Sonnet CXXXIX
O! call not me to justify the wrongThat thy unkindness lays upon my heart;Wound me not with thine eye, but with thy tongue:Use power with power, and slay me not by art,Tell me thou lov’st elsewhere; but in my sight,Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside:What need’st thou wound with cunning, when thy mightIs more than my o’erpress’d defence can bide?Let me excuse thee: ah! my love well knowsHer pretty looks have been mine enemies;And therefore from my face she turns my foes,That they elsewhere might dart their injuries:Yet do not so; but since I am near slain,Kill me outright with looks, and rid my pain.
Words in this poem
- defence n.
- The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger. [F. défense, OF. defense, fem., defens, masc., fr. L. defensa (cf. Fence.]
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- outright adv.
- Immediately; without delay; at once; as, he was killed outright.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CXXXIX 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 CXXXIX, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-139.html, id L00157.
Form and metre
Sonnet CXXXIX 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 81%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 2 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 wrongA · heartB · tongueA · artB · sightC · asideD · mightC · bideD · knowsE · enemiesF · foesE · injuriesF · slainG · painG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O! call not me to justify the wrong | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That thy unkindness lays upon my heart; | 10 | ·········· |
| Wound me not with thine eye, but with thy tongue: | 10 | ·········· |
| Use power with power, and slay me not by art, | 10 | ·/·/······ |
| Tell me thou lov’st elsewhere; but in my sight, | 10 | ····/····· |
| Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside: | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| What need’st thou wound with cunning, when thy might | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Is more than my o’erpress’d defence can bide? | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Let me excuse thee: ah! my love well knows | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Her pretty looks have been mine enemies; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| And therefore from my face she turns my foes, | 10 | ·········· |
| That they elsewhere might dart their injuries: | 10 | ··/····/˘˘ |
| Yet do not so; but since I am near slain, | 10 | ·········· |
| Kill me outright with looks, and rid my pain. | 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.