD · theeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There's nothing grieues me, but that Age should haste, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That in my dayes I may not see thee old, | 10 | ·········· |
| That where those two deare sparkling Eyes are plac'd, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Onely two Loope-holes, then I might behold. | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| That louely, arched, yuorie, pollish'd Brow, | 10 | ····˘····· |
| Defac'd with Wrinkles, that I might but see; | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Thy daintie Hayre, so curl'd, and crisped now, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Like grizzled Mosse vpon some aged Tree; | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Thy Cheeke, now flush with Roses, sunke, and leane, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thy Lips, with age, as any Wafer thinne, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Thy Pearly teeth out of thy head so cleane, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That when thou feed'st, thy Nose shall touch thy Chinne: | 10 | ·········· |
| These Lines that now thou scorn'st, which should delight thee, | 11 | ········˘/· |
| Then would I make thee read, but to despight thee. | 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.