Sonnet CXVII
Accuse me thus: that I have scanted all,Wherein I should your great deserts repay,Forgot upon your dearest love to call,Whereto all bonds do tie me day by day;That I have frequent been with unknown minds,And given to time your own dear-purchas’d right;That I have hoisted sail to all the windsWhich should transport me farthest from your sight.Book both my wilfulness and errors down,And on just proof surmise, accumulate;Bring me within the level of your frown,But shoot not at me in your waken’d hate;Since my appeal says I did strive to proveThe constancy and virtue of your love.
Words in this poem
- whereto adv.
- To which; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CXVII 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 CXVII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-117.html, id L00135.
Form and metre
Sonnet CXVII 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 88%). 96% 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 allA · repayB · callA · dayB · mindsC · rightD · windsC · sightD · downE · accumulateF · frownE · hateF · proveG · loveG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Accuse me thus: that I have scanted all, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Wherein I should your great deserts repay, | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| Forgot upon your dearest love to call, | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Whereto all bonds do tie me day by day; | 10 | ˘/········ |
| That I have frequent been with unknown minds, | 10 | ···/···˘/· |
| And given to time your own dear-purchas’d right; | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| That I have hoisted sail to all the winds | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Which should transport me farthest from your sight. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Book both my wilfulness and errors down, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And on just proof surmise, accumulate; | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Bring me within the level of your frown, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But shoot not at me in your waken’d hate; | 10 | ·········· |
| Since my appeal says I did strive to prove | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| The constancy and virtue of your love. | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 4
Notes by William J. Rolfe, Shakespeare's Sonnets (New York, 1905), Internet Archive scan
- Line 5 Frequent. Intimate. In the only other instance of the word in S. ( IV. T. iv. 2. 36) it is addicted. Unknown minds per- sons of little note, or obscure.
- Line 6 To time. To the world, or society. Cf. 70. 6 above. Dowden suggests that the meaning may be, " given away to temporary occa- sion what is your property and therefore an heirloom for eternity." Staunton proposes "them" for time, and Tyler is inclined to agree with him.
- Line 10 And on just proof, etc. Add conjecture or suspicion, if you will.
- Line 11 Level. Aim; a technical use of the word in gunnery. Cf. the verb in 121. 9 below.
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