Sonnet C
Where art thou Muse that thou forget’st so long,To speak of that which gives thee all thy might?Spend’st thou thy fury on some worthless song,Darkening thy power to lend base subjects light?Return forgetful Muse, and straight redeem,In gentle numbers time so idly spent;Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteemAnd gives thy pen both skill and argument.Rise, resty Muse, my love’s sweet face survey,If Time have any wrinkle graven there;If any, be a satire to decay,And make time’s spoils despised every where.Give my love fame faster than Time wastes life,So thou prevent’st his scythe and crooked knife.
Words in this poem
- forgetful a.
- Apt to forget; easily losing remembrance; as, a forgetful man should use helps to strengthen his memory.
- resty a.
- Disposed to rest; indisposed toexercton; sluggish; also, restive. Burton.
- graven p. p.
- Carved. Graven image, an idol; an object of worship carved from wood, stone, etc.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet C is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shakespeare's Sonnets, Project Gutenberg ebook #1041; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Shakespeare, Sonnet C, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-100.html, id L00118.
Form and metre
Sonnet C 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 85%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 longA · mightB · songA · lightB · redeemC · spentD · esteemC · argumentD · surveyE · thereF · decayE · whereF · lifeG · knifeG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Where art thou Muse that thou forget’st so long, | 10 | ·········· |
| To speak of that which gives thee all thy might? | 10 | ·········· |
| Spend’st thou thy fury on some worthless song, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Darkening thy power to lend base subjects light? | 10 | /˘·/···˘/· |
| Return forgetful Muse, and straight redeem, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/ |
| In gentle numbers time so idly spent; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And gives thy pen both skill and argument. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Rise, resty Muse, my love’s sweet face survey, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| If Time have any wrinkle graven there; | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| If any, be a satire to decay, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| And make time’s spoils despised every where. | 10 | ····˘//˘˘· |
| Give my love fame faster than Time wastes life, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| So thou prevent’st his scythe and crooked knife. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
Notes from the edition 3
Notes by William J. Rolfe, Shakespeare's Sonnets (New York, 1905), Internet Archive scan
- Line 3 Fury. Poetic enthusiasm or inspiration. Cf. L. L. L. iv. 3. 229 : " what fury hath inspir'd thee now ? " So we have " prophetic fury" in Oth. iii. 4. 72. See also "poet's rage" in 17. 11 above, and the " fine frenzy " of M. .V. /). v. 1. 12.
- Line 4 Darkening. Sullying, degrading.
- Line 11 Satire. Satirist. Walker quotes Jonson, Masque of Time Vindicated ': " 'T is Chronomastix, the brave satyr;" Poetaster, v. 1 : "The honest satyr hath the happiest soul" [satyr and satire were used interchangeably in this sense] ; Coffe, Courageous Turk, ii. 3 : — " Poor men may love, and none their wills correct, But all turn satires of a king's affect ; " Shirley, Witty Fair One, i. 3: "prithee, Satire, choose another walk," etc. Tyler paraphrases thus: "Cause decay to be disre- garded and contemned, by conferring eternal fame." !.}. So thou prevent'' st, etc. "So by anticipation thou hinderest the destructive effects of his weapons" (Steevens).
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