Sonnet CXV
Those lines that I before have writ do lie,Even those that said I could not love you dearer:Yet then my judgement knew no reason whyMy most full flame should afterwards burn clearer.But reckoning Time, whose million’d accidentsCreep in ’twixt vows, and change decrees of kings,Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp’st intents,Divert strong minds to the course of altering things;Alas! why fearing of Time’s tyranny,Might I not then say, ‘Now I love you best,’When I was certain o’er incertainty,Crowning the present, doubting of the rest?Love is a babe, then might I not say so,To give full growth to that which still doth grow?
Words in this poem
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CXV 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 CXV, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-115.html, id L00133.
Form and metre
Sonnet CXV 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 76%). 84% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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 lieA · dearerB · whyA · clearerB · accidentsC · kingsD · intentsC · thingsD · tyrannyE · bestF · incertaintyE · restF · soG · growG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Those lines that I before have writ do lie, | 10 | ·········· |
| Even those that said I could not love you dearer: | 11 | /········/˘ |
| Yet then my judgement knew no reason why | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer. | 11 | ·····/˘˘·/˘ |
| But reckoning Time, whose million’d accidents | 11 | ·/˘˘····/˘˘ |
| Creep in ’twixt vows, and change decrees of kings, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp’st intents, | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘˘/ |
| Divert strong minds to the course of altering things; | 10 | /······/˘· |
| Alas! why fearing of Time’s tyranny, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Might I not then say, ‘Now I love you best,’ | 10 | ·········· |
| When I was certain o’er incertainty, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Crowning the present, doubting of the rest? | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Love is a babe, then might I not say so, | 10 | ·········· |
| To give full growth to that which still doth grow? | 10 | ·········· |
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.