Sonnet XVI
But wherefore do not you a mightier wayMake war upon this bloody tyrant, Time?And fortify yourself in your decayWith means more blessed than my barren rhyme?Now stand you on the top of happy hours,And many maiden gardens, yet unset,With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers,Much liker than your painted counterfeit:So should the lines of life that life repair,Which this, Time’s pencil, or my pupil pen,Neither in inward worth nor outward fair,Can make you live yourself in eyes of men.To give away yourself, keeps yourself still,And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill.
Words in this poem
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- unset a.
- Not set; not fixed or appointed.
- virtuous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting virtue. Specifically: -- (a) Exhibiting manly courage and strength; valorous; valiant; brave. [OE. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuous, F. vertueux, fr. L. Virtuous. See Virtue, and cf. Virtuoso.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XVI 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 XVI, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-16.html, id L00034.
Form and metre
Sonnet XVI 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 89%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends 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 wayA · timeB · decayA · rhymeB · hoursC · unsetD · flowersC · counterfeitD · repairE · penF · fairE · menF · stillG · skillG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| But wherefore do not you a mightier way | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Make war upon this bloody tyrant, Time? | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And fortify yourself in your decay | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| With means more blessed than my barren rhyme? | 10 | ····˘··/˘· |
| Now stand you on the top of happy hours, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| And many maiden gardens, yet unset, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘/ |
| Much liker than your painted counterfeit: | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| So should the lines of life that life repair, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Which this, Time’s pencil, or my pupil pen, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Neither in inward worth nor outward fair, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Can make you live yourself in eyes of men. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| To give away yourself, keeps yourself still, | 10 | ··˘/˘/·/˘· |
| And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill. | 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.