Sonnet CX
Alas! ’tis true, I have gone here and there,And made my self a motley to the view,Gor’d mine own thoughts, sold cheap what is most dear,Made old offences of affections new;Most true it is, that I have look’d on truthAskance and strangely; but, by all above,These blenches gave my heart another youth,And worse essays prov’d thee my best of love.Now all is done, save what shall have no end:Mine appetite I never more will grindOn newer proof, to try an older friend,A god in love, to whom I am confin’d.Then give me welcome, next my heaven the best,Even to thy pure and most most loving breast.
Words in this poem
- askance adv.
- Sideways; obliquely; with a side glance; with disdain, envy, or suspicion. [Cf. D. schuin, schuins, sideways, schuiven to shove, schuinte slope. Cf. Asquint.]
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CX 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 CX, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-110.html, id L00128.
Form and metre
Sonnet CX 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 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 14% 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 thereA · viewB · dearA · newB · truthC · aboveD · youthC · loveD · endE · grindF · friendE · confin'dF · bestG · breastG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alas! ’tis true, I have gone here and there, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| And made my self a motley to the view, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Gor’d mine own thoughts, sold cheap what is most dear, | 10 | ·········· |
| Made old offences of affections new; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Most true it is, that I have look’d on truth | 10 | ·········· |
| Askance and strangely; but, by all above, | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| These blenches gave my heart another youth, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| And worse essays prov’d thee my best of love. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Now all is done, save what shall have no end: | 10 | ·········· |
| Mine appetite I never more will grind | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| On newer proof, to try an older friend, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A god in love, to whom I am confin’d. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Then give me welcome, next my heaven the best, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Even to thy pure and most most loving breast. | 10 | /······/˘· |
Notes from the edition 6
Notes by William J. Rolfe, Shakespeare's Sonnets (New York, 1905), Internet Archive scan
- Line 2 Motley. A wearer of motley, that is, a fool or jester. Cf. A. V. I. iii. 3. 79.
- Line 7 Blenches. Startings-aside, aberrations ; the only instance of the noun in S. Cf. the verb in W. T. i. 2. 333, T. and C. ii. 2. 68, M.for M. iv. 5. 5, etc.
- Line 9 Have -what shall have no end. Malone reads " save what " (the conjecture of Tyrwhitt) ; but what shall have no end — my lasting love for you.
- Line 10 Grind, etc. Whet by newer attachments.
- Line 12 A god in love, etc. "This line seems to be a reminiscence of the thoughts expressed in 105, and to refer to the First Com- mandment " (Dowden) ; but I doubt whether there is such a reference.
- Line 13 Then give me welcome, etc. It is difficult to believe that this is addressed to a man.
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.