Sonnet CXXV
Were’t aught to me I bore the canopy,With my extern the outward honouring,Or laid great bases for eternity,Which proves more short than waste or ruining?Have I not seen dwellers on form and favourLose all and more by paying too much rentFor compound sweet; forgoing simple savour,Pitiful thrivers, in their gazing spent?No; let me be obsequious in thy heart,And take thou my oblation, poor but free,Which is not mix’d with seconds, knows no art,But mutual render, only me for thee.Hence, thou suborned informer! a true soulWhen most impeach’d, stands least in thy control.
Words in this poem
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- extern a.
- External; outward; not inherent. [Cf. F. externe. See External.]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- savour v. t.
- To perceive by the smell or the taste; hence, to perceive; to note. B. Jonson.
- obsequious a.
- Promptly obedient, or submissive, to the will of another; compliant; yielding to the desires of another; devoted. [L.obsequiosus, fr. obsequium compliance, fr. obsequi, fr. obsequi: cf. F. obséquieux, See Obsequent, and cf. Obsequy.]
- oblation n.
- The act of offering, or of making an offering. [L. oblatio: cf. F. oblation. See Oblate.]
- informer n.
- One who informs, animates, or inspires. Thomson. [From Inform,v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CXXV 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 CXXV, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-125.html, id L00143.
Form and metre
Sonnet CXXV 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 82%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% 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 canopyA · honouringB · eternityA · ruiningB · favourC · rentD · savourC · spentD · heartE · freeF · artE · theeF · soulG · controlG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Were’t aught to me I bore the canopy, | 11 | ········/˘˘ |
| With my extern the outward honouring, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Or laid great bases for eternity, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Which proves more short than waste or ruining? | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| Lose all and more by paying too much rent | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For compound sweet; forgoing simple savour, | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Pitiful thrivers, in their gazing spent? | 10 | /˘˘····/˘· |
| No; let me be obsequious in thy heart, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And take thou my oblation, poor but free, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Which is not mix’d with seconds, knows no art, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But mutual render, only me for thee. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Hence, thou suborned informer! a true soul | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| When most impeach’d, stands least in thy control. | 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.