Sonnet CXXXII
Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me,Knowing thy heart torment me with disdain,Have put on black and loving mourners be,Looking with pretty ruth upon my pain.And truly not the morning sun of heavenBetter becomes the grey cheeks of the east,Nor that full star that ushers in the even,Doth half that glory to the sober west,As those two mourning eyes become thy face:O! let it then as well beseem thy heartTo mourn for me since mourning doth thee grace,And suit thy pity like in every part.Then will I swear beauty herself is black,And all they foul that thy complexion lack.
Words in this poem
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- ruth n.
- Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
- beseem v. i.
- To seem; to appear; to be fitting.
- complexion n.
- The state of being complex; complexity. [F. complexion, fr. L. complexio. See Complex, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CXXXII 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 CXXXII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-132.html, id L00150.
Form and metre
Sonnet CXXXII 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%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 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 meA · disdainB · beA · painB · heavenC · eastD · evenC · westD · faceE · heartF · graceE · partF · blackG · lackG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Knowing thy heart torment me with disdain, | 10 | /˘··˘/··˘/ |
| Have put on black and loving mourners be, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Looking with pretty ruth upon my pain. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| And truly not the morning sun of heaven | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Better becomes the grey cheeks of the east, | 10 | /˘˘/······ |
| Nor that full star that ushers in the even, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Doth half that glory to the sober west, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| As those two mourning eyes become thy face: | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| O! let it then as well beseem thy heart | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| To mourn for me since mourning doth thee grace, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And suit thy pity like in every part. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Then will I swear beauty herself is black, | 10 | ····/˘˘/·· |
| And all they foul that thy complexion lack. | 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.