Sonnet CXXXVI
If thy soul check thee that I come so near,Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy ‘Will’,And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there;Thus far for love, my love-suit, sweet, fulfil.‘Will’, will fulfil the treasure of thy love,Ay, fill it full with wills, and my will one.In things of great receipt with ease we proveAmong a number one is reckon’d none:Then in the number let me pass untold,Though in thy store’s account I one must be;For nothing hold me, so it please thee holdThat nothing me, a something sweet to thee:Make but my name thy love, and love that still,And then thou lov’st me for my name is ‘Will.’
Words in this poem
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CXXXVI 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 CXXXVI, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-136.html, id L00154.
Form and metre
Sonnet CXXXVI 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 87%). 100% 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 nearA · willB · thereA · fulfilB · loveC · oneD · proveC · noneD · untoldE · beF · holdE · theeF · stillG · willG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If thy soul check thee that I come so near, | 10 | ·········· |
| Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy ‘Will’, | 10 | ·········· |
| And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Thus far for love, my love-suit, sweet, fulfil. | 10 | ·········· |
| ‘Will’, will fulfil the treasure of thy love, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Ay, fill it full with wills, and my will one. | 10 | ·········· |
| In things of great receipt with ease we prove | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Among a number one is reckon’d none: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Then in the number let me pass untold, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Though in thy store’s account I one must be; | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That nothing me, a something sweet to thee: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Make but my name thy love, and love that still, | 10 | ·········· |
| And then thou lov’st me for my name is ‘Will.’ | 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.