Sonnet CXXXVII
Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes,That they behold, and see not what they see?They know what beauty is, see where it lies,Yet what the best is take the worst to be.If eyes, corrupt by over-partial looks,Be anchor’d in the bay where all men ride,Why of eyes’ falsehood hast thou forged hooks,Whereto the judgement of my heart is tied?Why should my heart think that a several plot,Which my heart knows the wide world’s common place?Or mine eyes, seeing this, say this is not,To put fair truth upon so foul a face?In things right true my heart and eyes have err’d,And to this false plague are they now transferr’d.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- whereto adv.
- To which; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CXXXVII 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 CXXXVII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-137.html, id L00155.
Form and metre
Sonnet CXXXVII 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 83%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables.
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 eyesA · seeB · liesA · beB · looksC · rideD · hooksC · tiedD · plotE · placeF · notE · faceF · err'dG · transferr'dG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes, | 10 | ·········· |
| That they behold, and see not what they see? | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| They know what beauty is, see where it lies, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Yet what the best is take the worst to be. | 10 | ·········· |
| If eyes, corrupt by over-partial looks, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Be anchor’d in the bay where all men ride, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Why of eyes’ falsehood hast thou forged hooks, | 10 | ···/····˘· |
| Whereto the judgement of my heart is tied? | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Why should my heart think that a several plot, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Which my heart knows the wide world’s common place? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Or mine eyes, seeing this, say this is not, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To put fair truth upon so foul a face? | 10 | ·········· |
| In things right true my heart and eyes have err’d, | 10 | ·········· |
| And to this false plague are they now transferr’d. | 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.