Sonnet XI
As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow’st,In one of thine, from that which thou departest;And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow’st,Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest,Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase;Without this folly, age, and cold decay:If all were minded so, the times should ceaseAnd threescore year would make the world away.Let those whom nature hath not made for store,Harsh, featureless, and rude, barrenly perish:Look, whom she best endow’d, she gave thee more;Which bounteous gift thou shouldst in bounty cherish:She carv’d thee for her seal, and meant thereby,Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die.
Words in this poem
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- youngly a.
- Like a young person or thing; young; youthful. [AS. geonglic.]
- featureless a.
- Having no distinct or distinctive features.
- barrenly adv.
- Unfruitfully; unproductively.
- bounteous a.
- Liberal in charity; disposed to give freely; generously liberal; munificent; beneficent; free in bestowing gifts; as, bounteous production. [OE. bountevous, fr. bounte bounty.]
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XI 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 XI, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-11.html, id L00029.
Form and metre
Sonnet XI 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%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 4 lines end 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 grow'stA · departestB · bestow'stA · convertestB · increaseC · decayD · ceaseC · awayD · storeE · perishF · moreE · cherishF · therebyG · dieG
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 fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow’st, | 10 | ·········· |
| In one of thine, from that which thou departest; | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow’st, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest, | 11 | ········/˘˘ |
| Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase; | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Without this folly, age, and cold decay: | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| If all were minded so, the times should cease | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And threescore year would make the world away. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Let those whom nature hath not made for store, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Harsh, featureless, and rude, barrenly perish: | 11 | ·/˘˘··/˘˘/˘ |
| Look, whom she best endow’d, she gave thee more; | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Which bounteous gift thou shouldst in bounty cherish: | 12 | ·/˘˘····/˘/˘ |
| She carv’d thee for her seal, and meant thereby, | 10 | ·········· |
| Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
Notes from the edition 6
Notes by William J. Rolfe, Shakespeare's Sonnets (New York, 1905), Internet Archive scan
- Line 1 As fast as thou shall wane, etc. This has been called "ob- scure," but it is so only at first sight. The meaning is : If you have children, as fast as you grow old you renew in your offspring {in one 0/ thine) the youth you have lost ; thus, as it were, growing afresh from that (youth) which thou departest from. The omission of a preposition is common in a relative clause if it occurs in the antecedent clause. Possibly departest may be transitive, as in 2 Hen. IV. iv. 5. 91 : " Depart the chamber," etc.
- Line 4 Convertest. Dost turn away. Cf. 7. 11 above and 14. 12 below. Note the rhyme with departest, and see also 14. 12, 17. 2, 49. 10, and 72. 6 below.
- Line 7 The times. "The generations of men" (Dowden).
- Line 9 For store. "To be preserved for use" (Malone). Schmidt makes store = " increase of men, fertility, population."
- Line 11 Look, whom she best endow1 'd, etc. To whom she gave much she gave more ; that is, the power of procreation. Cf. Matthew, xiii. 12: " For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundantly." Some editors read, " gave thee more ; " making whom she best endowed — " however liberal she may have been to others" (Malone).
- Line 14 Not let that copy die. Cf. T. N. i. 5. 261 : " Lady, you are the cruell'st she alive, If you will lead these graces to the grave And leave the world no copy."
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