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 | ··˘/····˘/ |
On this poem
Notes from the edition 8
Notes by William J. Rolfe, Shakespeare's Sonnets (New York, 1905), Internet Archive scan
- Line 1 Bore the canopy. That is, paid outward homage, as one who bears a canopy over a superior. King James I. made his progress through London, 1603-4, under a canopy. In the account of the King and Queen's entertainment at Oxford, 1605, we read (Nichol's Progresses of A'ing J 'antes, vol. i. p. 546, quoted by Dowden) : " From thence was carried over the King and Queen a fair canopy of crim- son taffety by six of the Canons of the Church." I may add that on the 15th of March, 1604, when James made a formal march from the Tower to Westminster, the nine actors (in- cluding Shakespeare) to whom he had granted a special license to perform in London and the provinces, were in the royal train. Each actor was presented with four and a half yards of scarlet cloth, the usual dress-allowance to players belonging to the household. Whether the actors bore the canopy on this occasion I find no record ; but I doubt whether there is a reference to it here.
- Line 2 Extern. Outward show. Cf. Oth. i. I. 63 : "compliment extern." Elsewhere S. uses external ; as in 53. 13 above. On the passage, cf. 69. 1-5 above.
- Line 3 Or laid, etc. " The love of the earlier sonnets, which cele- brated the beauty of Shakspere's friend, was to last forever, and yet it has been ruined " (Dowden). Tyler thinks it refers to the Dedi- cation of R. and L. and perhaps also to that of V. and A.
- Line 5 Dwellers on form, etc. " Persons admitted only to external relations" (Tyler). Vox favour (outward appearance), see on 113. IO above.
- Line 6 Lose all, and more. " Lose not only affection, but incur still further mischiefs " (Tyler).
- Line 8 Pitiful thrivers. To be pitied even when successful.
- Line 9 Obsequious. Devoted, zealous. Cf. M. IV. iv. 2. 2 : " I see you are obsequious in your love," etc. Hudson explains it as = "mourned or lamented."
- Line 12 Mutual render. "Give-and-take. This sonnet appears directed against some one who had charged him with superficial love " (Palgrave).
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