Sonnet CXXXVIII
When my love swears that she is made of truth,I do believe her though I know she lies,That she might think me some untutor’d youth,Unlearned in the world’s false subtleties.Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,Although she knows my days are past the best,Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed:But wherefore says she not she is unjust?And wherefore say not I that I am old?O! love’s best habit is in seeming trust,And age in love, loves not to have years told:Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,And in our faults by lies we flatter’d be.
Words in this poem
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CXXXVIII 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 CXXXVIII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-138.html, id L00156.
Form and metre
Sonnet CXXXVIII 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%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 truthA · liesB · youthA · subtletiesB · youngC · bestD · tongueC · suppressedD · unjustE · oldF · trustE · toldF · meG · beG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When my love swears that she is made of truth, | 10 | ·········· |
| I do believe her though I know she lies, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| That she might think me some untutor’d youth, | 10 | ·········· |
| Unlearned in the world’s false subtleties. | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘˘ |
| Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Although she knows my days are past the best, | 10 | ·········· |
| Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue: | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| But wherefore says she not she is unjust? | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And wherefore say not I that I am old? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| O! love’s best habit is in seeming trust, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And age in love, loves not to have years told: | 10 | ·········· |
| Therefore I lie with her, and she with me, | 10 | ·········· |
| And in our faults by lies we flatter’d be. | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
On this poem
Notes from the edition 2
Notes by William J. Rolfe, Shakespeare's Sonnets (New York, 1905), Internet Archive scan
- Line 2 I do beliez'e her. Pretend to believe her ; that she may think me an inexperienced youth. He suppresses the truth, as she does.
- Line 11 Habit. Bearing, deportment.
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